Enterprise Sales Professionals on a Silver Platter

“I can find talented enterprise sales professionals but they decline the offer.”

We hear it all the time. Do you know why you fail? If you are reading this blog, I assume you have failed at hiring sales professionals at one time in your career…maybe right now.

Scenario: 

Hiring manager:

Treeline:

I want to hire a salesperson from a direct competitor with 10 years of experience.

“We will find you that person, and quickly.” 

You get the right enterprise sales professional but can’t make the hire. So what is really happening here?

Compounding challenges:

 1. You make an offer that equals the candidates current compensation salary but offer more upside potential. As a result they do not accept the offer. Top sales professionals are closing business and will require you to make it worth their while. If you don’t compensate them more aggressively they will not leave their current employer. Remember that every salesperson will leave money on the table when they leave their current company and then lose money when they ramp up at their new company. This transition is painful and needs to be worth their while. If you do not understand this pain point and think you will sell them on culture and upside you will likely lose this candidate. If you want this type of talent, make sure you have the budget to support this type of acquisition. Many companies get to this stage and then realize they can’t make the deal happen.

2. You didn’t realize the total cost of this hire. You have over extended yourself to offer a competitive salary and now still have to pay a fee to the search firm. What makes matters worse, as you raise the salary the fee rises as well. Your costs continue to grow and hiring this person becomes a big concern and risky proposition.

3. You have an increased fee to pay, so you have to get this hire right. The pressure to make the right decision has paralyzed you.  These costs have created additional risk. Many companies stall and can’t pull the trigger because of these variables and the decision to hire is becoming more treacherous.

4. You decide not to hire,the position is still vacant, and you start the search all over again. 

You have lost time and money. Now you are stuck. What is your next step and most logical move?

The reality is that you should be working with a search partner that has a variety of options. A search partner that has market data and can share important industry statistics on your competition and to support a well guided search.

Your search firm should offer a variety of solutions to fit your needs. If they only have one solution for your hiring needs you may want to consider a new firm. The best firms are consultants and looking to find the best solution for you. The reason they help you succeed is because they understand your challenges and offer solutions to satisfy your budget or bandwidth constraints or need for candidate and market data to help you make a good hire.  

They should help you relieve budgetary stress and increase your ability to find the perfect candidate. They should offer their candid opinion and educate you on market conditions. They should be forward thinking and have multiple services to satisfy your needs and make sure they work for you.

Treeline offers a variety of different options to make sure you are never stuck in this scenario. Our Sourcing as a Service package offers a flat fee for ⅓ the cost of contingency and retained. Regardless of the service, Treeline offers world class sales recruiting services with a ‘A team’ of sales recruiters, a database of over 90,000 candidates and the same promise to deliver you qualified, interested and available candidates within 3 days. Speak with our sales manager today.