Hiring is time-consuming for any position. Finding talent for your sales leadership team is unnecessarily complicated by how flexible many of the titles are. What one company calls a sales manager, another may view as a sales director.
You may think, “So what?” It’s not my responsibility to create a listing that appeals to everyone. I’ll describe what I expect from a sales manager and the right applicants will find it.
In an ideal world, that is how it would work.
To see why it doesn’t work out that way, and how you end up reviewing unqualified applications as a result, consider the experience for a job seeker.
Why Online Job Postings Attract Unqualified Candidates
A sales professional is looking for a new job. They know they want, and are qualified for, a sales manager position. Based on their background and location they type “sales manager” into LinkedIn and filter for:
- Experience: mid-senior level
- Industry: IT Services and IT Consulting
- Location: Remote or based in Dallas, TX
Results are a broad collection of titles and requirements.
Listings show companies seeking a range of managers: regional sales managers, product sales managers, strategic leaders and product or application specialists.
Two of the product sales manager listings had a nearly identical description, then differed wildly on the basic qualifications for the role.
Some companies wanted the sales manager to sell. Others wanted the person to manage and guide a team of sales representatives.
One sales manager was expected to possess 10+ years of experience, another set the minimum at 5 years.
Diverse listings create extra work for you.
You review unqualified applications and ask why on earth so many people who lack the right experience bother applying. Here’s why.
Diligent, dedicated job seekers read through each description carefully.
They only apply when their interests and background align with the posting.
Distracted, exhausted or desperate applicants apply to anything and everything.
This is especially true for jobs that have an “Easy Apply” button.
Those applications make their way to your desk, leading us back to your original question – why are all these people applying when they clearly are not a fit for your job?
Let’s be optimistic for a moment.
Consider the best-case scenario: you mostly get applications from the “diligent” group of job seekers. The interviews blow you out of the water.
Each potential sales leader is enthusiastic until you extend the offer. You relied on the median salary you saw for “sales manager” online. Everyone qualified for your position finds this number too low, and they counter or outright decline the position.
Tailored market research resolves the salary issue.
With reports like IntelliSelect, you stop relying on a median salary built from a compilation of sales managers who:
- Have anywhere from 5-15 years of experience
- Might sell or be in a strategy role
- Live in big cities and small towns
- Manage, or don’t manage, reps
Instead, you get research tailored to your exact needs. The information in your report is based on the experience and expectations you have for your future sales managers.
Unqualified applicants will always exist.
You cannot change how people search and apply for jobs. Similarly, you have no say in what other companies put in their job postings. However, you control how you source candidates.
Source Passive Candidates for Openings on Your Sales Leadership Team
Pursuing passive candidates is the ideal way to hire sales leaders because it provides affordable access to exclusive talent.
Exclusive access to talent
Your competitors employ professionals who have the same, or very similar, duties as the people on your team. When you have simultaneous job openings, and you both post the opportunities online, you are now competing for talent. If you both want to hire the same candidate, that individual can pit your firms against each other and ask for higher compensation or additional benefits.
With passive candidates, you bypass this issue. For you, there is no job posting. Your recruiting partner taps into a pool of talent. These experienced professionals are willing to consider a new position, but are not applying for jobs on their own.
By contrast, your competitor is restricted to reviewing and interviewing active job seekers.
Affordable executive search firms exist.
Sourcing talent through executive search firms deservedly developed a reputation as wildly expensive. Recruiters typically charge 30% (or more) of the hire’s first-year salary. Depending on who you work with, there could be additional fees paid before or after the search.
Executive talent acquisition companies like ProActivate are different.
Flat fee executive talent acquisition solutions.
Instead of pricing our services based on salaries, ProActivate charges a flat fee for all positions, including executives. Unlike the fees mentioned above, this is the only time you are charged; there are no surprise extra costs.
Hire Executive-Level Sales Talent
ProActivate’s team excels at identifying sales leadership talent. Have a discovery call with us today to tell us about who you want to hire and hear how we will source working and winning professionals for your opportunity.