35 • Recruiting is a numbers game and you need to play the numbers. Finding superstar salespeople is like looking for a needle in a haystack. For every 100 people you speak with, you might only find 5 superstars. That means you need a recruitment plan that you commit to in the same way your sell- ers need to commit to making their goals. Follow that plan all year long, contacting potential candi- dates and meeting with talent in the market so you can make your numbers. • Top talent is rarely available when you have a position to fill, and that puts you at risk of hiring sub- par talent when you need to rush to fill the gap on your team. Prevent this by building a strong Talent Bank you can turn to when you need it. Identify those with top talent and let them know that, while you don’t currently have an open position, you would like to put them in your Talent Bank. Sched- ule regular check-ins and nurture those relationships so you can pull the right people off the bench when you need to fill an empty spot. • It’s smart to get creative in your recruitment efforts. Consider ways you can get your talent assess- ment into the hands of people who may not be actively seeking a new job. Share your custom link on social media or consider being more of an active talent scout by having unique business cards print- ed that you can give to those who appear to have the right stuff. • Candidates are going to research you and your company. They’re going to read reviews and talk to current and past employees. You need to consider what they’re going to find, and work hard to develop the kind of culture that will attract them. • While experience is expensive, talent can be very affordable – even though it is much more valuable in the long run. Don’t be snowed by a great resume. Pay attention to the specific behaviors you need for performance excellence in a role and seek candidates who have those behaviors in spades. • Consider bringing sellers on for a Tour of Duty – a specific mission with a realistic timeline that bene- fits both the employee and the company. During this mission, the employee promises to fully invest in the company’s success and, at the same time, the company promises to fully invest in the employ- ee's market value. At the end of the Tour of Duty, both the salesperson and the sales organization will have benefited, and they will each be able to decide whether they want to enlist in another tour. RECRUITMENT TAKEAWAYS What you need to know about Recruitment to turn talent into performance