Sonja Hastings
Relying on Someone Else's Sales Methodology for ...

I know from speaking with sales reps and VP’s of Sales across the country that following someone else’s blueprint for success can be a dangerous time-waster. Sales formulas, processes, and strategies can seem like the flavor of the season.

Changing things up and moving on when something doesn’t work makes sense. But chasing your tail in circles with information is a real career killer.

One day it’s all about the Challenger Sales Model and next year it’s MEDDIC.  Eat, sleep, breath the MEDDIC checklist. Until of course, we need more answers and then Scientific Selling comes along.

Relying on Someone Else's Sales Methodology for Success
Sales Recruiting, Thoughts, What Candidates Want
Sonja Hastings
Sales Recruiting in 2019: 4 Key Insights to ...

Adapting to a Tight Talent Market

As of December 2018, 129.14 million people in the US are employed on a full-time basis. 

Now let’s look at unemployment. During the Great Recession, unemployment peaked in 2010 to 14.83 Million. Unemployment incrementally dropped over the next few years, and in 2016 fell to 7.75M, and 2017 dropped to 6.98 million.

The current US population in 2017 was 325.7 million and today sits at 328,254,391 million according to The US and World Population Clock provided by the United States Census Bureau.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, (BLS) calculates the Civilian Labor Force at 49% of the US population, or 164M people. This gives us a 4.25% unemployment rate for the civilian workforce.

We can also calculate that 78% of the eligible civilian workforce is working on a full-time basis. The rest are working on a part-time basis or are unemployed.

So what does this mean for your sales team?

Sales Recruiting in 2019: 4 Key Insights to Getting it Right
Recruiting Strategy, Sales Hiring, Sales Recruiting
Sonja Hastings
Recruiting for Your Sales Team? 5 Rules for ...

It’s no secret that recruiting sales talent is a is a challenge.

If you’ve gone through the interview process with multiple candidates and have finally winnowed it down to one final choice, it’s painful when your finalist turns down your job offer.

If you’re working hard to recruit the top 20%, this will happen.

It’s not only acceptable but inevitable. Part of recruiting the best is getting turned down.

Recruiting top sales talent is always competitive. They have lots of choices. But it shouldn’t happen too often because it burns through too many resources and takes too much time.

Recruiting for Your Sales Team? 5 Rules for Preventing Job Offer Turn Downs
Sales Leadership, Sales Team Management, Thoughts, Turnover
Sonja Hastings
What to Do When Your Number One Sales Rep ...

Every top salesperson will eventually quit. What’s even more painful is the best leave when they are on top, so if you’re not careful, you may not even see it coming. As the job market tightens, sales professionals have more and more lucrative and exciting job opportunities vying for their attention.

What to Do When Your Number One Sales Rep Resigns
Recruiting Strategy, Reputation Management, Sales Hiring, Interview Process, Sales Recruiting, Thoughts, What Candidates Want
Sonja Hastings
Stop Making These 3 Simple Sales Recruiting ...

I was on the phone with one of my candidates yesterday. A true talent with an amazing track record of sales success hunting and winning new business. Probably not another person like him in the entire region --he is that good. 

He went for an interview and was expecting to discuss an offer

Stop Making These 3 Simple Sales Recruiting Mistakes

Relying on Someone Else's Sales Methodology for Success

Relying on Someone Else's Sales Methodology for Success

I know from speaking with sales reps and VP’s of Sales across the country that following someone else’s blueprint for success can be a dangerous time-waster. Sales formulas, processes, and strategies can seem like the flavor of the season.

Changing things up and moving on when something doesn’t work makes sense. But chasing your tail in circles with information is a real career killer.

One day it’s all about the Challenger Sales Model and next year it’s MEDDIC.  Eat, sleep, breath the MEDDIC checklist. Until of course, we need more answers and then Scientific Selling comes along.

, ,

Sales Recruiting in 2019: 4 Key Insights to Getting it Right

, ,
Sales Recruiting in 2019: 4 Key Insights to Getting it Right

Adapting to a Tight Talent Market

As of December 2018, 129.14 million people in the US are employed on a full-time basis. 

Now let’s look at unemployment. During the Great Recession, unemployment peaked in 2010 to 14.83 Million. Unemployment incrementally dropped over the next few years, and in 2016 fell to 7.75M, and 2017 dropped to 6.98 million.

The current US population in 2017 was 325.7 million and today sits at 328,254,391 million according to The US and World Population Clock provided by the United States Census Bureau.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, (BLS) calculates the Civilian Labor Force at 49% of the US population, or 164M people. This gives us a 4.25% unemployment rate for the civilian workforce.

We can also calculate that 78% of the eligible civilian workforce is working on a full-time basis. The rest are working on a part-time basis or are unemployed.

So what does this mean for your sales team?

, ,

Recruiting for Your Sales Team? 5 Rules for Preventing Job Offer Turn Downs

, ,
Recruiting for Your Sales Team? 5 Rules for Preventing Job Offer Turn Downs

It’s no secret that recruiting sales talent is a is a challenge.

If you’ve gone through the interview process with multiple candidates and have finally winnowed it down to one final choice, it’s painful when your finalist turns down your job offer.

If you’re working hard to recruit the top 20%, this will happen.

It’s not only acceptable but inevitable. Part of recruiting the best is getting turned down.

Recruiting top sales talent is always competitive. They have lots of choices. But it shouldn’t happen too often because it burns through too many resources and takes too much time.

, ,

Improve Your Sales Recruiting Results with 8 Actionable Ideas

, ,
Improve Your Sales Recruiting Results with 8 Actionable Ideas

Are you still recruiting salespeople like it’s 2009? One might argue that 2018 is the hottest job market since the year 2000. Consider this:

In 1999 the Labor Department reported the real median household income at $58,665.

As of July 2018 the Labor Department reported the real median household income at $62,175.

Family income has risen by 5% in the first half of 2018 and by 17% since 2012.

, ,

5 Things Every Hiring Manager Needs to Know About Getting Better Sales Candidates from Your Recruiters

, ,
5 Things Every Hiring Manager Needs to Know About Getting Better Sales Candidates from Your Recruiters

Have you ever found working with a recruiter a frustrating experience? If you have, you are not alone. Hiring managers can become frustrated with their recruiters and let’s face it, the entire recruitment process, when they don’t see the level of sales talent they need to be successful.

, , ,

What to Do When Your Number One Sales Rep Resigns

, , ,
What to Do When Your Number One Sales Rep Resigns

Every top salesperson will eventually quit. What’s even more painful is the best leave when they are on top, so if you’re not careful, you may not even see it coming. As the job market tightens, sales professionals have more and more lucrative and exciting job opportunities vying for their attention.

, , , , , ,

Stop Making These 3 Simple Sales Recruiting Mistakes

, , , , , ,
Stop Making These 3 Simple Sales Recruiting Mistakes

I was on the phone with one of my candidates yesterday. A true talent with an amazing track record of sales success hunting and winning new business. Probably not another person like him in the entire region --he is that good. 

He went for an interview and was expecting to discuss an offer

Independent Sales Recruitment Firm

 Since 2004 Optimal Sales Search has been helping companies accelerate growth by hiring high-performance sales and sales leadership.

Hiring Manager's Cheat Sheet

Running into an interview? Grab our best 14 sales interview questions and walk out of the interview with all the right information.