If you're looking to recruit the best and brightest sales staff in your industry, you've got some tough competition. Get ahead of your competitors and on top of sales by using these five tips for recruiting high-performing sales staff.
Search For Raw Talent
There's a large swath of employees performing sales-type jobs that aren't necessarily sales people. Front desk staff, waitresses, clerks and hundreds of other job descriptions employ the exact same skills that make a great salesperson but wouldn't consider themselves in 'sales.'
To recruit high-performing sales staff, look outside the box when hiring sales people. Instead of hiring a salesperson from another organization, there can be a huge benefit to cultivating raw talent into a top performer. Next time you interact with someone at a restaurant, hotel or business, ask yourself whether they have the talent to be a top salesperson.
Create an Irresistible Ad
While it's still an employer's market, high-performing sales staff will always be a commodity. Rather than expecting talented salespeople to find you, you need to search and entice the best in the field to come work for you.
Don't fall prey to a boring and unexciting help wanted ad. Be inventive, be funny and maybe even be a little controversial. Stay away from generic ads and create something that targets the perfect candidate for your job not by asking them to impress you but by impressing them. Top employees need to be wooed so take the initiative and draw them to your company.
Incentivize Referrals
Sales staff don't exist in a bubble. They network, chat and compare companies. They're natural extroverts and if you aren't utilizing those personality traits to keep your sales staff at the top of the heap, you are wasting their talents. Reward your employees for bringing you the next top performer by offering cash incentives for hired referrals. Next time you need to hire, ask your employees who would be a good fit for your business.
Get a Pitch
Unlike other fields, the most talented salespeople don't always boast degrees or academic achievement. Their skills fall into that murky area of charisma and people skills that can be hard to define.
To separate the wheat from the chaff, ask potential sales staff to pitch your company to you. Not only does that force them to think on their feet but also can signal candidates who researched the brand and listened during the interview. If your candidate can impress you during a mid-interview pitch, they have what it takes to be a top performer at your company.
Provide Paid Training
Commission-based paid training is a great benefit to both employers and employees but it can be a major drawback during recruiting and hiring. Even successful salespeople may not have the funds to switch jobs and take the drastic to unlivable cut in pay during the on-boarding process.
If you want to recruit the hottest sales team, you need to make their way easier. A paid training period is just the way to entice established salespeople onto your team. If you want top performing salespeople to flock to your business, offer paid training.
Recruiting talented and top-performing sales staff can be a challenge but with the right process, it can be simplified. By using your current sales staff and everyday interactions with sales jobs, you can target untapped or under appreciated talent. Altering your hiring process to include more dynamic job ads and integrative interviews, you can weed out the pretenders and identify the best.
