39 • Reactive Recruiting: engaging in the search for salespeople only when an open position exists. • Proactive Recruiting: engaging in the search for salespeople on an ongoing basis with the intent of building a talent bank of ready, willing, and able candidates. Here’s a list of symptoms of reactive recruit- ing: • Interview blitzes only when a position is open, causing the manager to neglect oth- er important managerial tasks. • Lack of a defined selection process that causes hiring to take a long time (this of- ten causes the best candidates to take po- sitions from other companies or self-select out of the process). • Panic hiring, resulting in hiring candidates who do not possess the proper talents and experiences. A warm body often appears to be a better option than an open position. Moving from Reactive to Proactive Recruiting Here is a process to follow to make the switch to proactive recruiting and building a talent bank: • Create KPIs—key performance indica- tors—related to the number of open sales positions and the average number of days open sales positions exist (perhaps a KPI for the company and a KPI for each sales organization within the company). • After the KPIs are created, develop a plan to improve (lower) KPIs and reduce the number of open positions and number of days open positions exist. • A plan to do this should include: » » Create a talent bank form or spread- sheet. It is usually a wise move to break out the talent bank based on the various type of positions in the organization (en- try level, mid-level or tenured level). » » Set goals on the number of candidates to add to the talent bank weekly, month- ly, quarterly. » » Modify the selection process of the or- ganization. Be sure to include the use of questions/assessments related to innate sales talents as well as an evaluation of required experience and trainable skills. » » Develop tactical methods to find candi- dates to add to the talent bank. Kurt Sima VP/Senior Consultant The Center for Sales Strategy