• Home
  • About
  • Employers
  • Jobs
    • Job Archives
  • Reviews
  • Contact
  • Blog

Fill your jobs fast. Call (908) 874-6148 today.

 

How To Hire Top Sales Talent

CNI Recruiting for Sales Professionals

“How can I hire top sales talent?”  If you need to fill sales jobs, you have probably asked yourself that question more than once.

Before we get to the answer, let’s define “top talent”.  It is the top 10% of available Candidates whose compensation requirements are consistent with your budget.  Next, let’s consider the justification for the additional effort required to hire top talent rather than average employees.  We are all familiar with the 80/20 rule, i.e. 20% of the Sales Executives in a company generate 80% of the sales.  Although the actual percentages vary based on market, employee type, etc., the concept is consistently valid.  Accordingly, increasing the percentage of productive Sales Executives and Sales Managers (“good hires”), even incrementally, can have a significant positive effect on revenue and profit.  In addition, the cost of replacing a “bad hire” is very high.  Estimates range from one third of the employee’s annual compensation, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, to up to five times annual compensation, according to the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM). These are strong arguments for hiring only top talent and for improving recruiting and hiring processes in order to do so.

CNI Recruiting for Sales Professionals

Some of the recruiting best practices used by HR professionals and Hiring Managers include application forms that are customized for each job, written job descriptions, resumes that are obtained from the the right sources, evaluating applications and resumes against job requirements, confirming information included in resumes, multiple phone and in-person interviews, evaluating work samples, i.e. sales communications and proposals, performing reference and background checks, and reviewing W-2s or other  documents to confirm compensation.

In addition, Hiring Managers and HR professionals use various criteria to determine if there is a fit between Candidates and jobs and employers.  These criteria include personality traits, cultural fit, years of experience in specific markets, total experience, job tenure record, and past performance.  Of these, past performance is the most important, because it is the best indicator of future performance.  Also, for sales professionals, past performance is a criteria that can be measured objectively by reviewing historical sales vs quotas.  Most recruiting tools and processes should be focused on accurately determining past performance.  For example, job applications should require that Candidates list all prior jobs and sales vs quotas for all years, or at least for the last full year for each job.

Job tenure record should also be carefully reviewed.  Applications should require months as well as years for job start and end dates, descriptions of job challenges and reasons for leaving.  Job tenure, challenges and reasons for leaving should be discussed in detail with Candidates.  Interviewers should ask probing questions regarding previous jobs in order to obtain an accurate understanding of past performance.  Candidate answers to questions should lead to additional questions by Interviewers.

Applications should also include achievements and awards, since many Candidates do not include all of their achievements and awards in their resumes.

Hiring top talent takes time.  However, hiring managers often feel that they don’t have the time for effective recruiting and that they are buried in resumes.  The right recruiting firm can significantly reduce the time required for recruiting and increase the percentage of good hires by carefully evaluating Candidates against job requirements and referring only Candidates who meet these requirements.

As part of our commitment to World Class service, CNI Recruiting publishes articles of interest to Clients, Partners and Friends.  We are based in New Jersey and recruit throughout the U.S. for Sales and Marketing Professionals for the IT and HIT markets. We know how to hire top talent and we achieve the right match between our Clients and Candidates on a timely basis and for a reasonable fee.

If you require assistance in achieving your recruiting goals, or have questions or comments about this article, or recruiting in general, or need to react quickly to fill an open position, please contact us today…we will exceed your expectations.

