When recruiting sales talent, we often get caught in the middle on one important topic. Timing. Sourcing a strong candidate who is looking to move at the right moment is a complex undertaking. Few salespeople will cash in their current job for blue-sky possibilities which is how most opportunities appear at the outset. As we approach Thanksgiving here in the States, the timing window shrinks.
With Q4 one third of the way complete, most salespeople have a good idea of how their quarter is going to finish up in terms of revenue and, more importantly, commission. On top of that, they probably have family time, holiday travel and time off already planned out on their schedule. Changing jobs now may interfere with some of those plans. These factors make the timing of a successful hire more difficult during the holiday season.
And there is another issue – how fast the hiring manager moves. Most hiring processes occur in the margins of the day. The sales manager is focused on growing revenue and hitting/exceeding targets. He or she does not necessarily place the highest priority on candidate hiring tasks. Often these activities are moved to non-sales times (outside of the 8 to 5 window), or they get pushed back. And let’s not forget that the hiring manager probably has the pressure of meeting their year-end revenue goals along with a busy holiday season.
So here we sit in the middle attempting to connect these two parties. The connection becomes more difficult when you include business travel, next-year planning/budget meetings and the ever-present customer surprises. It becomes a daunting task to move information at this point. Schedules, references, offers…all of these tasks become more difficult during the upcoming holiday window.
In terms of my sales manager days, I always found December to be a great time to onramp new salespeople heading into the new year. In order to accomplish this goal, I had to prioritize the time to work the hiring process. If you are hiring during Q4, I strongly encourage you to prioritize the hiring process during this time.