5 Offbeat and Creative Ways to Find Sales People

Hiring regular employees is hard, but Forbes magazine says that hiring good salespeople is harder.  Here are five helpful and unconventional ways to find the best sales people for your company.

Leverage Social Media

Sales and account manager professionals should already be social media savvy. Using Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook to post job ads will immediately reach target audience, who will likely re-share or retweet the post. Another creative way is to search for appropriate candidates among LinkedIn and Facebook mutual connections. Using personal networks will act as a natural referral and it will help the hiring manager to quickly screen candidates based on their skills, experience and ambitions.

Implement Group Interviews

Conducting interviews all day long is exhausting and time-consuming. Instead, hold group interviews with two to three candidates at the same time. This will shorten the interview process and lighten the HR load. Most importantly, it will allow the hiring manager to immediately gauge how the potential hires interact with others and will fit into the company.  In fact, hiring managers may respectfully discuss the candidate’s strengths and weakness. The candidates will appreciate the feedback and the hiring manager will be relieved from making unpleasant phone call rejections.

Seek Out Product Reviewers

Consumers who provide positive product feedback on review sites are ideal individuals to help find sales people.  The individuals who continually review products and services on different platforms, such as Yelp and Google Places, will be genuine fans and advocates of the company. While not all of these random reviewers will be qualified or prepared to promote, solicit and market, they will likely be more than happy to reach out to their interpersonal networks to find the right people who appreciate your products and services.

Hire Internally Through Competition

Companies can easily save hiring and screening costs through hiring from within.  This is an excellent way to encourage employees to leave their comfort zone and recommend their peers for promotions. The formally traditional method would be to inform employees, collect referrals and interview candidates. A subtly alternative way would be to have a friendly competition, performance-based test or presentation that is judged by a panel. For example, an employee training session is an excellent platform to have regular staff comfortably demonstrate their persuasive communication skills in front of their peers.

Focus on the Company’s Culture

Each company has their own unique personality and customer service approach. The company’s style will strongly impact how sales and account managers are expected to behave. For example, some companies expect the account manager to take on more financial, strategic planning or risk assessment duties. The temperament of the account manager should match their specific duties and the company’s culture, so avoid hiring an assertive go-getter to monitor accounting activities.

When searching for sales and account professionals, be sure to focus on their past history and potential to provide quality service and handle customer relationship management. Contact us to learn how our staffing services may help your organization.