Clients Say...

"Working with Optimal Sales Search changed my mind about the true partnership you can have with the right sales recruiter. We have hired several high-level sales people with their help. The results have helped build our company. One of the people we hired from Optimal Sales Search has been our number one sales rep for two years!"

VP Sales, $60M Firm

Sales Recruiting Emergency Pre-Hiring Checklist:

Individual Contributor Sales Role

Your former sales manager just turned in his notice and your best reps are leaving left and right. It’s times like these when you may find yourself hiring for a sales position without the assistance of a sales professional at the executive level. This means you may be working with limited information and you might have to scrape together enough facts to compile a workable job description.

The following ten questions will get you on your way to a fast recruiting start and help you gather the most essential data needed to get your sales search kicked off without delay. If you don’t have anyone on the executive team who can answer these questions with absolute certainty, call in your best sales rep and you will quickly find yourself armed with the information you need to commence a productive search.

The following is a checklist that will help you gather the information you need to begin sourcing candidates, call the position out to sales recruiting firms and find the talent you need for long term sales hiring success.

  1. What is the territory and what is the quota?
  2. When are commission paid out? (Quarterly, Monthly?)
  3. What is the base salary range and OTE (on target earnings) first and second year?
  4. What products/solutions are being sold? What are the titles of target prospects and company size of prospective clients? i.e. CIOs, VPs Marketing, CFOs, Enterprise, Commercial, SMB markets
  5. How long is the average sales cycle?
  6. Who does the position report to and what are their strengths?
  7. What type of support is in place for the new salesperson to succeed?
  8. Is the role new business acquisition only or new business from existing accounts or a mix of both? If it’s a mix, where is the emphasis?
  9. What CRM is being used?
  10. What marketing resources are available? How are leads generated?

Although this information isn’t in-depth, it is enough to get a sales search initiated. When you are working with minimal sales expertise, these ten questions will help you launch a search quickly and ensure that you are equipped with the relevant information you need to be effective in your sales recruiting efforts.

Copyright © Optimal Sales Search. Optimal Sales Search recruits sales professionals at the mid, senior and executive levels for ambitious Technology and High-Value Service firms. Visit our website at www.OptimalSalesSearch.com for sales hiring tips, articles and checklists that can help you hire better sales talent, faster.