Introduction to Sales Recruiting

I was first introduced to the role of the sales recruiter and hiring sales people back in the late 1990’s when I took my first management role at IBM.  The process then, was simple, go to universities, collect resumes and schedule interviews.  This works great for entry level sales roles, when people actually communicated via a sales call.  Fast forward to today.  If you are familiar with the evolution of the sales process. (Sirius Decisions refers to this as “The Buyers Journey“) then you know it’s not that easy anymore.  Thus the importance of self driven, trained sales people are vital.  This is where I was introduced to the traditional recruiting model.

We have posted several sales roles at Cima Solutions Group, and hired recruiters.  Even with a recruiter, the role of a sales manager in the process really doesn’t change much.  You still have to build the posting, review candidates, interview, negotiate, etc.  Sure a recruiter might help bring some additional candidates, but now you have to trust the recruiter.  Which candidly, I never do.  So, what am I really getting from a recruiter?

Enter Tech Qualled

I spoke with Nick Breedlove two years ago when he called to introduce the organization to me.  I instantly fell in love with the idea.  What I liked most about it was, this was not just recruiting.  It is recruiting, vetting, profiling, training, and showcasing.  I don’t really like the last term, but the truth is, within this program, as a sales manager, I get to spend one day watching the 12-16 candidates in their final role plays and then interact with them over lunch dinner etc.  I can do all this in one half day!  No more lengthy recruitment process that typically results in two hours of interview time to base a decision on.  So, when I say showcasing, yes, it’s a great showcase of the various talents these candidates posses.  What I look for are things unique to the role and culture at our company.  That is better than ANY interview process you have sales managers.

Worth the Investment

I have been around Technology Sales Managers for 25 years now.  Most of them take a lot of pride in the value of their time.  So I always question ones who say they cannot afford a recruiter. With Tech Qualled or a recruiter, there is a placement fee.  If you look at the word fee, you are doing it wrong.  Think about the amount of time you will spend finding the right candidate.  Then, add in a confidence score related to how you vetted that candidate.  Then consider your time in training someone.  How many hours did you come up with?  How much are you worth an hour?  Starting to get the math here?  What really makes all of this add up, is how the Veteran hires differentiate against a College Hire and a Seasoned Professional Sales Rep.  Tune in later this week for a deep dive on that viewpoint.  If you are interested in more on this perspective, hit me up on Linked-In