Preparation goes deeper than interview questions or compensation plans
Attracting Top Performers
Finding rock star sales executives isn’t hard to do: it’s getting them to consider a career change that takes recruitment finesse.“A Players” are often asked to consider new opportunities, however most cases are quickly dismissed because their current employer recognizes their worth and supports their top-notch career expectation.
Consider their position: rock star sales executives are doing extremely well and are being paid accordingly. They have established themselves as leaders of successful ecosystems, supported by their sales teams, executive team, and board members.They are highly regarded within their industry and personally connected with customers, partners, and others, which fortify their status.
And that’s exactly why you want them on your team.
So, what’s the secret to recruiting a rock star? It takes outside leadership and strategic preparation to approach and attract the best sales executives.
Secret #1: Hire the Best Bridge Builder
Enticing the top performing sales executive, starts by partnering with an experienced, executive search recruiter.This outside contributor will set the recruitment course and orchestrate all interactions by adhering to a very simple principle: align the company’s offer and business opportunity with the individual’s skillset and career desires.
Most importantly when closing the deal, the recruiter should become the invaluable bridge between the candidate and CEO.
Secret #2: Convey Company Strategy Clearly and Consistently
“A Players” always evaluate their next career opportunity by assessing the company’s offering and alignment with their own personal career goals. In addition, the interviewing team must be aligned and must understand their respective roles while interviewing the candidate and selling the opportunity.
The CEO must deliver this offering to the candidate, as this conversation will get the candidate to take the next step, or end the conversation.
Secret #3: Spotlight Product and Marketing
After the opportunity captures the candidate’s attention, now the recruitment courtship begins. Since the rock star already participates within a well-tuned environment, it’s imperative that the candidate can see how the business plan will take effect.
Rock stars will closely scrutinize the tools, resources, and teams that a company has in place, and evaluate the sales role on how long it will take for them to have an equivalent success comparable to their current role.
Sales executives evaluate the company’s ability to execute the strategy and their ability to be successful in sales by product and marketing efforts.
Your recruiter will already understand the candidate’s current strengths and weaknesses, and prepare the recruiting team for the key advantages to cover.The recruiter can also help the team with interview questions, for gaining better understanding of how the sales executive’s experience can contribute to their plan. After these discussions, the recruiter will attain valuable insight and observations from the candidate, which can be directed to the CEO and recruiting team.
Secret #4: Sequence Validation Points
Midway through the recruitment program, rock stars often develop an “everything to lose” mentality, because they will be giving up an established, successful network and career for something that’s unproven.
To overcome this concern, a candidate needs to cross-check the offering and plans with external references. Sequencing interviewers who can validate the plans will assure the rock star candidate about the new opportunity.
Getting a sales candidate to speak to clients, partners, analysts, and market influencers can reduce concerns and make the opportunity appealing. Additionally, the company’s trajectory should be reinforced by the board, investors, and advisors who the sales executive will be working with and reporting to.
Secret #5: Landing the Rock Star with Finesse
If you want to recruit the best sales executives, you must engage them by persuasively explaining the company offering and ability to execute, and get ready for their honest evaluation based upon their perspective and current situation. Rock star sales executives will only seriously consider opportunities that are obviously more compelling than their current situation.
Using an experienced sales executive recruiter greatly increases your chances for approaching and hiring rock stars.They will set the recruitment course and help you orchestrate all interactions by aligning the company’s strategy and business opportunity with the talent’s skillset and career desires. More importantly, they will listen to the candidate’s needs and concerns, and help you ensure that the right discussions and validations are shared within the new company’s ecosystem.
About Vantage Partners
Vantage Partners is a boutique executive search firm focused on the ad-technology, consumer/ internet, enterprise/ SaaS and big data space, who take an average 79 days to close sales executive searches in the high tech sector.They’ve completed nearly 1,000 searches and have more than a 99% search completion rate.They assist high-growth companies to uniquely leverage their innovation to attract the best talent for a market advantage, and have a really compelling viewpoint on what works to recruit the best.
Vantage Partners has placed executive leaders at the following companies:
