As sales recruiters, we’re painfully aware that HR departments and their internal recruiter can struggle when it comes to hiring great sales talent. Sales professionals excel at selling themselves and without the knowledge to evaluate them correctly it can be a nightmare for your HR team.
That’s not to say they won’t succeed, but here are a few reasons they may struggle.
Assuming Everyone Wants The Job
Successful sales candidates – even ones looking for a change – are very aware of how valuable they are. They may be interested by the job posting, but they’ll need to be sold on the financial and professional upside of your role, which is where a great recruiter can help. This’s why sales professionals can seem arrogant to HR managers accustomed to a little more deference from candidates.
Assuming that every candidate is just waiting to accept an offer can also lead to a lack of urgency. This may be fine for average candidates, great ones are rarely looking exclusively at one opportunity and not respecting their time is an easy way to sour them on your company.
Lacking Key Details
Unless your HR manager does double-duty as your VP sales, they probably don’t know every detail around territory, commission, ramp-up and team performance. It might not be necessary information for them, but it will be for strong sales candidates.
It’s simple enough to find the relevant information, but if one person forgets to send or return an email it can slow the whole process to a crawl. That’s why a sales recruiter wants to work with the hiring manager.
Candidates Aren’t Looking
We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating; top 10% candidates aren’t looking at job postings. Unless you’ve got an internal recruiter, your pitch is limited to your job posting and the people who see it.
Your HR department can only work with the resumes they have. They want to bring you the best, but if the best haven’t applied they don’t have a lot of options.
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