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Sonja Hastings

Sonja Hastings

Sonja Hastings is a senior software sales recruiter with Optimal Sales Search. With more than a decade of technology sales recruiting experience, she helps software and technology companies identify, attract, and recruit top sales talent. She conducts national, regional, and local searches at the mid-to-senior levels across the United States and Canada.

What do Dolly Parton, Jerry Seinfeld, and Rock Star Sales Rep Mike Have in Common?

Providing Sales Talent With More Than an Internet Connection

Imagine you run a production company. You’ve had a few big wins and business is going well. You’ve hired a master songwriter, and you’re certain you have the next big hit. In fact, this song’s so catchy, even a second tier singer could make it a hit.

But your business is just starting to gain momentum. And what you really need at this stage in the game is a big star. You know a hit song combined with a big name performer will almost guarantee financial success.

So you go out and recruit Dolly Parton. Sure, it takes a few months to get her attention. But you’re convincing, persuasive, and she likes your song. Read More

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Is Hiring Sale Professionals Really About Selecting People With The Best Skills?

Rethinking Your Hiring Logic

Why do we hire the people we do? Human psychology and science help explain our hiring decisions. Many of today’s hiring managers have had little to no training when it comes to hiring sales talent.

Therefore, sales managers rely heavily on the interview process and collective opinion to build sales teams. Trial and error has also been an employable strategy for the few companies that can afford it. This strategy calls for hiring as many salespeople as possible, assessing performance, and cutting the bottom 50%. -Read More-

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Seven Sourcing Channels for Sales Recruitment Success

All the Straws In the Broom Work Together: Add Recruiting Channels and Watch Your Talent Pipeline Expand

Are you getting the kind of sales talent you need to grow your team? Know you can do better? When you’re recruiting for your sales team, it’s easy to run into stalls, especially if you have loads of hiring to do. There’s no substitute for developing several sources of sales talent.

In fact, it’s a fundamental skill you must master in order to enjoy predictable recruitment success. Having multiple straws in the broom will give you the power you need to pull in quality candidates with consistency.  The key to any sales recruitment program is to develop, build, and nurture contacts from multiple sources even before you need them. Read More

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Three Reasons Why Sales Managers Should Care About Onboarding

Onboarding Builds Better Teams

Ever spend four months recruiting and hiring a sales rep only to have them quit in four weeks? Sometimes they leave because they received a better offer. But many times it’s because onboarding created doubts about the decision to pick your organization. Learn three facts about why onboarding matters and what you can do to make it more successful so you can engage your team, and achieve your sales goals.

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More than 8,000 Interviews Boiled Down to 16 Observations about Sales Hunters

From the Front Lines: Observations about Sales Hunters

I’ve interviewed more than 2,600 people in-person at all kinds of places: coffee shops, airport terminals, tiny interview rooms, bars, airport lounges, fancy offices, restaurants, city clubs, Starbucks, and more. I’ve video called and phone interviewed more than 5,500 sales candidates not including the 2,600 in-person interviews.

With rare exception, every candidate I’ve met in this population has had at least five years of experience post college. They are candidates from across the country, from New York to San Francisco. They’ve earned from 120K to 700K a year.  Read More

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