A View From Our Sales Recruiters

Recruitment for sales is one of our core areas of expertise. We understand that often candidates who are motivated by money achieve good results in sales. Whilst they may not have an academic background or a handful of vocational sales qualifications, they will have good verbal and written communication skills. This is essential as the best performers are often naturally inquisitive people with a real ability to converse. As the great Brian Tracy said ‘Telling is not selling. Only asking questions is selling.’

The view from our sales recruiters is that sales roles are generally filled purely on a candidate’s personality, attitude, and evidenced previous sales performance. We typically fill these roles through proactive methods like headhunting, as the best sales staff are rarely in the market very long – if at all. From recruiting sales roles for so long, often the candidate we fill a role with is not looking for a new job, and needs to be approached in the right way with a compelling reason for them to think about moving.  So, if you are looking for a sales recruitment agency that understands what will attract the very best sales executives and managers to your business. Give us a call for a confidential discussion.

How does high-value sales recruitment differ?

When high value products such as machinery or software are being sold, often larger sales teams or specialist sales roles are required. These roles typically have more specialist job titles such as Technical Sales Manager or Field Sales Executive. Sales executives could still be selling other high value items such as cars and houses. And likewise in some industries, more specialist roles can sell lower value items. It’s not an exclusive definition, but a more generalised understanding and observation.

How does sales recruitment vary with seniority?

Whilst the nature of different roles within sales is inherently similar, the duties vary with seniority. Junior level roles such as a sales executive, will support a sales manager, who supports a sales director. A sales director will often focus on strategy, and on the management of the senior sales team. The Sales Manager will handle the management of the lower sales roles, and larger customer accounts. And the Inside Sales Executives will focus on revenue generation, and meetings appointments for up the chain.

How does sales differ from other commercial roles?

According to Wikipedia sales are ‘activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale’. And as alluded to this can be products or services to customers through a variety of different channels. Around 25 years ago sales accounted for the majority of commercial jobs in the market. The most common roles within sales are Sales Managers or Sales Executives who operate either face to face or by phone. sales roles can be found in the business to consumer (B2C) or the business to business (B2B) sector. There are increasingly more roles in the business to business to consumer (B2B2C) sector – selling into who retailers who then sell to consumers. Every sales recruiter in our team understands these differences and why they are important to the sales recruitment process.

The digital age has meant that the sales process and in result the sales recruitment process more complex. One of the outcomes of this has been the creation of more varied & defined sales roles within the industry. These include Inside Sales, Customer Success and many roles which measure and operate more strategically. The Institute of Sales Professionals published a comprehensive paper on how both the digital age and Covid have affected the sales industry. It’s key findings were:

• Along with solid sales and digital skills, autonomy, resilience, and agility are important characteristics of a successful salesperson in the digital age.
• Money is not the only motivator for salespeople anymore. Having a set of good organisational values (missions and purposes) and good personal development programmes are important in attracting good salespeople
• Online social events, training, and flexible work arrangements are important motivators for salespeople working remotely.

The full report can be found here.

However, many sectors are still looking to recruit salespeople with a strong background in a traditional type of sales. These include Sales Assistants for retail or the construction trade, or Media Sales.

Core sales roles tend to be more all-encompassing and usually have the responsibility of the whole sales process, from cradle to grave. These roles tend to be required in smaller businesses or regional divisions of larger companies selling less complex products with short sales cycles. Such roles generally enable one person to own the process from initial contact to closing the deal. As a product gets more expensive or more complex, the sales process itself can become split and defined into more separate areas with responsibilities divided between a larger sales team.

Zero Surplus is proud to serve the East of England. We recruit sales roles for clients in Cambridge, Essex,  Hertfordshire,  Northamptonshire,  Bedfordshire,  Suffolk,  Norfolk,  Milton Keynes and beyond, and we have a thorough understanding of the industries, companies and candidates in the region. We know what skills are in demand in each industry, and we are committed to helping our clients find the talent they need to succeed.

Would you like us to help you when recruiting sales staff? We have a team of experienced sales recruiters who can help you find the best talent for your business.