On average, almost one third of the sales employees have been with their current company for less than 12 months. That fact alone highlights how employee turnover can affect companies, especially those without a good recruiting system. To optimize your hiring process, you may want to consult an executive search consultant. They are able to find a good match in terms of expertise, teachability, and culture.
Typically, finding an executive search consultant will allow you to concentrate on putting the best sales people into your best sales jobs quickly. An executive search consultant excels at attracting the right people and then analyzing their key personality traits and skills to find the right match. For example, looking at a cross section of sales professionals in the U.S., 40 percent of them will miss quota, 22 percent of them are untrainable, and only about 1 in 10 can show positive ROI. With those odds, you will have to interview and assess a far greater number of candidates than using prescreened candidates from a search firm.
Your professional organizations and networking groups should be able to direct you to some potential search firms for your sales hiring. Use their case studies and client testimonials to get a sense of the types of candidates and the placement success that they have. They can frequently look at all aspects of a candidate, since experience is not always the best determinant of a successful sales person. Most sales people will have other intangibles that they can bring to the position, such as charisma, confidence, adaptability and enthusiasm. Many of the headhunter firms have extensive testing models that they can use to filter out the less qualified candidates, or those lacking some of your desired traits.
Finally, you should not be afraid to talk with previous hires about their experience in working with potential search firms. They can give you insights into their candidacy and how the search firms were able to place them. Knowing the other side of the process can help you to better describe the intricacies of the sales position you are recruiting for. Read this website for more information.
3 responses to “Separating the Wheat from the Chaff With Sales Recruitment Firms”
Good call on talking to their previous placements. It helps to understand how they negotiated for their current positions and what made the headhunter successful.
A lot of times the search firm will have ample candidates ready to interview without having to do a lot of preliminary searching. This can save months in some situations.
A lot of times the search firm will have ample candidates ready to interview without having to do a lot of preliminary searching. This can save months in some situations.