There is a subtle psychology to working with sales candidates in a hiring process when you get to the offer stage. The ideal time frame for an offer is approximately one week after the final interview. This 1 week window provides enough time for both sides to contemplate the position and the salesperson’s fit to it.
Now understand, I’m talking about a hiring process where a phone screen, assessment and multiple interviews have occurred. This candidate has been fully vetted and found to be a strong fit to the position’s requirements.
Unfortunately, we have seen a couple of clients work past this ideal window into an extended time period after the final interview. This delay has led to more difficult negotiations with the candidates whom have taken more demanding positions.
Here’s what happens when you extend this offer window:
Candidate Doubt
The candidate may start to think they are not the right fit for the position since all the momentum of the hiring process reaches a climax and then stalls. Most of us have experienced this doubt. The process goes well and an offer is expected yet a week goes by with nothing.
A strong sales candidate typically follows up to qualify the time frame. Often, they receive an ambiguous response. Since candidates are typically adapting to a highly compliant nature, they won’t push too hard on qualifying this information. And yet the wait can continue for another week or worse.
A secondary doubt can develop in which the candidate now starts questioning the company’s bureaucracy. If it takes this long to make a hiring decision, what is going to happen when I am closing a large new prospect? Can the company support my skills? These are legitimate questions that creep into the candidate’s decision process.
Candidate Confidence
The other negative consequence is you create an overly confident candidate. The candidate knows they did well in the hiring process and now they are gaining confidence that they are the only option. Why wouldn’t they think this? It has been weeks since the interview and now a negotiation is being initiated.
An overconfident candidate can be problematic in that they greatly overestimate their value in the negotiation. This is never good. Their thought that they are the only option may or may not be accurate, but it doesn’t matter. Their perception of scarcity of viable candidates drives their desires.
If you contact them within the 1 week window, the top candidate must consider the fact that other candidates are still available. The interviews were recent enough that other candidates are vying for the opportunity. If the top candidate gets too confident, the hiring company may enter into negotiations with the secondary candidate. This is valuable leverage in a negotiation.
There is always the possibility to successfully hire a new salesperson outside of this window and we have been successful at it in the past. However, this time frame is ideal for adding a highly skilled, successful salesperson to your existing team.