The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Holding people accountable is tough.

You have to be tough and sometimes even be a jerk, right?

92% of potential candidates have abandoned online job applications without finishing them. Tedious, repetitive application processes send candidates a message about the employer that isn't great.

To attract better candidates, it's time to dump the old system. Instead, recruit employees and sales talent by thinking outside the box. 

Although recruiting qualified candidates is a different process in different fields, anyone can try one of these six surprising strategies to recruit great candidates.

Before you can close the deal you first have to schedule the first meeting with the prospect’s decision-maker. Often, that’s the most challenging element of the sales process. Many sellers express the same frustration. “We have a great story to tell, but we’re simply not getting enough at-bats.”

Here are five ideas to help your sellers get off the bench and into the game.

What is the best way is to start a conversation? Ask the other person a question. 

We learn by asking questions.

Smart business people never stop asking questions. Your prospect probably forms their opinion about you based more on what you ask them, than on what you tell them.

“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers” - Voltaire

Trigger Warning... If you get easily offended by brutally honest feedback that might seem harsh and mean, you might want to skip today's blog post.

Ok, now; that we've gotten that out of the way, here's that brutally honest and possibly mean content:

You should NOT invest resources into poor-performing salespeople!

Every successful organization depends on the productivity of various departments and teams to achieve its overall mission and goals. But being a part of a team doesn’t mean teamwork happens naturally.

For departments and teams to be efficient everyone needs to work together to execute and finish projects and goals. And yet the reality is that, more often than not, employees find it challenging to collaborate and work together with ease and balance.

The things you do are often more powerful than the things you say. 

New business prospects are more likely to increase their engagement level when they know a seller truly cares about them and their business. Think about your own buying habits—are you more likely to do business with someone who cares about you compared to a slick talking salesperson who only cares about making a sale? 

Sales structure organization can bring new skills to light and help put tired and outdated concepts to bed. Just because a strategy worked for your team five years ago doesn't mean it will still bring out the best in each team member so that your team will flourish now.

Consider revising sales goals and implementing a new sales structure with new possibilities in mind.

World-class managers understand this essential element of hiring salespeople: talent is meaningless without FIT!

As a hiring manager, considering fit as carefully as talent is critical to a successful hire. Unfortunately, some managers discover fit problems after they hire a seller. Avoid this problem by evaluating these eight fit factors during the hiring process.