The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Most companies scale back recruiting in response to a financial crisis. Did you know that 1 of the 3 most effective responses is to hire top performers from the competition?

Companies looking to hire the best talent should pay attention to these recruiting trends we’ve seen in 2021 and what it means for future years.

Although lowering, unemployment rates are still much higher than we’ve seen in recent years. However, don’t let that fool you; as you can see, it’s still a very competitive job market out there.

Why? In part, because smart companies are examining their talent and prioritizing their top performers. When they know it’s time to let someone go, you can guarantee it’s not going to be their top people. However, while unemployment is higher, top talent is still scarce.

How can you structure your interview process to let top talent shine through? And beyond that, how can you change your traditional interviewing process to show top talent you have an adaptable, strong company culture?

Season 3 of the Improving Sales Performance Series is focused on helping sales leaders make an impact on their sales performance through insight on 4 key areas: people, process, planning, and performance.

In Episode 24, Jaleigh Long, Vice President and Market Manager, Atlanta Radio at Cox Media Group, discusses how sales leaders can make an impact on their sales performance through recruitment and selection.

Tune in now to hear the Live broadcast or keep reading for a brief overview.

Managers often reach out to us looking for creative ways to recruit top-talent to their companies.

Unfortunately, most wait until they're in need, when in reality, consistent searching and recruiting to keep their talent banks full would not only prepare them for the future, but also save them money and time when the time comes to fill a position on their team.

What are your most effective recruiting tools and strategies?

As a hiring manager, you’ve witnessed first-hand that simply posting a job listing is not enough to attract top talent to your organization. You may have tried to throw-out company statistics and numbers while interviewing, but even those impressive numbers didn’t set you apart from the competition.

So, how do you stand out and sell candidates on your company? The answer is surprisingly simple: storytelling.

“Why interview if I can’t hire?” This is a frequently asked question this year — and understandably so. Recruiting top sales talent takes time and energy, and it feels pointless if you’re a company experiencing a hiring freeze. Let’s pause there for a minute.

While not under a hiring freeze, college football teams are limited to the number of players that they can have on the roster. However, that doesn’t stop recruiters from scouting more players than their roster can accommodate in search of top recruits. They’re actively recruiting the best talent to build a winning team for future seasons to ensure the best replacement for this season’s graduating players. Plus, they know that not every player to whom they offer a position will accept.

In the business world, the same rules apply. Building a winning legacy depends on having top talent on your staff and top talent ready to join in a moment’s notice. Because we know turnover is inevitable. It isn’t a matter of if it will happen; it’s a matter of when.

“More than ever, future hires will come from within the company. In an increasingly tight talent market, organizations will rediscover the benefits of internal hiring and work to better understand how their employees want to learn and grow.” — 2020 Talent Magazine

Recruitment is all about finding and attracting the right employee to your company. But sometimes, the individual you need to fill a vacant position already works within your existing business structure.

At The Center for Sales Strategy, we’re firm believers in always searching for talent. However, we’re also advocates for using empathy to better understand how people want to learn and grow. This is why one of the top recruitment trends in the 2020 Talent Magazine is internal recruitment.

From reduced revenue to poor employee morale, there’s one situation that creates heightened anxiety among sales managers and CEOs, and that’s an open position that goes unfilled for too long.

“Somebody is better than nobody”—we’ve all said it when it comes to our sales team. There’s pressure to fill open jobs quickly, and with good reason, but what brings us to this point of desperation? Hiring quickly and rushing through the recruiting process often leads to a bad hire, and a bad hire leads to costly damages.

So that you’re not hiring out of desperation, you need to learn how to build a strong talent bank. Here’s how you can start today.

Sales managers in every market say the same thing —finding great salespeople is hard. We empathize, but of course, it is! Salespeople are often really good at selling themselves, and when you do hire, it takes six months to a year to know whether you made the right decision.

This is one reason you must develop a plan and execute that plan at all times. Managers often reach out to us looking for creative ways to recruit people to their companies. Unfortunately, most wait until they're in need. If you're waiting for an opening on your staff to begin recruiting salespeople for your talent bank, it's too late! 

Talent assessments are an excellent tool for understanding the way your candidates and current salespeople are wired. The difference in approach with each group is key to productive new hires and successful coaching.