Selecting the best people for your sales team is crucial to the success of your organization—that’s a given. But it’s not easy to find the perfect candidate.
The sales hiring process can be long and challenging. From reviewing resumes and online applications to conducting one-on-one interviews, hiring assessments, executive reviews, and reference checks, the process can span six or seven steps—or more.
But the importance of getting it right can’t be overstated. The ideal candidates have the motivation, personality, and skills to contribute and thrive for the long term. Hiring someone who’s not the best fit can lead to high turnover, lost revenue, and lower morale.
Give this opportunity to grow your team the attention it deserves, and keep in mind these four tips for maximizing the sales hiring process.
Watch on demand: Finding Top Sales Talent: How to Take the Guesswork Out of Hiring
How to Improve the Hiring Process for Sales
The most effective hiring approach uses a consistent interview process, sales assessments, and job benchmarks to streamline selection and identify the best candidates quickly.
1. Determine exactly what the role requires before you begin your search.
This seems fundamental, yet we’ve seen many clients overlook this. You can’t find a perfect match for a sales role if you’re not absolutely clear on what the position requires. Nor can you help your new hire succeed without well-defined expectations.
Determine the key accountabilities of the role on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Then prioritize them so you have a clear understanding of the skills you’re seeking.
For example, in sales, a “hunter” focuses on finding and acquiring new customers, while a “farmer” focuses on nurturing and growing existing customer relationships and accounts. Each of these roles will have different accountabilities.
It’s important to find a candidate who not only has the required sales skills but has the behavior style and motivators that will allow them to excel in that role. A sales hiring assessment is a commonly used tool for predicting the probability of a new hire’s success.
2. Get everyone in the sales hiring and interview process on the same page.
Once you have established concrete criteria for evaluating sales candidates, make sure everyone involved in the hiring process understands what’s expected of them. Share the position benchmark so team members have a common understanding of the role.
For positions that require interviews with multiple team members, clarify what each individual should focus on during their time with the candidate to maximize the interview process. Communicate interview questions and guidelines ahead of time and schedule a meeting to debrief as a team.
3. Make the sales candidate interview a priority.
This is another often-overlooked fundamental. Avoid the temptation to squeeze an interview between other meetings. Instead of treating an interview as something to “get out of the way,” remember it’s one of the most important uses of your time. Treat it as such.
Block out an adequate amount of time when scheduling and spend at least 30 minutes prior to the appointment reading the job description, preparing questions, and reviewing the candidate’s assessment and resume.
Every hiring decision you make will have a substantial impact on your organization’s success (or lack thereof) so make sure you make the process a priority.
4. Build your sales onboarding plan before you hire.
Before you even source your first candidate, make sure your onboarding and orientation programs are in place. You want this part of the sales hiring process to set up your new hire to be as successful as possible as quickly as possible.
The performance of even the best hire will diminish if you lack the appropriate processes for launching them. Highly qualified and talented people expect to have the tools and support they need to perform well. If they don’t have them, they will quickly become frustrated.
The first few months of a new sales professional’s tenure at your company are the most critical. Make sure you can meet your new hire’s expectations and make their transition as smooth as possible.
Grow Your Team with the Best Sales Hires
Hiring and retaining top sales professionals can be one of the most challenging aspects of any sales leader’s job. The costs associated with making a bad hire are enormous, and hiring managers are looking for some sort of edge that will lower their chances of making a hiring mistake.
While there are some great ways of lowering your risk of making the wrong hire, one of the most powerful tools is right in front of you: taking your time and being prepared.
Maximize your selection process and start hiring smarter with the help of The Brooks Group sales selection assessments. Contact us today to learn more.
