Hiring the right people for your sales team isn’t easy – but it’s vital to the success of your business. You obviously need to hire someone who’s the right fit for your sales culture, and you can also use behavioral assessments to help you get it right. Today, we’ll talk about when you might choose use sales recruiters for hiring, and how to find the right recruiter.
Should You Use a Sales Recruiter?
The clearest answer we can give is you should consider this option when you’ve been having thoughts like these:
“Our industry is highly competitive, and we need top-notch sales professionals to stay ahead. I wonder if hiring a sales recruiter could give us an edge in attracting the best talent?”
Reality check: Recruiters have extensive networks and insights into the market, allowing them to identify and engage top sales candidates who may not be actively searching for new opportunities! It’s a good proactive approach in this case.
“Our business is growing rapidly, and my time as a hiring manager is increasingly limited. I wonder if a sales recruiter could save us valuable time and allow me to refocus on essential business operations?”
Reality check: A sales recruiter streamlines the hiring process, from initial candidate searches to screening and interviews. This not only saves you time but ensures the process is handled by experts who can efficiently manage the candidate pipeline.
“We’re looking for an experienced sales executive to lead our team, and this is a critical role. I’m concerned that making the wrong decision could have serious consequences. I’m wondering if a sales recruiter could reduce this risk?”
Reality check: Leadership positions require a more in-depth and meticulous approach. If you engage one who specializes in executive searches, they’ll be adept at recognizing the necessary leadership qualities and industry-specific expertise. They can certainly reduce your risks.
So – let’s now dive deeper into the whole topic of sales recruiters.
What Can Sales Recruiters Do?
Never used a sales recruiter to do the hiring for your business? Simply put, sales recruiters are external helpers who seamlessly assist your business to find top sales talent to fit your requirements. Your sales team needs to constantly drive new and ongoing business in today’s economic climate. You can’t afford to hire a less-than-desirable sales rep.
However, hiring a top talent who’s the right fit for your industry and organization is a challenge. You want to find the people with the right skills, mindset, and behaviors to succeed. But since every industry is different, there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for sales hiring.
The magic here is therefore that sales recruiters scan their networks for only the candidates that would be a strong fit for your company. This saves you time and effort while getting the right person in the role.
When Should You Use a Sales Recruiter?
Many businesses do their own hiring using their existing HR departments or efforts by the hiring manager. And sometimes this proves to be successful.
But if your business is looking to grow significantly or has undergone a large amount of organizational change, this is when you might want to look outside your usual hiring channels to get the right talent.
For example, were you already having thoughts like we mentioned up top but think it’s probably meant for other businesses, not yours?
Here’s a key fact: Sales recruiters don’t exclusively help Fortune 500 companies and big corporations with hiring! Many sales recruitment firms will help midsized or even small businesses without an HR department get the right sales talent in place. They’ll still do their job of vetting applicants for you really well, so your hiring manager sees only the top sales candidates.
Additionally, if you’re searching for higher level talent, as we mentioned above, you may well benefit from using a sales recruiter. A recruiter can take the time to perform a thorough search and look for leadership qualities that all sales executives need to have to succeed. They will need to look at soft skills as well as hard ones. And in addition, with younger sales teams coming through, your leader will need to be able to carry out crucial tasks that might previously have been less necessary.
Another huge benefit is that you don’t always need to hire. Using a sales recruiter means you can benefit when you need to and scale up or down. Small- to medium-sized businesses can particularly benefit from this aspect.
So – how do you go about finding a sales recruiter?
How Do You Hire a Sales Recruiter?
When looking to hire a sales recruitment firm or an individual sales headhunter, two things are crucial:
Firstly, ensure they know your industry.
Secondly, check they understand your company culture and your organization’s goals.
Here are some other good questions to ask a prospective sales recruiter you’re interested in hiring:
- What are they looking for in candidates? In other words, what criteria do they prioritize when evaluating candidates for you and your business?
- Do they have a proven track record of success in sales hiring in your industry? Industries vary a lot.
- How do they intend to integrate their recruitment efforts with your current hiring process?
If you seek answers to these questions, you will find a sales recruiter who aligns with your unique requirements. This means you’ll significantly increase your chances of hiring successful team members and leaders that can drive your sales growth upwards.
360 Consulting Can Help
With many years of experience between us at 360 Consulting, we can take your team to the next level, searching for and finding the right sales leadership solutions for you, so you have the right people in place to drive your growth to the next level.
We’ll vet candidates so that your hiring manager only sees those highly qualified and ready to hire. If this sounds just like what you were hoping to find, schedule your FREE consultation and let’s talk!
