Employers Hub | The 6 deadly sins of sales recruiting

Sales recruiting is a complex process. The roles are specialised, the qualifications are challenging to assess, and there’s little margin for error when it comes to hiring the wrong candidate and training them on the job. When you consider that a new sales hire can cost as much as $200k over their first year with the company and less than half of all new hires succeed in their first sales role… You can see why it’s one of the riskiest functions in any organisation. There are many nuances that make sales recruiting a challenge. It’s not easy to find people who have both the raw drive and ability to succeed in an extremely challenging environment while also maintaining enough technical knowledge of products and services to understand them fully. There are so many factors that go into making sure your next hire is going to work out. Here are six deadly sins you’ll want to avoid when recruiting new salespeople:

1 Recruiting sins are equal opportunity offenders

In other words, don’t make the mistake of thinking that because you have a particular situation that applies to only one of these categories that you are in the clear. The fact is that all of these recruiting sins can and usually do apply to pretty much all types of sales teams. It’s important to note that these are not sins that every sales manager or recruiting team commits (or even most of them). But they are very common and very dangerous. If any of these recruiting sins does apply to your situation, it doesn’t mean that you can’t find a fantastic candidate. It just means that there is more work involved (perhaps even with hiring a specialised recruiter who can help you navigate these challenges). It also means that more time will be involved in the recruiting process, so you’ll want to start looking for sales candidates sooner than later.

2 You can’t find enough qualified candidates

It’s not uncommon for sales managers to complain about how hard it is to find qualified candidates for open sales positions. But this complaint can be a sign that a team isn’t using best practices when recruiting new sales hires. There are a few things you can do to ensure that you’ll have a steady stream of high-quality sales candidates coming through your door. First, make sure that your job description is clear and concise. You don’t want to leave anything out, and you don’t want to be overstating things either. Your job description should be accurate enough to give candidates an idea of the challenges they’ll face while still maintaining an air of mystery. It should also be detailed enough that you aren’t asking candidates to fill in the blanks with guesses. If your job posting doesn’t lead to a steady stream of qualified candidates, you should start by evaluating your post to make sure it is doing its job.

3 Your requirements are too rigid

While having rigid requirements is better than having no requirements at all, too many requirements can mean that you’re setting yourself up for failure. It’s important to know that some of the skills and qualities that you may be looking for in a sales hire might be acquired over time rather than come naturally from the start. That doesn’t mean that a new hire won’t ever learn them, but it does mean that you might want to hire someone who is eager to learn, even if they don’t have the skill set you’re looking for right away. You also want to make sure that your sales hiring requirements are realistic. While it’s important to have a high standard for the quality of people you hire, you don’t want to be so rigid that you’re unable to find good candidates.

4 You’re ignoring the recruiting process long-game

One of the best ways to make sure that you don’t end up with a bad hire is to look at all the information you have about a candidate before you decide to hire them. This means that you should take your time with the interviewing process. Even though you know that you need to fill a position ASAP, you are better off taking a little longer to make sure that the candidate is a good fit for the company and a good fit for the position. You also want to make sure that you’re taking the time to give the candidate ample opportunity to ask questions and get to know the company. It’s important to remember that each candidate who applies for a position is spending their valuable time doing so. You owe it to each of them to make the decision-making process as informed as possible.

5 You don’t know how to assess whether someone is a good fit or not

There are many factors that go into assessing whether someone is a good fit for a position. While some are objective, others are subjective. For example, an applicant’s education, experience, and skill set are objective factors, but the way they communicate, the amount of initiative they show, and even the types of questions they ask can be subjective. No one person is going to have every skill set you’re looking for. It’s up to you to decide what is most important to you and then evaluate candidates on those factors. You should never hire someone who doesn’t have the majority of the skills that you’re looking for. But you might want to hire someone who has many of the skills you’re looking for, even if they don’t have all of them. You just need to know how to evaluate candidates on all of the factors that matter to you.

6 You hire based on resume alone, instead of relying on your gut

The best people in any role are rarely the ones who look the best on paper. In fact, it’s often the opposite. The best people are often the ones who don’t follow the rules. They are the ones who are able to think outside the box. They are the ones who are comfortable with taking risks. They are the ones who are the most creative. They are often the ones who don’t have the right experience. You need to use your gut to hire the right people. Don’t hire the person who looks the best on paper. Don’t hire the person who is the most qualified. Hire the person who is the best fit for your company.

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