Demand for high-achieving business development professionals across the Digital Maritime, Trade, and Satellite Communications space has never been higher. Passive and active candidates are receiving multiple career opportunities and businesses are having to work harder to attract, as well as retain key hires.
As a specialist digital sales recruitment agency, our team speaks daily to hard-to-reach top-performing sales professionals. We have successfully helped organisations across EMEA, Asia, and the US to hire “hunter” and “farmer” sales professionals and are delighted to share our 16 top tips to increase the chances of a successful recruiting process.
Why do candidates choose one opportunity over another, what are common career change motivators and how can businesses increase the chances of a successful hire?
Preparation:
1. Stand out from the crowd – build an impressive website, detailed solution overview, innovative product, good employer brand image, be present at industry events/webinars
2. Exclusively partner with an industry specialist recruiting firm, or aim to have a talent acquisition team with industry background – avoid using multiple recruitment agencies.
3. Clearly define the role, responsibilities, reporting line, job title and state the NB/account management split
4. Set Year 1 sales targets (new business and any renewals)
5. Establish an easy to understand commission structure and know the ideal Year 1 on target earnings (OTE) figures
6. Commit to paying commission to the sales team monthly, or quarterly (monthly being the ideal)
7. Strong company benefits package – research what competitors offer, strive to either match or better them
8. Flexibility to hire remotely, in the office, or on a hybrid model – in general there is a huge preference for a hybrid or fully remote working model at this time. However, many top-sales professionals enjoy the buzz of working in a fast-paced office but also like the choice to work remotely
Hiring Process:
9. Provide prompt candidate feedback, maintain momentum throughout the interview process avoiding long gaps or periods of silence – TIME has now become one of the key differentiators between hiring firms – aim to limit interviews to 3-4 rounds or less
10. Product demo with team members and recruiters– show off your solution, engage your team so candidates get an idea of company culture and potential team fit
11. Emphasize growth potential during interviews– highlight growth markets (client base, regions), opportunities to perform a more strategic and man-management role down the line (if applicable)
12. Be prepared to discuss financial backing of the company with senior hires, any upcoming funding rounds the team are working towards
13. Highlight success stories within the team – top-earning sales members, how much commission they generated, key accounts onboarded and other major wins
Offers and Onboarding:
14. Ensure any outstanding candidate questions have been answered prior to offer stage
15. Trust your recruiter to present offers to candidates – and try to AVOID giving candidates offer deadline dates – no offers should be made unless the recruiter assures you the candidate is 100% ready to accept an offer (if remaining questions have been answered and the offer matches their guidance)
16. Send the new Employment Contract within 1-3 days – candidates now expect a smooth and fast onboarding process. Don’t let rival companies poach your new hire, or give the hire a chance to change their mind…. and finally anticipate COUNTER OFFERS from current employers
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