The Two Approaches to Sales Hiring

You Found A Good Candidate…Hire 'em!!

There are two approaches to hiring:

1. You do know what you want. You have defined it, now go get it, and hire it.
2. You do not know what you want. You need to meet candidates in the market to help define it, then, go get it, and hire it.

 

Here is a view into how the two approaches typically play out…

You found a good candidate, brought them through the interview process, passed all the assessment tests, checked all the references and everyone on your team likes him/her – what are you waiting for?!!

When some hiring managers are looking for a new talent – they start the interview process the way some people approach an art gallery – "I know what I like, and I'll know it when I see it." The problem with this approach is that you don't know what you have until it is too late. A company will meet a good candidate who meets all the criteria – right background, right culture fit, overall – the right person. The hiring manager starts to think, "if I found this person this quickly, what else might I find?! – I better bring some other people in to compare." This is the kiss of death for a lot of companies. I know some of you might be thinking, that is just doing due diligence, but it is not. Rather, it is the fear of pulling the trigger that causes many companies to lose great sales talent.

Conducting due diligence is when you look at 10 resumes, you bring 6 of those resumes in for initial interviews and then 3 of those come back for 2^nd interviews; and then you make an offer to 1 of them. If they do not accept the offer, then you may like one of the other 2 as a back fill. That is good process.

On the other hand, if you only bring one person through your interview process and they do well, you like him/her, the team likes him/her – hire them or be prepared to lose them. At that point, it is too late to bring anyone else into the process. Your #1 candidate will not wait forever while you conduct another interview process. Despite what the media is telling you – the market is picking up. Companies are hiring – I know this because I am making placements. People are getting offers…that's right…I said "Offers"…plural. If you want to stay competitive and hire good talent – then do not let your process get in the way and once you identify a candidate as being someone you want – pull the trigger.

Both approaches work when done the right way and both approaches break down when they are not done the right way. Just know that if you need to look at multiple candidates – start building your pipeline from the get go. If you do not need to meet a lot of candidates – be prepared to pull the trigger when you meet the person you want. It is getting more and more competitive out there to hire talent. Happy hiring!