Salespeople are the revenue engine of your company. Empty territories lead to missed quotas which equates to lost revenue.

You need top sales performers and you need a fast and effective way to identify top sales talent.

You need salespeople who possess the sales characteristics that best align with your selling environment. You also need people who are the right culture fit for your company.

Here are 2 steps to recruit top salespeople and build a sales culture of success:

1. Build a Flexible Blueprint

Define the sales job you’re hiring for

Hiring your perfect fit starts with defining your perfect fit. Just as you define your corporate culture, you need to define your open sales position.

This includes:

  • Job title
  • Responsibilities
  • Requirements
  • Territory/accounts
  • Who they are selling into
  • Who they report to
  • Average deal size
  • Quota and average sales cycle
  • Commission structure

Treeline Inc - Sales Recruiters - Top Salespeople

Work with the sales executive team and managers to get a clear picture of the sales characteristics noted above. Before you even begin recruiting, you need to have clear expectations around the role to help you understand who you should be looking for.

Understand the key sales characteristics required

Companies often fail to hire when they misalign the sales characteristics required for their particular selling environment (your sales culture).

Each type of sales role requires certain sales characteristics that enable your new hires to be successful in the role. There are a few sales characteristics hiring managers should keep in mind regarding their sales job and the sales candidates they are looking for. This is deeply connected to your sales culture and is something that should be considered.

Ask yourself, does this sales job require:

  • A transactional or strategic selling approach?
  • Inside or outside sales experience?
  • Sold into general decision makers or C-level decision makers?
  • Sold a product or service?
  • Hunting or farming sales experience?

2. Give Your Recruiting Team the Support They Need

Culture is a business objective, not just an HR objective.

In order to hire the best sales talent, sales leadership need to be involved throughout the process. There needs to be a process, budget, and an actionable timeframe.

Time and budget

Treeline Sales Culture of Success - Quote by Matt Gaede Sales Director - Recruiting SalespeopleWhat is your budget and where will you invest it?

Hiring talented sales professionals will cost you both time and money, and your recruiting team needs both. Understand what your budget looks like and where you can allocate those resources.

Where will you invest your budget?

  • Job boards
  • Social media advertising
  • Career fairs
  • Resume databases
  • Offering employee referral incentives
  • Partnering with a sales-exclusive search firm

Determine which channel provides both the largest quantity of applicants and the quality of applicants. Adjust your recruiting strategy as needed.

Leadership and process

Before you start interviewing candidates, know which of your team members are involved in the process and how many steps that process consists of. You want to be mindful of this and have alignment to make the best hiring decision without slowing down the process. It’s not a bad idea to have this process in writing so that everyone involved can clearly see each step.

An example of this is:

  1. Phone screen (HR Manager)
  2. Face-to-face interview with the hiring manager and team members
  3. Face-to-face interview with the VP of Sales
  4. Offer

Want to build a high-performing sales culture of success?

Sales managers, CEOs, recruiters, human resources directors, and talent acquisition leaders share 7 steps to build a high-performing sales culture of success.

Get the E-book Here>>

How to Build a High-Performing Sales Culture of Success:
7 Steps for Senior Leadership to Recruit and Retain Salespeople

Published On: May 3rd, 2017Categories: Blog News, Job Search and Career

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

Sign up for our blog

    All fields required

    What interests you?



    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

    What our happy clients are saying

    Michele St Laurent
    Rated 5/5 based on 25 customer reviews
    Treeline Inc. has been qualified individuals throughout a five-year-long engagement. They’ve made numerous placements of talented and qualified individuals for our business.

    Treeline Inc. provided us with the most candidates that aligned with our needs and were of the highest quality.

    Dr. Jeffrey Klein Head of North America Sales, Satchel Pulse
    5.0 5
    Treeline Inc. provided us with the most candidates that aligned with our needs and were of the highest quality.

    Treeline Inc.’s collaborative, flexible, and communicative approach resulted in a smooth partnership. Beyond their recruitment expertise, their unique sourcing model was efficient and effective.   

    Sera Holt Director of Operations, LNS Research
    5.0 5
    Treeline Inc.’s collaborative, flexible, and communicative approach resulted in a smooth partnership. Beyond their recruitment expertise, their unique sourcing model was efficient and effective.   

    Their professionalism was outstanding. Treeline Inc. was extremely thorough and ensured that we were on the same page before they started looking for candidates. They listened to us and did a great job working with the candidate to close out the process.

    Cate Grant AVP Customer Success, Nasdaq
    5.0 5
    Their professionalism was outstanding. Treeline Inc. was extremely thorough and ensured that we were on the same page before they started looking for candidates. They listened to us and did a great job working with the candidate to close out the process.

    Thanks to Treeline Inc.’s intricate and thorough screening process, the company is able to hire six high-quality candidates that fit perfectly in the company’s culture. The team is highly receptive to concerns, and internal stakeholders are impressed with their unique recruitment abilities.

    Anna McKean Sales Recruiter, Insider Intelligence
    5.0 5
    Thanks to Treeline Inc.'s intricate and thorough screening process, the company is able to hire six high-quality candidates that fit perfectly in the company's culture. The team is highly receptive to concerns, and internal stakeholders are impressed with their unique recruitment abilities.

    Treeline Inc. has been qualified individuals throughout a five-year-long engagement. They’ve made numerous placements of talented and qualified individuals for our business.

    Michele St Laurent VP of HR, The Institute for Applied Network Security
    5.0 5
    Treeline Inc. has been qualified individuals throughout a five-year-long engagement. They’ve made numerous placements of talented and qualified individuals for our business.

    Contact Us for a Free Consultation

    Tell us more about your business and how we can help.

      * required

      What can we help you with?

      This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.