So you’ve arrived at a position this year where you’re considering hiring sales recruiters for your business? Many others have done this, and there’s a good reason. And it’s not that you’re feeling too lazy to do it yourself!
Let’s take a closer look into
- their role,
- why and when you might use one, and
- how to choose a good one.
But first some background…
Hiring top talent is one way that companies can be sure to grow and increase sales. Growth is vital in business and especially necessary in these difficult economic times. All businesses face challenges to grow, and you may also be facing startups and competitors that are disrupting “business as usual.”
For this reason, it can sometimes be difficult for your hiring manager to metaphorically go out and look for these new sales talents themselves. And in addition, they’re already multitasking in an increasingly complex sales world. It makes sense to bring in some expert help.
Because of the above factors, the role of sales recruiter has become an appreciated and significant one in the industry.
Top sales recruiting firms are specialists. They therefore have the ability and, crucially, the time to help you with your recruitment and hiring process and do an efficient and effective job in the process. Moreover, they focus on the specific talent you need and find the person with the best fit for your job in terms of the applicant’s particular skills.
In this post, we’ll take a much deeper dive into the sales recruiter’s role than before, and also discuss why you, as a company, might consider hiring a sales recruiting firm.
The Role of Sales Recruiters
The main role of a sales recruiter is to help businesses with the hiring of skilled sales staff. Their duties will cover a range of areas – from developing job descriptions, posting job ads, screening candidates, and preparing and scheduling interviews.
In addition, sales recruiters can help companies with the following needs:
- Creating an ideal sales person profile unique to your company needs.
- Consulting hiring managers to develop and implement a hiring strategy that will attract high performers for you.
- Identifying a hiring process that will reflect the target audience.
- Designing eye-catching recruitment advertisements in the right places.
- Maintaining, managing, and updating your employee database.
- Implementing best practices in sourcing and staffing activities.
Why Might You Want to Use Sales Recruiters?
There’s a lot your HR team can do for you when it comes to hiring new talent. However, when it comes to improving your sales team, sales recruiters have proven to be of benefit to many companies. In this section, we discuss why you might want to use a sales recruiter and also the benefits of hiring one to advance your sales performance and keep your company competitive.
Top sales recruiting firms will:
Have Knowledge and Industry Insight
Sales recruiters have an extensive knowledge of sales talent and skills derived from years of experience dealing with different companies. This experience means they keep abreast of industry trends and what other companies are looking for in terms of talent, skills, and traits. This includes different expectations of the new generations of employees.
They spend time understanding both your company and the potential employee so that they’re more aware of how you both might work well together.
Gain You Access to the Best Job Searcher Market
When hiring managers put out a job ad, it can attract people of all kinds in the talent pool. This, in turn, can become an exhaustive process for homing in on the right person. Sales recruiters have access to many more talented sales people than an average HR manager.
For example, they often have a network of talents who have not advertised they’re interested in a new job. They’re not on job boards or LinkedIn.
Having these networks shortens the hiring process cycle, and you’re assured of getting the right salesperson for the right position.
Be a Credible Recruitment Source
A qualified sales recruiter has more knowledge of the job candidate, their background, skill set, and (more importantly) how to properly advocate for your company. They also screen candidates with this in mind. They therefore offer credibility that you can rely on to get the best candidate for your needs.
Save You Time
The screening procedure during the interview process has multiple stages and takes a significant amount of your time. Working with recruiters means it will be their time, not yours, spent matching initial skills and experience with opportunities in your company.
Clearly you pay for their time somewhere – in the charge for the service! – but your day-to-day time is under pressure, and you get to preserve that.
Improve Your Recruitment Process
Sales recruitment firms work with your hiring process from start to finish, whereas head hunters don’t. So, in the process of working with a recruiter, you’ll have support and help throughout.
Because of this, you’ll find yourself asking better questions at interview, using the best advised approaches to validate if the candidate is definitely a good fit for your company’s needs and culture. There’s always room for improvement, and sales recruiters will help you improve your overall recruitment process.
Provide Support for the Onboarding Phase
The top sales recruiters will also provide support to your new hire prior to and during the onboarding process. That means they’ll help them get settled and used to the new company culture, and help them perform to the best of their abilities in their new role. This clearly benefits your firm.
Choosing the Right Sales Recruiter
Working with a sales recruiter can be a rewarding experience considering their specialized expertise. However, success will still depend on the type of sales recruiter you choose to support your HR needs.
The following are tips and qualities to look out for in a sales recruiting firm before hiring them.
