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The Sales Dodo: Sales Candidate Attributes
June 13, 2008
Companies spend tons of money trying to attract sales talent through job boards, yet they impair that campaign with what they put in their ad.
By Lee B. Salz
Close your eyes. Think of the perfect mate. How long is your list of requirements of the perfect mate? Are there five of them? 10? Perhaps, you have 20. Think about your list again. Are each of those really requirements of your ideal mate? Or, are those desired attributes? On which items are you willing to be flexible?
People make decisions every day based on their "desired" and "required" aspects. There are some aspects on which people can compromise and others where they cannot. This challenge hits employers when they are trying to attract sales talent. Instead of creating ads on job boards that invite folks to apply, they tightly close the spigot.
Narrowing the Candidates
I regularly look at the job boards to see how companies are attempting to attract great sales talent. What I find is interesting. Companies place an ad listing what attributes are required of the candidate. However, when I speak to companies about their ad, I find that many of the items on their list fall more in the desired category.
I've also talked with salespeople about their perceptions of a job advertisement that lists requirements. "I look at the list of requirements in the posting and if I don't have 100% of the background, I don't submit my resume," said one salesperson actively looking for a new role. When I ask employers about their biggest challenges, finding great candidates ranks high on their list. "It just seems that we place an ad on a job board and we get few candidates to respond," said one employer.
Here is the disconnect: Employers publish job advertisements to lure sales candidates to apply. Yet, that same tool is choking the entire process. Instead of enticing candidates to apply, they are convincing them that they won't be considered.
Here is an example of the requirements section from a job board advertisement:
The successful candidate must have:
• BA/BS with a focus on business or life science
• An MBA from a well-respected institution
• 10 years sales management experience
• 10+ years business to business sales experience to the Fortune 1000
• Broad knowledge of principles and methods in a recognized professional field, or working knowledge of multiple fields
• Well-versed in using CRM tools
• Experience selling in disciplined, formal sales methodology is essential
• Must be good at developing and articulating ROI to C-Level Executives
• Telecommunications experience is a must.
How many people meet this list of criteria? Very, very few. Would this company really not consider a candidate that met the most critical elements of their criteria, but was missing an element or two? Well, by publishing an ad that is so restrictive, those candidates won't apply. The company misses out on potential superstars.
Determining the "Required" from the "Desired"
I'm a huge proponent of formulating a profile of a company's ideal sales candidate. Yet, if that profile is so restrictive that only one person in the world matches it, how will this company ever hire anyone? I'm not suggesting that companies reduce their standards or that they hire subpar performers. No one wins in those instances. However, there are two follow-on steps of the process.
Let's say you have come up with 20 items for your ideal sales candidate profile. The next thing to do is to rank them in importance so that each item is ranked one through 20. The first one on the list is the one deemed most important. In essence, you are prioritizing the importance of the criteria.
Once that is done, the next step is to categorize each as either "required" or "desired." Start with number 20 (least important from the prior exercise) and work your way down to number one. If this exercise was done correctly, the lion’s share of the items become "desired" while the finite few at the top become "required." It is the few items that are deemed critical to one's success in the job that should be listed as "required" in your ad.
This is a challenging set of exercises, no doubt. That's the whole point. You want to make sure you encourage the right candidates to apply versus discouraging them.
Putting It into Practice
Thinking back to the company who had the laborious list of requirements. Would they really not hire a really bright individual who lacks the MBA component of the profile? If the answer is no, they shouldn't list that in their ad as it discourages potentially strong candidates from applying. Did they put the requirement of a telecommunications background in the ad because they prefer not to teach the industry? If the answer is yes, then they wouldn't want to put that in the ad because they could miss out on a superstar salesperson who needs a little assistance learning the business.
And this issue isn't limited to candidates and employers. Recruiters are frustrated too. The company provides them with such restrictions that they feel handcuffed in their ability to find the right candidates. "I really want to help my client, but I feel like I'm searching for a needle in a haystack. I don't dare send any candidates unless I find an exact match to what they've given me," says one recruiter. Continuing on, "I don't think they intend to be so restrictive, but that's what they have given me to work with."
Attracting great talent is very difficult to do. The great ones are typically wedded to their employer. Don't let the few superstars that are in the market get away. Make sure your communication to attract talent is formulated to truly represent what was intended.
Lee B. Salz is president of Sales Dodo, author of Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager, and an online columnist for Sales and Marketing Management. Look for Lee's new book in February 2009, The Sales Marriage." He specializes in helping companies identify and hire the right sales people. Lee is available for consulting and keynote speaking. He can be reached via email at lsalz@salesdodo.com, his website at www.SalesDodo.com, or by phone at 763.416.4321.
Sales & Marketing Management Magazine
This article is brought to you by Sales & Marketing Management, the leading authority for executives in the sales and marketing field.
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