Hiring Strategy Archives

How To Build a Candidate Pipeline For Future Hires

Posted on February 1, 2019January 20, 2021 by caitlinhoward

Building a "candidate pipeline" is a great way to form relationships with qualified candidates you may be interested in hiring when a new position opens up. Oftentimes, employers and hiring managers will have no more than two weeks notice to fill a position. This is nowhere near enough time to source candidates, interview them, and ultimately make an informed hiring decision. By creating a candid...

Do I Have the Right Sales Candidate?

Posted on May 27, 2016January 6, 2021 by caitlinhoward

Interviewing a sales candidate and reviewing their resume is not always enough to determine whether or not they'll be successful in the position. However, if you wait too long to decide if a candidate is a perfect fit, you risk missing out on a potentially great candidate. While there are obvious predictors of sales success, there are also other predictors that can’t be found by checking dates and...

7 Questions to Ask When Interviewing Sales Reps

Posted on July 18, 2014January 7, 2021 by caitlinhoward

Interviews are an opportunity to see which sales candidate is the best fit for your company and for the position. Asking candidates specific questions about their skills, job experience, and career ambition will help you match a candidate’s qualifications with your current opportunity. Consider asking these seven fundamental questions in your next interview to help you find your ideal sales candid...

Sales Interview Best Practices for Employers

Posted on July 11, 2014January 7, 2021 by caitlinhoward

Many companies look at the interview as the way to assess whether or not a candidate is a good fit for the business. While true, it is hardly the full picture. Many candidates today, especially top talent, have options of where to take their services. The interview is equally important in selling your business to candidates as the best opportunity to achieve their long term goals. &nbs...

How Long Should It Take To Hire a Top Performer In Sales? [Video]

Posted on July 11, 2014January 8, 2021 by caitlinhoward

By Kathleen Steffey (CEO and Founder of Naviga Recruiting & Executive Search) Hiring a new sales rep can take a long time if you don't have a dedicated resource searching for top talent. Learn how many days it takes on average to hire a sales rep when using a recruiting firm that is devoted to finding top sales talent. How long does it take your company to hire a top sales performer? How Long ...

How To Recruit For High Turnover Sales Reps

Posted on June 27, 2014January 8, 2021 by Kevin Steffey

Many companies go through periods of time where they need to hire a large volume of sales representatives, and they need to do it as quickly and efficiently as possible. Companies are often unable to keep up with these large hiring demands due to lack of process, resources and even time. Whether this need is due to business growth, high turnover environments, or a start-up business, the longer it ...

Preventing the Mis-Hire

Posted on June 26, 2009May 13, 2022 by KathleenSteffey

In a recent posting, fellow blogger Dave Stein commented on what he views as an epidemic: the mis-hiring of sales executives. Dave notes that too many C-level executives don’t understand what sales leadership is all about and, as a result, continue to put non-qualified people into these positions. “That’s why sales is last on line in many companies with respect to quality, discipline, process, m...

Sales Hiring in this Economy; Perspective from a CEO of a North American Sales and Marketing Recruiting Firm.

Posted on March 12, 2009October 14, 2022 by KathleenSteffey

Dave Stein, CEO and Founder of ES Research Group, Inc. and author of How Winners Sell, interviewed Kathleen Steffey, CEO and Founder of Naviga, for an interesting piece about the sales challenge of having the wrong people in sales jobs during these strained economic times. As ESR continues to assess our clients’ sales challenges, we maintain that having the wrong people in the sales jobs is, i...

Good Salespeople Are Hard to Find

Posted on February 9, 2009 by KathleenSteffey

"Successfully selling in specialized industries requires not only stellar sales skills but experience and industry-specific knowledge. Employers and salespeople alike need to focus on the salesperson's personal development, selling skills enhancement and their industry-specific training as well," discusses Daniel Sitter in his blog post for Idea Sellers. View the entire article at: http://ideasell...

Naviga’s 2009 Economic Survey finds companies are cautiously optimistic for revenue and hiring growth in 2009

Posted on January 30, 2009May 9, 2022 by KathleenSteffey

In some encouraging economic news, an independent survey conducted on behalf of my sales and marketing recruitment firm, Naviga Recruiting & Executive Search, found that companies are projecting at least modest revenue growth in 2009 and most are planning to expand their sales force to make that happen. When asked how they project revenues to change in 2009 compared to 2008, more than 32% of ...

Would An A-Player Use YouTube To Compete For A Sales Position?

Posted on September 12, 2008 by KathleenSteffey

If my own experience is any indication, video resumes are becoming more popular. I’m definitely seeing an uptick in the number of resumes I receive from sales professionals that direct me to a link on YouTube or another website to view their video resume. For me, it creates a dilemma. There are some very real discrimination concerns because videos reveal information about the candidate such as r...

Where do you stand on sales positions that offer no base and are 100% commission?

Posted on August 29, 2008March 12, 2021 by KathleenSteffey

Would you take a 100% commission business-to-business sales position? I wouldn’t, nor will I take on any company that insists on such an out-dated pay structure. The turnover rates are just too high (something like 99% of commission-only sales reps fails to make a livable wage and are forced to leave for greener pastures) and it’s nearly impossible to find A-Players willing to accept t...

Who says great sales managers can’t be found? Dig deep and make the offer sexy!

Posted on August 22, 2008 by KathleenSteffey

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a Fortune Small Business “Ask FSB” column (see “How do I Find a Great Sales Manager” in the September 2008 issue of Fortune Small Business), responding to a reader’s question on how to find a great sales manager to expand his staffing firm’s client base. The business owner said he was willing to offer very competitive pay, but was having a hard time...

Bring in the “A Team”

Posted on February 1, 2008 by KathleenSteffey

It doesn’t matter how innovative your products or services are, without a strong sales team, your revenues will remain flat. So why make the mistake of not involving your top performing sales representatives in building out your team? Or worse, putting the selection process in the hands of under-performers? Throughout my years of recruiting sales and marketing professionals, I have learned that t...