How to Deploy a Sales Recruitment Program
- 1). Develop an outline of your ideal salesperson. Decide the key skills, experience and education you want in an employee. Decide how much sales experience and interpersonal skills is needed for this position, and establish the ideal characteristics for the employee.
- 2). Define the areas where you are willing to compromise. Most hiring managers provide an ideal candidate profile to their recruiters, and as a result it's often hard to find a qualified candidate because the sales position's profile is too narrow and eliminates good candidates. Once you have the perfect candidate profile, review it for areas where you can comprise. For example, decide if a college degree is required for the position versus consistent sale success and experience.
- 3). Develop a realistic candidate profile. Develop a job profile that recruiters and human resources can post on the Internet, newspaper, company websites and other recruiting resources.
- 4). Analyze and select two or three recruiting methods. Review all recruiting methods and select the most cost-effective and successful based on past experience. Successful recruiting methods vary based on the type of products sold and the company's sales model. For example, Internet recruiting for a medical supplies sale representative isn't cost-effective because of the specialized nature of the sales process and technical expertise needed to be successful. It may be more cost-effective to use a recruiting agency that specializes in medical sales.
- 5). Consider alternative hiring methods. Depending on the product sold, recruit sales personnel directly from competitors, professional associations and colleges. Other organizations, such as Veteran Employment and Training Services and the government's What You Can Do Campaign for hiring the disabled, offer employer incentives and grants to encourage hiring.
- 6). Regularly contact your human resources department or recruiters to provide feedback. When reviewing sales candidate resumes, provide feedback about why the candidate in question is or isn't a good fit for the position. Consistent feedback helps define the position to staff and filter out unqualified candidates.
- 7). Establish interview questions and conduct interviews. Protect yourself and your company by having a set series of interview questions. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission oversees employment practices in the U.S. and investigates discriminatory complaints from perspective employees. The agency has established guidelines to help employers avoid possible conflicts during hiring, including information on placing a job advertisement, allowable interview questions and record-keeping. For example, EEOC regulations require that all applications and resumes submitted to a business be kept for one year. The EEOC provides each state with an EEOC outreach program coordinator to provide employer training and compliance support.
- 8). Set up questions to ask all candidates' references, so you avoid any EEOC issues. Check references for all sales candidates. Reference questions should refer to work experience such as sales ability, work ethic, ability to meet sales goals and other work performance areas. All sales candidates should provide at least three references. Ask for at least one customer reference to gain insight into how well the candidate provided client sales support after the sale.
- 9). Create an offer and job entry process. Most states allow employers to offer a position to a candidate without any specific legal requirements. It's recommended that the employer provide a formal acceptance letter for sales personnel outlining performance requirements, benefits and job responsibilities. Most states allow a 90 day grace period where employees can be fired without cause. Companies should provide notice about the 90 days in writing, along with a new employee package containing benefit information, company policies and employee forms such as W-2 tax withdrawal forms.
- 10
Contact the candidates that you interviewed but did not hire. A simple email or call thanking the candidate, but explaining you chose someone else, will avoid hard feelings and misunderstandings.