It’s pretty obvious, but few in HR get it. Unless you’re offering a monstrous signing bonus, remove the line “previous sales experience.” It should not appear in your ad.

Yesterday I was talking with a client, Chris, we’ve worked his with Financial Services company for more than 6 years. I called him because his sales applicant volume had doubled. What had he done to cause such an explosion in applicants?

He chucked, “I was finally able to convince the powers that be to try your advice. We finally dropped ‘previous sales experience required.'”

To boot, more stars are applying as a percentage than before the change. (We can see the quality of his applicants in Member Area stats.)

You can find out more here 

Here’s why you should remove “previous sales experience” from your ad:

Ask any experienced sales manager to count his best hires. Most have no previous sales experience. Our stats show less than 10%. Most of the greatest sales hires have a burning desire to make money and are willing to do what it takes. You are 9x more likely to find a star without previous experience.

Top performers in sales are making money and getting all the good leads where they are. Unless their current company is a disaster, good salespeople are on track to make more if they stay put. Good comp plans reward longevity.

Great training exists for newbies if you’re not up for the job of training. If you need a list of the real trainers, contact me and I’ll give you my list. We’ve been working with sales trainers for 16 years. Most are a waste of time. The good ones are worth getting to know.

We’ve got a checklist you can use to improve your sales hiring results here

When I first started hiring salespeople, the choices for advertising were greatly limited. We can only use newspapers, trade association publications and radio. It’s hard to be competitive in such a small playground.

Today, there are more online platforms to choose from. You can say we are living in exciting times but don’t rejoice just yet; most of these platforms are a total waste of time. Good thing that we constantly get feedback from our clients on which ones work well.

Let’s show you their top picks:

Craigslist – Yes, Craigslist is free or very inexpensive. But it’s at the top of our list because it works – and the price is right. There are things you need to do to get your ad relevant on this platform. And you MUST keep your ad at the top of the list without getting banned by Craigslist. Both RELEVANCE and TOP OF THE LIST are essential for Craigslist success.

ZipRecruiter – Our clients complain about their pricing and bad customer service, but ZipRecruiter works. They have a “boost” program that costs more but it’s supposed to get you more applicants. We hear mixed reports on this program but it’s worth considering in order to find out for yourself.

Indeed and Simply Hired – Tied on the 3rd spot, both Indeed and Simply Hired are aggregators that scrape other job boards. Clients have claimed that they got good results from Indeed. The sponsored ads go to the top of the list, but clients tell us they use the free job posting effectively. For $5 a day, you can run sponsored ads. Not bad at all.

Facebook – Facebook is huge! Facebook is everywhere and if you aren’t looking at Facebook then someone else is forwarding you things from Facebook. This platform is something you should use with the help of an expert. AHS has a module that puts Facebook to work for your recruitment.

These online platforms have their own advantages and disadvantages. The ball’s on your court now. You can select a couple of these platforms to start with and find out which one works well for your company.

How to Get a Flood of the Best Sales Applicants You’ve Ever Seen   

Before the Internet, if you wanted 100 applicants to apply for a sales job, your company needed to be in New York or LA. But today your business can be anywhere and you’ll still get a flood of applicants.

The key is to write an ad that welcomes the studs and chases away the slugs.

Most sales ads are too general.

They waver when describing what the applicant gets for applying to work at your company.

Most sound like an HR job description. They list everything the applicant has to do or have done. There is nothing about what the applicants get.

Help Wanted – Sales Ads in Monster  Just Plain Suck

Scan the Ads in Monster.  The ads all look alike and none talk to top sales performers.  (NOTE: We have found Monster to be a poor choice to advertise a sales job.)

To draw large numbers of the “right” applicants you’ve got to talk to your applicants. Tell them you believe sales talent is the rarest and most important talent in the business.

Talk about how you are looking to give them what they want most.

Top sales talent wants money and power. Tell them how your company is a money and power factory for top sales talent.

Prove the money part by giving specific numbers. Tell them what the highest-paid salesperson in your company earns. Or if you’re a new company, tell them what they’ll earn based on your compensation strategy.

And don’t buy the BS that Millenials don’t want money, that they’re looking to serve humanity. Top salespeople are High Practicals. Weak salespeople want to be loved. Strong salespeople want to close business and earn more money.

Want to see all the steps to hiring salespeople who can close deals — and make you a ton of money? We’ve prepared a video that gives you step by step instructions.

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