Sales is the lifeblood of any company so finding the right sales force is absolutely crucial to growing your revenue. But how do you find and attract the top candidates? The ones who will exceed your needs and be happy with their jobs?
Here to answer those questions are Debbie Doak and Kim Cole of The Sales Force. On today's episode we'll discuss finding the right candidates, why hiring millennials is different than any other generation, how to always have a good interview no matter and the biggest interview blunders they've seen (and how to avoid them).
Listen to this episode and discover:
- Why posting and praying isn't enough when hiring a sales person.
- What are some of the best (and worst) questions to ask during an interview?
- What role does social media play today in sales recruitment?
- Does it pay to make a YouTube video about your company's openings?
- Why there is no such thing as a bad interview.
- And so much more…
Episode Overview
The Sales Zone was started by Debbie and Kim back in 2000, with an initial focus on placing customer-facing or revenue-impacting candidates, or both depending on the company's needs. Over time they've grown to work with C-level candidates as well, and today they find top quality hires for nearly every industry.
One of the most critical mistakes they see executives make when hiring for a new role (sales or otherwise) is not clearly defining that role and what success looks like for the person in that role.Too often employers say they want to hire a good sales person or something of that nature; you must be more specific.
As the employer if you don't know exactly what you need for the position you are hiring for you won't find the most qualified candidate. And if you don't know what you expect from them in order to be successful once they are hired you'll have a hard time creating a successful employee.
Once you're clear and you've moved into the interviewing process there are a number of things to consider including the different way to position yourself and your company in the mind of a millennial. The construct of a job and the title are incredibly important. A millennial is far more likely to respond positively to a title like customer success manager (as opposed to account manager).
Also a millennial is not comfortable with the idea of selling, but they are comfortable with helping others and providing solutions. So keep that in mind as you are interviewing with them. Rather than asking where they want to be in 5 years you can ask them what types of problems they see themselves solving for their customers, their companies and society at large. That is the type of question that will engage them and they will see your company as a place that is a good potential fit for them.
It's important to remember that the interviewing process is a selling opportunity for both sides. Even if you don't hire the person you want them to be left with a positive impression of you and your organization. Down the road they may look to you as a potential service provider, or may apply to work for you again.
And with employee competition fierce - even big companies like GE have announced talent acquisition is a strategic problem for them - you want to be certain everyone you meet with thinks highly of you after regardless of the outcome.
On the topic of talent acquisition Debbie and Kim also explain where they get theirs from by breaking down each individual piece of their sales candidate funnel, and they also give one piece of advice on how to find and attract the right sales candidate for your company. Finding and attracting the right talent is crucial to the growth and success of your company and its revenue.
Discover more at: http://www.growmyrevenue.com/podcast/sales-zonehow-find-attract-right-sales-candidate/
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