Why Should You Use a Sales Recruitment Agency?

When you have an open sales position at your company, you want to fill it as quickly as possible, and with the best possible candidate. Of course, that is easier said than done. According to a study conducted by Glassdoor, “The average length of the hiring process in the U.S. is about 23.8 days.” And the more senior a position, the longer this process becomes.

Taking the time to find the best possible fit for your company is essential, but the longer a hiring process stretches out, the more expensive (and frustrating) it becomes. One solution to this problem is to work with a sales recruitment agency. This is an additional expense, however, and you might wonder whether it is worth it.

Sales headhunters can improve the recruitment process and the success and longevity of your hire in a number of ways. From taking extra stress off of your plate to saving you money through turnover reduction, here are some of the ways using a sales recruiting agency can elevate your hiring process.

Target a Larger Candidate Pool

You may think that by posting to a variety of job boards, social media, and on your career page, that you’ve cast a sufficiently wide net. If you were only targeting active candidates, or those actively pursuing new jobs (often those who are presently unemployed), then you would be on the right track. However, solely posting places where candidates must actively be seeking employment in order to run across your job posting ignores a key set of candidates: passive candidates.

Unsurprisingly, many of the best salespeople out there already have jobs in sales. These candidates are highly attractive, and yet elusive because they are not actively on the hunt for a new job. In fact, according to LinkedIn, 85% of job seekers fall into the passive category, meaning they’re interested, but they’re not going to find you, you have to find them.

By using sales recruiting services, you get access to the massive pool of passive applicants in the recruiting firm’s network. This not only increases the number of candidates, but also increases the average quality of those you will end up bringing in for interviews.

Improve the Process from Top to Bottom

Looking back at that job post you were considering putting up on your own, there are probably some key mistakes you were making. Perhaps the job title wasn’t ideal for catching the eye of the correct candidates or the job description was filled with industry-specific jargon that would drive away qualified candidates from other business sectors.

Sales recruiters understand every element of every step of the hiring process — it’s what they do every day. They have tried and true methods to their recruitment strategy. Everything from properly titling the job to exploring employee referrals to asking the right screening and interview questions is carefully structured and planned to find the absolute best candidates.

Whether you are a large firm with a Human Resources team or a smaller company, your internal team has a lot of responsibilities and likely hasn’t had the time to fully flesh out the ideal hiring process. A great sales recruiter has, and this shows in the time it takes to source candidates and the quality of the hires.

Glean Powerful Insight into Industry Trends

A recruiting agency that specializes in hiring for sales jobs knows exactly how to position you against your competition. Whether you are hiring sales executives, sales directors, sales managers, or entry level sales associates, your headhunter will have recent experience sourcing for roles at that exact level and will know the answers to every question you might wonder about the job market.

From invaluable insight into salary ranges to eye-opening discussions on what benefits employees expect from their employer in the modern workforce, a great sales recruiter will educate you on these trends while using market knowledge to your advantage.

Benefit from a Third-Party Endorsement

Even though the recruiter is working on your behalf, they tend to have closer relationships with the candidates than would a regular hiring committee, and their opinion is taken in high regard by candidates. Having your recruitment consultant there to sell your candidates on the opportunity is very valuable.

Find the Perfect People for Your Company Culture

In addition to screening for skills and experience, strong sales recruiters understand how to match you up with candidates who will fit your company culture. Culture is a huge part of employee retention, and screening for this from the beginning helps to cut down on unnecessary interviews, and ultimately decreases turnover among your hires.

Improve the Employee Experience and Decrease Turnover

In addition to matching the perfect person with the perfect role and company culture, a quality sales headhunter respects candidates deeply and communicates with them throughout the process, greatly improving what is known as the Employee Experience, which begins from the first impression of your company and continues through the hiring process and into employment.

Free up Your Time

A great sales recruitment agency frees you up to focus on other elements of your business while they handle the bulk of the hiring process. Of course, you will be part of the interview process and more involved in the final steps, but your valuable time won’t go to low-value activities, like screening resumes, when you could be handling the executive management of your firm.

Because of the high efficiency and proven processes sales recruiters have in place for these steps, they can get through them quickly and move onto the meat of the process, so to speak.

Decrease Time-to-Hire

Perhaps one of the most important things a sales recruitment agency does for you is decrease the time to hire. However, a good sales recruiter isn’t looking to rush the process along, but rather to increase efficiency at every turn.

By sourcing candidates from their existing candidate pool, you get high-quality candidates early in the process, and are able to begin interviews much more quickly. Additionally, because your sales recruiter is able to handle all of the initial screening steps, the process up until the point of your first in-person interviews is streamlined and moves swiftly.

They also continue to find more talent throughout this process, providing you with a consistent flow of interview-worthy candidates. By keeping the process moving along and thoroughly screening every step of the way, no time is wasted, and you will find the perfect hire as efficiently as possible.

Through decreased time-to-hire and increased quality and retention, sales recruiters pay for themselves many times over by the time the process is complete. However, it is still good to know how the process works when it comes to your initial investment. There are a variety of ways recruitment firms charge for their service.

You may pay a contingent percentage (when you hire, in the range of 20%-35% of the first year’s guaranteed compensation), a contingent flat fee (a set dollar amount paid when you hire a referral), or a retainer (a set fee paid upfront to see a certain number of candidates).

If you are interested in improving your sales hiring process by working with a sales recruiter, contact CulverCareers today. Take advantage of our 90-day satisfaction guarantee, our average 6-month retention rate of 97.7%, and our average reduction in time-to-hire of 83.3%.