Time and time again we see a similar process play out to the detriment of a company. XYZ Company determines that they need to hire a new salesperson and the sales manager is going to spearhead the search.
A problematic approach.
The primary focus of most sales managers is to coach, motivate and hold the sales team accountable. Part of these responsibilities includes some direct selling and some organizational tasks (sales reports, meetings, etc.). Hiring is usually not a weekly sales manager activity unless there are larger issues inside the company.
So where does this menu of responsibilities leave running a sales search? Larger companies have HR personnel to place ads and sort resumes. Some go so far as to perform initial interviews. But sales managers always enter the process to interview the candidates.
In smaller companies, much of the entire process becomes the sales manager’s responsibilities.
This approach can become a fatal flaw.
The sales search is pushed to the margins of their day. The sales manager’s focus has to remain on revenue-generating activities that occur during the typical 8 to 5 work day. This approach means that strong candidates, who are actively pursuing other opportunities, are often left twisting in the wind. We have seen this error frequently over the past 9 months. The landscape has shifted back to an employee’s market. Letting a candidate sit for 3, 5 or even 7 days without an update is high risk.
Part of what we do is stand in the gap between the busy sales manager’s day and the candidate’s active search activities. We get caught in many discussions trying to qualify the candidate’s next move and determining the sales manager’s decision. If you are running a process yourself, please consider using an outside resource to handle the tedious activities that lead to hiring success.
We often advise sales managers to focus on what they do best – grow the company’s revenue and let us filter the candidates down to the top 2 or 3 salespeople. And when you find a strong candidate, don’t let the process stall out while focusing on other activities.