Ask any business owner what is the most important part of their business and the answer is always the same - Sales.  Without a good sales process, no business will survive, it’s as simple as that.

Sales is the life blood of all business - from Accountancy firms to Hairdressers - because without the people skills to communicate effectively with prospective clients, people will take their business elsewhere.

In general run of the mill business' such as Distribution, FMCG, B2B, IT, etc where a dedicated Sales Director / Sales Manager is in place, sales reps are the people who get how vital sales is to the overall business - If the invoices stop going out, then trouble looms large very quickly as bills / wages / rent, etc still has to be paid.

Above all, hiring good hunter's as opposed to gatherers or account managers is vital in today’s challenging economy. 

Finding & Hiring To Do List

The Spec

·              VITAL:Make sure you know exactly what type of sales person you are looking for, background / skills they should have, who they will report to, key performance indicator's and a fair realistic base & commission salary package.

·              Write out a full job description : email info@salesjobs.ie for your free template for writing a winning sales job description

·              Select a start date you would like the successful candidate to be on board.  Start the process 8 weeks before start date. This helps decision making and stops procrastination.

Sources to find suitable candidates:

·              Word of mouth - Ask existing staff, friends,family, - give bonus on successful hire of €500

·              Ask suppliers / customers and anyone local do they know anyone?

·              Advertise online (obviously with SalesJobs.ie) advert inc CV access to 1,200 live cv's of sales people

·              Advertise in newspapers, local and national

·              Advertise on your company website

·              If budget allows, farm out to 3 sales recruitment agencies - check www.salesjobs.ie for full list of sales agencies - average once off fee is 15% of base salary.

The Hiring Process

·              Once you have selected a few suitable candidates for interview, move the process along quickly, as your candidates will also be attending other interviews.

·              Once you have selected a No. 1 candidate, offer verbally, agree salary/commission and agree start date.  Check 2 references of previous customer and employers if possible, but don't risk scaring away your No 1. candidate.

·              Make sure letter of offer covers all EC legislative directives.

·              Keep in touch on regular basis before start date, dependant on the role, you could bring them in for a few hours in-house training to meet other staff and welcome them into company.

·              Finally, we get reports back of candidates not turning up for interviews or even start dates.  Don't take it personally, it happens a lot of companies.  Just make sure you have a good pipeline of candidates to handle possible fall offs.

Niall Kelly is a director of SalesJobs.ie with 20 years international sales experience in both recruitment and online advertising.

Finding Sales Hunters is what www.SalesJobs.ie does best.

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