Software Sales Rep Needs 3-7 Years Experience

Attracting Your Ideal Candidate in Today's Job Market

Written By: Sean Cashman, Treeline Senior Consultant

JOB OPENING -Technology Inside Sales Representative

Seeking a 3-7 year Software Inside Sales Representative. Responsible for 50-80 calls per day with strong closing skills.

BASE: $50K

OTE: $100K

If interested please send resume and cover letter to [email protected].

Does this job posting look familiar? It should, especially if you are a growing technology company. Many companies are on the lookout for similar talented sales professionals. They are looking for a sales person with a track record of success, has found achievement cranking the phones and closing business, and are passionate toward being a top producer. There is a strong need for exceptional talent right now. The challenge is that this type of sales person is hard to acquire.

Why is this task to increase human capital so challenging?

Many hiring managers do not fully understand the outside influences and situations that a 3-7 year software inside sales representative finds themselves in when considering a new opportunity. The misunderstanding occurs when there is not a complete understanding of there audiences' mindset and the competitive landscape of today's market. ABC Company is a great organization with the best in class technology; the company is growing rapidly, the culture is one of a kind and the company is well financed. From an internal prospective there is no reason why a talented top producing sales representative would not want to join their team.

However, what if the candidate that they think should "jump through hoops" for an opportunity to work at their company is currently doing well at his or her company and will only move for the "right" opportunity? ABC Company thinks that they are offering a growth opportunity to a candidate who is looking for a change and they believe the role is the 'game changer' this candidate is looking for. What ABC Company fails to recognize is that often top sales candidates got into sales at an entry level role, fought hard for years, cranking the phones, building resilience, building respect amongst their coworkers, and ultimately proved that they could do it and made a name for themselves. Even though they are selectively looking for a new sales role, they are not ready to give up everything they established within their company for another role. They may be interested in the stronger technology and environment, but they do not know about ABC's company, culture and environment.

Are they going to give this all up for the same money they are making now?

What does ABC Company do?

OPTION 1: Pay for talent. Understand that a talented sales representative is finding success. They have worked hard for it. They like the new technology and the great culture, but they are most interested in making sure that if they leave they make more money. Otherwise, in today's market candidates don't want the risk. They will have to leave commissions on the table, learn a new product and business process, and leave their client base behind; all of this to make the same money. Ask yourself, would make this type of move in your present career? You can always make the opportunity more attractive by increasing compensation.

OPTION 2: Pay for training. The fastest growing clients that we work with hire talented people with a significant amount of potential. They look for sales professionals that have all the intangibles to be a superstar. This means they have accomplished much success throughout their life. They paid for their education, they are competitive, they played sports in college, they are articulate, intelligent, and are very confident. They do not have direct industry experience and started down a sales career path in an industry that is not right for them. These "diamonds in the ruff" are looking for a company they can commit to. They will become the most committed and dedicated sales people in the company and they are hungry for success. This type of individual needs training, but will build emotional commitment and belief in the direction of the company and its success. This person is a good hire. If you are not attracting this type of person your competition probably is and if you want to hire from that company expect to pay them more.

If this resonates with you take a step back and review your hiring strategy. Review your process and learn from it. If you have been trying to hire and continue to find yourself coming up short you need to find out why. Why are the people you interviewing not taking your job? Define your ideal sales candidate and be prepared to sell your opportunity. Then design a strategy to find success. Is your compensation plan competitive? If not, what type of skills and years of experience are attracted to your compensation structure. Go find those people. Build a pipeline and you will build your sales force. Get out of the rut, restructure you process and the specifications you need to build a top rated sales organization. Make your competition know that your company has the best sales professionals in the industry and wonder how you do it. If you have no pipeline of talent then you should call our team here at Treeline. We can help!