I recently had the pleasure of hosting a Communitech Sales Leaders P2P session on sales hiring and recruiting. It was a panel discussion with Gary Good, Global Talent Acquisition Manager at Miovision and Rhys Metter, Partner at SalesForce Search. There were some prepared questions as well as a number of questions for the audience on sales hiring and recruiting. Here were a few of my big takeaways.
Remote Employees
This was a common theme about one of the largest changes in sales hiring in the last few years. Covid forced organizations to look at the importance of being in the office. By not being limited to candidates being in close proximity to an office it allowed for more access to talent. This was especially true for KW. It is also more efficient for interviews for both parties. One challenge this does provide for the hiring company is that it is easier for a candidate to take many interviews. They don’t need to travel or take time off for onsite interviews.
Challenging Task
A challenging task is a type of assignment for the candidate. We use a practice cold call at VA Partners to help measure the strength of a candidate on this important skill. We know other companies have candidates present something to them to give them feedback and measure their coachability. SalesForce Search likes to use the challenging task to measure how serious a candidate is about the opportunity. With it being so easy to make time for interviews, going a little above and beyond can be s good indication of their interest.
Strengths and Weaknesses
A common thread through-out the session on sales hiring and recruiting was strengths and weaknesses. It can be a great indicator for the candidate’s future success. Those questions are also open to bogus answers like my greatest weakness is I work too much. One of the tips provided by Rhys was once they provide their strengths and weaknesses say that you plan to confirm with their references. That should help them being honest with these answers.
Referrals
The biggest source of new sales hires at Miovision is through referrals. They find quality people from the industry. The other big benefit is that a team member is vouching for the candidate. The candidate should have a good idea of the work environment from the team member that makes the referral. Miovision has a modest referral bonus program for hires.
Hiring Internationally
Many local tech firms are growing internationally. This could mean sales hiring in new countries. This can be a challenging process. For many companies a program like Outposts from Communitech could help. Outposts can help a range of things including market insights, contracts, local payroll tax, and getting your salesperson paid.
If you would like to talk about sales hiring, recruiting, or more information on the Sales Leaders P2P please connect with me.
