4 Ways to Improve Your Sales Hiring Strategy

Of the three, chemistry is the most important. Some call this culture, because each and every one of our personalities shapes the company culture.

What is your company culture like? Is it serious and rigid, modern and fun, or somewhere in between? Is your company remote or does the team travel to an office each day? How does the team prefer to communicate? What types of personalities are needed on the team?

Identify your ideal candidate.

What characteristics have made other members of the team successful? Is there a specific person you’d like to model the ideal candidate around?

Focus on chemistry and talent in this ideal candidate description, but include any experience requirements and deal-breakers.

Create a thorough job description.

Include the following sections:

1. Responsibility – What are the responsibilities of the job? What will the employee do day to day?

2. Accountability – How will the employee be held accountable? What are the expected results?

3. Reporting – What information will the employee be expected to report, to whom will it be reported, and how often will it be reported?

And in the job posting, explain the opportunity you provide – this is much more than money. What will the employee learn? How will they grow through working with you? Ask existing employees what makes you special.

Develop interview scorecards.

Avoid inconsistencies in interview techniques by developing an interview scorecard that integrates key traits from the ideal candidate description and elements from the job posting.

Note that since there are multiple steps in the hiring process, and often multiple interviews taking place, it's a wise idea to create a scorecard for each interview (Ex: first, second, third. Or, phone, video, first in-person, second in-person etc.).

Add question prompts and ensure that everyone conducting interviews uses the scorecard.

Conduct a chemistry test.

It's very important that prior to onboarding a new hire, you make sure they're a good culture fit.

This means that you need to bring your team into the interview room and evaluate the candidate together. A great way to do this is by having the candidate conduct a brief presentation about themselves using a white board or flip chart.

• What I do not like doing but will do anyway
• A personal or professional win
• Core values
• Anything else to share

Take a picture of the candidate next to the white board afterwards. This is a great memory to look back on!

eBook – The Ultimate Hiring Guide for Sales Managers

Find the tips listed above along with informative templates in this month's complimentary eBook. Click here or on the image below to download it today.