Recruiting a Sales Team
Talent Acquisition

Part 1: The Uphill Battle in Recruiting a Sales Team

This is a story a new client, Jack, told me. It is about how he met with a friend, Chris, who is another client of ours…

Mature businessman using documents to discuss information with a colleague in a modern business office
Jack and Chris discuss sales recruiting

Jack sat alone in his office, staring at sales metrics that reflected the stunted growth of his once-vibrant business. Four years ago, he had been invigorated by the dream of selling top-notch online courses that would empower people to master the art of trading commodities, stocks, and currencies. And for two years, he had been living that dream. As the solo salesperson, he’d cultivated an impressive 43% closing ratio and an average sale of $4933. But things had changed when he tried his hand at recruiting a sales team.

Over the past two years, Jack had hired eight salespeople, but their performance was disheartening. Only one hire had shown some promise, and even his metrics were dismal: an 11% closing ratio and a lower average sale of $3301.

"Why can't I replicate my own success?" Jack mused. He had used all the conventional sales hiring tools available, or so he thought.

Just then, his phone buzzed. It was Chris, a long-time friend and VP Recruiting at a successful insurance company. Sensing an opportunity for valuable advice, Jack eagerly took the call.

Over the past two years, Jack had hired eight salespeople, but their performance was disheartening. Only one hire had shown some promise

Jack and Chris caught up over coffee. Chris listened attentively as Jack described his challenges in recruiting a sales team that could match his performance.

"Jack, you need a more scientific approach," Chris advised. "Have you considered using Advanced Hiring System’s DISC to hire salespeople? It's a psychological assessment tool that categorizes individuals based on their behavior."

"DISC? Is that some sort of fancy sales hiring tool?" Jack was intrigued but skeptical.

"Yes, and more," Chris said. "I've been using Advanced Hiring for a decade. They incorporate DISC among other methods. Our more than 2000 salespeople were all recruited using their system. The hires consistently meet and exceed goals. The few times I went against the system, I regretted it."

Book a free Science of Sales Hiring Strategy Session and see where DISC can improve yours success rate

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Talent Acquisition

Hiring Quality Salespeople in the New Year

Anyone who feels unaffected by the Covid Crisis this year has missed the point. This was the year for us all to look inside ourselves, figure out what we stand for, and work at discarding the rest.

For Advanced Hiring it’s been a good year. Revenues were solid, but most of all we’ve been able to help you, our valued clients, find super talent.

Clients who’ve jumped into the fray have said they got talent they had never been able to find before.

One of our clients and good friends, Cameron Robinson, described a hire we found as “like dating way out of my league.” She of course was being overly modest, as she and her company is an example of people and a company that cares, but you get the point.

The amount of high-quality sales talent available is amazing. You owe it to yourself to upgrade the quality of your sales team now.

Years ago I was a very active stock trader. I specialized in down markets. But one rule I learned the hard way is the economy is more optimistic than pessimistic. After a downturn things always come back. I expect we’ll see a revitalization of small and medium sized businesses soon.

If you need help getting starting using the System, please reach out. We’re here to help.

Best wishes for a Happy and Prosperous New Year from all of us here at Advanced Hiring System to all of you!

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Uncategorized

Sales Best Practices During Pandemic

A near complete shutdown of the economy is an unprecedented event. This did not happen during the great depression, not as a result of any world war, nor ever before as a response to a contagious illness. But here we are. Focusing on the important big stuff and developing some best practices will go a long way to helping your sales organization survive, if not thrive, during the pandemic.

The World is Closed
Photographer: Edwin Hooper | Source: Unsplash

A solid sales team is important to any business. We typically devote most of our time to helping companies build great sales teams. If you’re in need of building your team, click HERE to learn more about what we do.

We do, however, talk with some of our larger clients about issues outside the scope of our sales recruitment coaching. I have included some ideas on best practices during a pandemic that we have discussed over the last few weeks.

  • Focus on customer relationships. Retaining your base of regular customers will prove lifesaving for your business. Of course you need to get new business and your competitors who are not focusing on their customer relationships might well be a good target for getting it. Strengthen your customer relationships to make them a tough target for your competitor.
  • Adjust your pitching process. Adapt your offerings to address specific pain points of your prospects. They likely have more time now and perhaps product demonstrations or free trial periods might attract interest. When things return to normal, these prospects might want to keep a valuable product you’ve introduced.
  • Offer flexible terms. Money is tight for most businesses, likely including yours. Minimizing the pain of more drains on cashflow will not only help your prospects, it will also let them know you’re trying to shepherd them through the current environment.

Selling is a challenging profession even in good times. COVID19 is making it an increasingly tricky game. Helping your sales team develop new best practices will go a long way toward recovering the ground lost to the shutdown.

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