Fred Neufeld
President
CNI Recruiting
(908) 874-6148
www.cnirecruiting.com

Search CNI Recruiting

Placements

  • Sales Representative
    Sales Representative for a defense manufacturer. Territory is Southeastern U. S.
  • Inside Sales
    Inside Sales position with full sales cycle responsibility in the New York City metropolitan area.
  • System Administrator
    System Administrator for software firm in Massachusetts.
  • Sales Executive
    Sales Executive for an advertising and marketing firm in New Jersey.
  • Sales Executive
    Sales Executive for a software firm in Massachusetts.
  • Professional Services Manager
    Professional Services Manager for software firm in Massachusetts.
  • Quality Control Manager
    Quality Assurance Manager for a defense manufacturing firm in Valencia, CA.
  • Project Manager
    Project Manager for a software firm in Massachusetts.
  • Channel Sales Manager
    National Channel Sales Manager for a Massachusetts software firm.
  • IT Vice President
    Vice President of Information Technology for a medical software firm locating in the Northeast.
  • Quality Assurance Manager
    Manage a Quality Assurance department for a defense manufacturing company in Califiornia.
  • Proposal Coordinator
    Prepare proposals for defense firm in CA. Requires Secret Clearance.
  • VP of Sales
    Senior Sales Leader selling digital and traditional advertising and marketing projects nationally. Based in NJ.
  • Inside Sales Representative
    Responsible for selling secure messaging SaaS systems throughout the U..S. Based in MA.
  • Controller
    Financial manager for hospital in Southeastern U.S.
  • Business Development Representative
    Sell new business for equipment manufacturer in Southern California. Primarily government customers. Some commercial customers.
  • Project Manager
    Manage software development projects for secure data communications firm in MA.
  • Branch Manager
    Branch Manager - Commercial refrigeration service office in Southeastern Florida.
  • Technical Writer
    Technical Writer with TS(SCI) clearance. Southern California.
  • Pharmaceutical Sales Representative
    Wholesale pharmaceutical sales in Ohio.
  • Sales Representative
    HVAC and mechanical installations and maintenance field sales in Fort Worth, TX.
  • Technical Sales Representative
    eCommerce field sales in San Francisco, CA.
  • Sales Manager
    National SaaS sales.
  • Sales Manager
    National Inside Software Sales.
  • Medical Device Sales
    Medical Device sales in Mid-Atlantic region.
  • IT Sales Executive
    IT services field sales in Raleigh, NC.
  • Software Developer
    Direct mail application, Chicago, IL.
  • Sales Executive
    Technology sales. Mid Atlantic States.
  • Inside Sales
    Lead generation, qualification and appointment setting. Tampa, FL.
  • Inside Sales
    Full sales cycle. Tampa, FL.
  • Software Engineer
    Develops and maintains data security software. NJ.
  • Sales Executive - Promotions
    Sells customized promotional products.
  • Mobile Software Engineer
    Develops and maintains mobile endpoint software. NJ.
  • HEALTHCARE SOFTWARE SALES EXECUTIVE - EDIS
    Emergency Department Information System (EDIS) sales to hospitals and stand alone emergency providers throughout the U.S.
  • MEDICAL SALES REPRESENTATIVE
    This position calls on physician practices in Houston, TX to generate patient referrals.
  • IT SALES REPRESENTATIVE
    Hardware and software sales for a Value Added Reseller in Los Angeles, CA.
  • SALES MANAGER - MEDICAL
    This position generates patient referrals for a medical practice in California.
  • IT SALES REPRESENTATIVE - COMMUNICATIONS
    National communications systems sales.
  • HEALTHCARE SOFTWARE SALES EXECUTIVE - HOSPITALS
    Healthcare software sales to hospitals throughout the U.S.
  • SALES VP - SOFTWARE
    National Software Sales.
  • SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION SPECIALIST
    Software implementation. Northeastern U.S.
  • IT PROJECT MANAGER
    SECURE COMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT. Northeastern U.S.
  • IT SALES - HARDWARE
    Hardware sales to small, medium and large companies throughout the U.S.
  • PACS SALES
    National sales of Picture Archive and Communication software.
  • SOFTWARE SALES
    Software Sales to small, medium and large companies throughout the U.S.

 

Follow CNI…

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • LinkedIn

Terms & Conditions | Privacy | Contact

Copyright © 2021. All Rights Reserved.

Designed by WebAuthorings.