The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

During a recession, businesses must strategize their talent management to weather the economic downturn. 

Here are some of the best recession-ready recruitment tactics as it becomes harder to find talented people.

In the past year, recruitment has been an issue that has been part of every client call I have. It seems the biggest challenge is where to find the best people and how to attract them to leave their current position and join your team.

Here are some recruiting challenges I consistently face and some tips to overcome them.

When was the last time you heard someone use the words “artificial intelligence”? A decade ago, it might have been sparingly, but today we hear the term daily.

As the tech industry continues to expand, engaging with other sectors such as automotive, biomedical science, data science, healthcare, and entertainment, it is increasingly likely that tech will come to play a role in all of our corporate lives.

It might seem that the tech industry is quite distant from Human Resources, but, in fact, the two fields are already working closely together.

We have all heard the expression, “As impossible as trying to fit a round peg into a square hole.” A simple statement yet one that perfectly captures the challenge of making a match where there isn’t one.

Ask the leader of any organization about what keeps them up at night, and one answer is certain to be, “How can I make sure I have the right people in the right roles for the success of our business?”

Most people in hiring roles are having the conversation: How am I going to find someone to fill my vacant roles?

The problem is real, and for some, it’s overwhelming.

Here are four options to consider.

Finding talented salespeople has never been easy.

Finding naturally talented salespeople has always been more difficult than finding successful sellers. Far too often, we confuse success with talent. We go after the big name at the big competitor who has some big sales numbers. Experienced salespeople tend to have bad habits that follow them.

We default to looking and hiring experienced salespeople over inexperienced talented salespeople because it's easier.

World-class managers know that adding a sales superstar to the team is a great way to improve sales performance. They also know landing a superstar seller involves a recruitment process just like it does for a top-performing college football team (go figure, teams like Alabama and Clemson win national championships after they compile great recruiting classes).

Superstar sellers know they are good and should be treated accordingly.

As part of your recruitment process, it is important to know—and effectively communicate—your Employment Value Proposition (EVP). 

How many open positions are on your team?  Open positions are an opportunity to improve the talent level. You want to make your goals more attainable and hiring top-shelf people is the best way to do that. 

However, building a high-quality sales team isn’t easy. It typically requires a lot of time and money to assemble a team of top performers. What if we told you that there’s a proven system that would help you get a list of great people to interview? Would you be interested?

The top organizations in any marketplace place a high value on their people because they are the foundation on which success is built.

They place an even higher value on managers who can develop top performers. Yet, all too often, business leaders hire people they believe in and sit back to see what they can do.