34 Start looking at the hiring process from the recruitment perspective, and truly start run- ning your business effectively. Follow these tips for strong recruiting and never be a vic- tim of reactive hiring again. The hiring mindset: “I’m sorry, we don’t have any openings right now.” The recruiting mindset: “We are always look- ing for talented sales representatives to join our team.” Now that you understand the difference be- tween hiring and recruiting, let’s talk about the interview process. The Talent Bench: What Is It? Recruitment doesn’t start when someone leaves. It is a never-ending process that elim- inates the need for the hasty hiring of lack- luster talent and saves you time and money. Recruitment gives you control. Think it about it this way – would you be able to operate effectively if you solely depend- ed on just your current accounts alone? No way! The same philosophy applies to your sales team. Recruitment should be happening every day as a part of your weekly activity. Even if you think you have the “perfect” staff in place, you neverknowwhenthatmightchange.Thebusi- ness may grow which will drive you to need an additional seller onboard. Someone might un- expectedly take a position elsewhere. Or even worse – one of your current sales reps might plan to stay but perform below par! Strong re- cruitment ensures that you don’t have to set- tle for the disappointing performance. When you fill the bench with quality, talented can- didates, you are always prepared with some- one ready, willing, and able to join your team when the opportunity arises. Highly talented salespeople usually have a pretty successful career already, so they ar- en’t looking for a job. You have to find them, and you need to give them a reason to talk to you – even when you don’t have an immedi- ate opening. Plan to sell them on your com- pany (which can take time!), and make sure you to have these conversations consistently. Finding quality candidates is easy when you look in the right places. • Talent loves talent, and a great place to start is with the talented people on your current team. Ask them for referrals, and if your company doesn’t have an employ- ee referral program with a monetary in- centive, create one. • Find networks of people in sales that are great lead sources for you. • Ask your clients for impressive reps in the market who they think highly of and learn why. • Search LinkedIn for profiles of salespeople in your industry that stand out. Proactively select the right people for your team … even when you don’t have an open- ing.