Too many times sales recruiters and hiring managers have no
idea what they're looking for in a new candidate before
they start a new sales recruiting project. They will tell
you that they do - they will even show you a written
description of their ideal candidate.
But 9 times out of 10 their description will say something
like:
"10 years industry sales experience calling all C level
executives. The last 4 years must have been in sales
management. managing no less than 10 reps with a total
annual sales goal of $23 million." etc, etc.
Pretty generic right? I'm not making this up. Do a
search on any job board. For fun do a search on "software
sales". Read only the required experience for all 10 sales
positions.
By the time you finish you'll notice that they all say
pretty much the same thing.
Let me tell you - most job requirements do not say anything
about who you're looking for to fill your sales job.
You're looking for the same person that every single one of
your competitors is looking for - and you're probably
offering the same exact compensation package that everyone
else is also.
And to top it all off it will be a total crapshoot if you
hire someone who is successful in the sales job you're
recruiting for.
If you want to raise your chances of finding a good sales
rep who will be successful with your company then you need
to know more about the role you're looking to fill. To do
this start thinking about the sales reps first year.
Start with their first day on the job.What is the most
pressing issue that this sales person must solve for you?
What will they need to do in order to solve that pressing
issue? What will the final outcome be once they solve this
problem successfully.
Repeat this process until you have a list of at least 6-8
problems that this sales person needs to correct.
Only you can know what these problems are. If you don't
then you should find out what they are very quickly!
Once you have this list completed you can start to figure
out the job requirements for your open sales position.
You'll be looking for someone who has been confronted with
these issues in the past and successfully solved them.
That's it in a nutshell.
You will no longer be looking for a "sales rep with 10
years industry experience calling on C level executives."
You'll be looking for someone who has successfully solved
your specific problems in the past. Someone who has "taken
over a territory that has not achieved quota in 3+ years.
The territory consists of contacts who are Vice Presidents
of IT at Fortune 100 companies. The VP level contacts have
accepted meetings but no reason to do business with your
company was ever uncovered."
So when you're recruiting you'll be looking for someone who
has solved issues like this in the past. Someone who has
turned around dormant target accounts and uncovered buying
pains with prospects where non existed in the past.
This is just one example. Hopefully this can help change
your mindset as we head into a new year of sales recruiting
and team building!
----------------------------------------------------
More sales recruiting information and resources can be
found at the sales rep recruiter blog (link below). The
author, Steve Crothers, has been a sales recruiter since
1993, working with companies ranging from start-ups to
multi-national Fortune 50 corporations and helping them
recruit and retain sales professionals, sales managers
through VP Sales. Search current positions or contact Steve
at http://www.salesreprecruiter.com
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