They “Get” Sales
There are general recruitment firms and sales recruitment firms. A specialty recruiter will help your recruitment efforts much better than the general one. Sales recruiters will be able to understand the sales landscape at large! When you work with sales professionals, you’ll find they understand what a good sales team member or executive embodies. They’ll be much more effective at recruiting the right people for your company. They also understand the need to have the right seats in place for your sales people to occupy!
They Adapt
Change is happening very fast in sales. You need to choose a sales recruiter that stays on top of industry trends and the factors that can affect the marketplace. More than simply recruiting, they can help you improve the strategies and processes of hiring in today’s climate that will improve your organization’s sales.
They’re Good Communicators
The bottom line of the recruitment process is people. It’s a network of candidates, hiring managers, company leads, and recruiters themselves. In order to build connections and attract the right talent to the company, good communication is key.
Sales recruiters should be able to communicate exceptionally well
- with candidates who approach their firm
- when scouting likely candidates who have not put themselves on the market
- when talking about your company’s culture, mission, and vision to the candidates
- when talking with younger people who have very different expectations of a job position
- when keeping you up to date with the recruitment process.
They’re Digitally Savvy
You need to avoid sales recruiters who’re not maximizing technology in today’s digital-first world. Technology has improved the link between employers and talent – and never more so than in a world where prospective applicants can live anywhere and work remotely.
Top sales recruiting firms must be comfortable with using social media and other online strategies to find the right person for your firm.
But on top of that, they’ll employ data analysis to track performance over time.
Effective sales recruiters use data to develop best strategies for hiring new candidates who will align with your company culture and vision. And although, traditionally, there’s always been an element of instinct in decision-making, in a world that stresses diversity and equality, gut feeling must still be checked against data.
They’re Persuasive
This is a characteristic that recruiting firms for sales professionals do well to have. In order to close with as many top talents as possible, they should be able to identify a good match between candidate and organization. And then “sell” your company to the candidate – and, of course, the candidate to your company! This needs honesty and integrity. But losing excellent candidates in today’s marketplace is a step in the wrong direction.
They’re Confident
The best recruiting firms are confident of the value they’re offering your business and let the evidence of testimonials and their professionalism speak for them. And the research you’ve done in advance will back this up. So, check their ratings and reviews online, research them on LinkedIn, and contact previous clients they’ve worked with before approaching them.
When Should You Hire Sales Recruiters?
There’s no single best time for a company to hire sales recruiters. Many factors lead to the decision to hire one, and sometimes it’s not in your best interests to do so.
One factor is, of course, the need to replace someone. But decisions about hiring new staff will vary. While it might be an ideal time for your company to hire, for others it may be time to cut back or freeze on hiring new candidates. The current economic climate has changed things significantly.
Below are five tips to help you to make an informed decision for your company’s growth.
1 When Your Business is Growing
Many smaller companies and startups don’t have an HR department due to budgeting resources. As the company grows, these businesses might find it hard to recruit talented new sales reps. Hence, this might be a good time to hire a sales recruiting firm. Also, when you find out that sales are growing and you’re getting excellent feedback, that could be the moment to hire a sales recruiting firm or at least a single professional to handle hiring for a while.
2 At the Start of a Calendar Year
A new calendar year signals a fresh start for everyone and this is often the case for most companies. To start the year strongly, many companies will look at new strategies and opportunities to increase their sales. This is a good time to recruit a stronger sales team. Sales recruiters can help you find the best talent to advance your sales KPIs.
Sometimes, however, you may find it beneficial to hire just before the new year in order to onboard your rep or reps in time to help them off to a good start before the new year dawns.
3 After Good Sales Growth Projections
If your company sees upward sales growth and favorable predictions from data analysis, it’s wise to take advantage and ensure you have a strong team to realize the goals and meet your company’s sales demands. This helps make sure you can deal well and proactively with your prospective customers and not lose the momentum.
4 When Your Sales Team is Struggling
When members of your sales team are showing signs of lackluster performance, it can be a signal to upgrade your team. To get them back to best performance, hiring a high-level talent may be the answer you need. Energy is contagious and having fresh impetus in the team raises the standards of everyone. In this instance, a top talent is most likely to be supplied from the large reservoir at the disposal of a sales recruiting firm.
5 When You Want to Improve Your Hiring Process
Sometimes the issue is not about accessing the right talent pool, but rather your recruitment process itself. Having a skilled and experienced third party look at your whole recruitment process will help you implement best practices and approaches when it comes to choosing and hiring new candidates.
By consulting sales recruiters, you eliminate bias, improve your interview skills, and assess candidates properly. If this resonates with your current need, do not hesitate to hire a sales recruiter.
We can help You!
At 360 Consulting, we’re never too busy to provide you with the best advice on sales recruiting relevant to your needs and goals. Schedule your free consultation today and take the first step towards breaking sales records at your company.