Sources of Salesforce/Sales Personnel Recruitment
Recruitment of efficient salesforce/sales personnel is the most crucial task of the sales manager, for this, he must go for two types of sources either internal or external.
Internal source means where the sales manager hires the required salesforce within his organization and in external sources, different means of media and consultancies are used to find competent required salespersons.
Here, we will discuss the most common sources for recruiting salesforce along with their advantages and disadvantages to recruiters.
Sources from inside the company:
For recruitment of salesforce, while using inside sources, there are mainly two sources. They are.
The Company’s Own Sales Staff
Many large sales organizations aim to train their own entry-level salespeople for higher positions. For it, the organization looks for salespeople who have submitted work bids.
The HRD assists in the preparation of a list of such salespeople. They are interviewed, and the required number of salespeople for the higher positions are recruited.
Advantages:
- It builds the morale of salespeople/persons.
- It encourages those salespeople who are qualified and ambitious.
- It is less costly than going outside to recruit.
- It reduces orientation and training costs.
- It provides a potential for developing middle-level sales managers.
Disadvantages:
- There is a chance of choosing less qualified internal candidates and other excellent candidates may lose an opportunity. If so, it creates work problems.
- It may generate infighting among rival candidates. If so, it decreases the morale levels of those who were not selected.
- It is not used continually. Companies can use this source as per the situation.
Employee Referrals and Recommendations
A reputable sales executive refers and recommends some currently employed salespeople. The executive guarantees that the candidates who have been suggested and recommended are capable, disciplined, and qualified for the job.
Advantages:
- Since the candidate is also given full information about the job before recruitment, it makes him/her job survive.
- The referrals are an excellent means of locating potential salespersons in hard-to-fill positions. And the salesperson receives monetary benefits/rewards.
- The company also feels proud by receiving a qualified candidate without the major expense of an extensive recruiting search.
Disadvantages:
- There is a greater chance of referring candidates by the referral because he/she may recommend being bribed for economic gain or may have a close friendship with him/her. In this sense, qualified candidates suffer.
- Referrals may also lead to nepotism and that may not align with the objective of hiring the most qualified, interested, and loyal candidates.
- Because of the above two reasons, referrals may also minimize an organization’s desire for diversity in the workplace.
Sources From Outside of the Company:
The major sources from outside of the sales organization for recruitment of salesforce are pointed and explained as below.
Advertisement
Selling organizations utilize this communication medium to urge unemployed salespeople to apply for open positions. They mostly advertise on television and in newspapers, however, there are many more forms of communication available.
For job-seeking candidates, a variety of job details are contained in the advertisement copy education, qualification, training, experience, employment location, compensation, allowances, and benefits, job position, sort of work to be performed, after retirement perks, and so on are all very significant types of information. Job seekers who are interested in this communication can apply to the sales company’s specific position.
Advantages:
- It motivates job-seeking salespersons to apply.
- It develops through an appealing positive image in these salespersons because the message is repeatedly advertised.
- It is mass communication and therefore a maximum number of qualified unemployed candidates gets the opportunity to apply.
- The company enjoys selecting the best among the best because a larger number of candidates apply.
Disadvantages:
- This source is costly since it goes through a long process. It is also costly in terms of preparing message announcements and buying time and space in media to use.
- The announcement may prove ineffective if many job-seeking people do not watch TV and do not read publications.
- The advertisement does not provide full information to job seekers about the company and they stay in a fuss whether to apply or not.
Recruitment/Employment Agencies
Although there are mainly three t recruitment/employment agencies, for our purpose of recruiting salesforce private agencies work as a good source. The other two are public and state agencies are management consulting firms.
The private agency is very much popular in manpower companies that supply manpower to different domestic selling firms and also to foreign countries. However, this purpose is also met by the public and state agencies.
The management consulting firms supply only sales executives in the field of selling companies. These agencies assist employers with testing, job analysis, evaluation system, and community wage surveys. For it, they charge their commission.
Advantages:
- It develops a good relationship between the agencies and the employer. As a result, the agencies become a regular source of qualified sales candidates.
- The unemployed candidates do not have to move from one door to the next, wasting time.
- The employer saves costs of recruiting from longer process-oriented sources like an advertisement.
Disadvantages:
- Sometimes recruitees suffer from financial problems because these agencies demand high charges from them.
- Till the recruitees are set in the working place and environment, they are psychologically unhealthy, being afraid of safety and security.
- The employers also have to pay higher for scare qualified salespersons.
Educational Establishments
Schools, colleges, universities, and vocational institutions are all excellent places to look for needed salespeople. Most educational institutions offer placement services, in which potential candidates are consulted and interviewed with the consent of both the institution and the graduates.
Employees are occasionally given the option to select intern candidates. These sources provide salespeople needed for different levels.
Advantages:
- The employer gets the opportunity to prefer candidates of its choice as per the requirement.
- The candidate also enjoys the opportunity of employment just after completing his/her education and has not to go for a searching job.
- In case, the employer makes a choice of candidates from vocational institutions, it succeeds to save training and orientation costs.
Disadvantages:
- Employers do not get experienced candidates but certainly, get intelligent and knowledgeable ones from these sources (except vocational).
- They have to spend more on traveling, searching, and interviewing required candidates (from here to there). And expenses may bear a heavy cost for recruiting.
- These sources are suspected of reliability because if interviewed the candidates receive better opportunities than the previous opportunity, they may not join the employer. It creates unnecessary waste of time and effort.
Competing Companies/Firms
In certain situations, a selling can have another recruiting source i.e. competing companies. The former can lure sales personnel of the latter with extra remuneration and facilities and thereby salespersons are motivated to join. This happens basically with the technical nature of sales jobs.
Advantages:
- The employer receives more qualified and experienced technical staff in selling jobs.
- The candidate also enjoys better remuneration and facility and can increase his/her economic status.
Disadvantages:
- Many times, this source is blamed as a cheating and spying source.
- The shifted candidate may be feeling morally low and ultimately it will harm productivity.
Unsolicited Applicants
Unsolicited applicants reach the employer by corresponding to e-mail, telephone, online application, and other ways. They constitute a source of prospective candidates.
Advantages:
- This source provides an excellent supply of stockpiled candidates for future requirements although vacancies are not at hand.
- If unsolicited applicants have adequate skills, they can be referred to the next company where jobs are opened.
Disadvantages:
- The unsolicited applicants have a short life in the employer company because they are appointed only when the already employed sales staffs are on leave for some time. If unsolicited applicants are recruited, they are only for short period.
- In times of economic stagnation, these applicants may stay active in the job market for many months.
Websites
Nowadays, most companies, both large and small, use the internet to recruit required salespersons by adding a “career” section to their sites. They include typical information on their websites, under the ad column.
This information may include qualifications sought, experience required, and benefits provided. They also mention the company’s products, services, corporate philosophy, and mission statement. By wakening such website advertisement, qualified candidates apply for the job.
So, today websites are very important sources for recruitment of required yet quality salesforce/salespersons.
Its advantages:
- Since a website also contains a response column, the company easily know about interested candidate about opening the site.
- The job searching candidates also get information about the available position in the company.
- Internet as a source of provides a low-cost search for recruitment. The online job posting can be very much effective.
Disadvantages:
- As many firms use Facebook, sometimes applicants become victims of fake information and are psychologically in a state that they do not believe in even true information if these are on Facebook, just one example.
- Sometimes, the information is hacked and the job-seeking candidates suffer from getting information at the right time.