It takes top talent to make sales and land clients. Without it, sales agencies can’t survive. Even the most successful agencies need to strategize talent acquisition to attract the best sales talent and keep them on board. In today’s market, it can be challenging to compete for candidates, but it isn’t impossible to find and hire the best of the best.
Working with a sales recruiter will always yield the best results, but there are some things you can do to successfully recruit and retain top sales talent in a competitive market. In this article, we’ll share 15 tips to turn you into a successful sales headhunter.
Invest in Keeping Your A-Team
Any good sales recruiter would tell you one of the best ways to attract new talent is by keeping your current team happy. You want to be surrounded by a team that is committed to the bigger picture. Invest your time in getting to know them and show a genuine interest in what matters to them.
Sell Them On Your Passion
A successful salesperson is selling a vision, not a product or service. You can’t find a candidate with passion without showing yours. Use the interview as a chance to sell your company’s beliefs and culture and explain how the candidate’s skills will drive mutual growth.
Take Their Feedback
One benefit of working with a sales recruiter is the opportunity to receive candid feedback from candidates. Apply the same principle to your sales team. Treat your salespeople as your best asset and listen to their ideas about the operation as a whole.
Keep Them Incentivized
Sales agencies that keep their teams incentivized have more motivated salespeople. Sales is a relationship-based business, so investing in relationships with the sales team drives that point home.
Offer Commission to All Team Members
Leads and referrals don’t always have to come from your sales team. Other team members like creatives often have networks full of valuable leads. Use this to your advantage by offering commission to any team member who brings in referrals. This helps build relationships with clients since they get to work with someone they already trust, and your employees will appreciate the chance to earn some additional income.
Prioritize Professional Development
Sales headhunter recommendations are likely to include professional development when it comes to what helps attract and retain talent. High-performing salespeople want opportunities to expand their skills and are likely to lose their motivation if they are no longer challenged. Keep in touch with your team on their development goals and provide feedback to help attain them.
Thoroughly Train Your Team
Sales can be an extremely difficult career without enough training, support, and coaching. Great sales agencies give their new staff a year of hands-on experience to really get comfortable with professional selling. If you want to retain your talent, nurture them with your guidance and gradually increase your expectations.
Identify Gaps in Strengths to Build Your Ideal Team
Just because a new hire doesn’t work out doesn’t mean they aren’t skilled. Most of the time it is because they aren’t a good fit. Any sales recruiter would encourage you to identify the gaps in your team’s strengths and focus your hiring around filling those gaps. This ensures your new talent fits in from day one.
Hire for Goal Alignment and Retain With Growth
Most companies approach hiring with a focus on the company rather than making the process about the candidate. Try to hire people with personal goals that align with what your business has to offer. Then, shift your focus to growth and progress to retain your talent. Salespeople are not always motivated by money. Often, growth is the top motivator.
Find Curious Sales Professionals Who Listen
Sales agencies need to find team members who are curious, trainable, and willing to listen. The sales profession is evolving, and it is more about problem-solving than selling. Listening is the first step in solving any problem, so your staff needs to be comfortable in listening mode. If not, they’ll be spinning their wheels selling products rather than strategies.
Inquire About the Relationships They’ve Built
Screening and interviewing prospective employees is an opportunity to find out how a candidate builds relationships. Strong relationships are the key to steady sales numbers. As the candidate about the relationships they’ve built and how they focus on post-sales customer service.
Understand Each Person’s Personality
An experienced sales headhunter might recommend approaching compensation packages based on the personality and motivations of each of your team members. Knowing your team on a more personal level will also help you create roles within the team that best suit their individual talents.
Think Beyond Financial Incentives
If you’ve worked with a sales recruiter, they may have told you that money isn’t always the biggest motivator for salespeople. Sometimes sales staff have other experience and like to be heard and included in other processes, like onboarding clients or being involved in the creative. They don’t need to be deeply involved but don’t want to be excluded.
Focus on Your Holistic Work Culture
Sales agencies should focus on creating a great work culture across the board for all employees, so the environment encourages staff to stay. Revenue-generating employees at the top often get a lot of attention but focusing on everyone allows you to build a strong, lasting team.
Hire People Who Love What They Do
If you don’t find people who genuinely love what they do, everything will fall apart fast. As we said in a previous sales headhunter tip, you have to sell your company’s vision and culture to candidates. Let candidates connect with the greater purpose of your business to ignite a shared passion.
The Right Sales Recruiter – Talentfoot
If you’re looking for a sales headhunter to fill your team with top talent, Talentfoot is here to
Our team of professional sales recruiters does all the legwork for you so you can fill your jobs faster. If you want to work with the best, contact us today.
