At this point, our analysis is complete, and we have to put our job details into writing. We're now ready to recruit applicants for the position to be filled. A good philosophy in recruiting is to get enough qualified applicants to maximize the chance of finding the right person suited for the job. However, finding an adequate number of recruits may not be as easy as it sounds. Therefore, a good recruitment strategy generally has two key components. First, the manager needs a list of recruiting sources from which they can find sales talent. Recruiting sources are the places where firms can identify the names of potential candidates to fill open sales positions. There many recruiting sources. Let's talk about some of the ones more frequently used by managers. Referrals are great source for recruitment. Managers tend to prefer referrals to other sources because they know they come from someone who works for the company and who knows the job requirements, as well as the individual that they are referring. Unfortunately, referrals alone won't provide enough talent for screening, and the manager will need to look for additional sources. Some firms recruit their sales force from their current employees, those who work in production plants or offices. There are many advantages to recruiting from within the company. These workers are already acquainted with the company's products, policies, and programs. Therefore, it is less costly to recruit and train them. Recruitment from within the company is also looked on as a real morale boost for employees. This allows the employees to move throughout the company as their career desires change should they wish to do so. Other companies can be a viable source for recruitment. Sales representatives from competing firms have the sales experience and industry knowledge, and as a result will require little training. However, it may be difficult to acclimate them to your firm's culture and way of conducting business. In essence, they will have to unlearn the practices learn from their previous firm. We can also look to our own customers for recruitment names. Purchasing agents as well as other customer employees know your product, your customer, and your industry. A common source for sales recruitment is through job advertisements in various types of media. These ads typically produce a substantial number of applicants at a relatively low cost. However, the savings is usually offset by the cost involved in screening and eliminating those that are not qualified for the position. Nevertheless, firms use various media to post ads for jobs. Let's review a few this year. Today, online employment websites provide thousands of postings for various sales jobs. These firms are non-profit recruitment and human resource databases that provide a platform for job search across thousands of companies: monster.com, careerbuilder.com, and indeed.com are just a few online search engines for jobs. Linkedin, a business-oriented social networking site, is also a source used by firms to fill sales positions. Newspapers, although declining in use, are still used by firms to advertise for jobs. The use of newspaper advertising is a good choice for firms who are looking to fill sales positions and a specific geographic location. In this situation, the firm will place an ad in the local newspaper to recruit in that region. Firms looking to fill high-level positions in their firm, may choose to place ads in national newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal to attract a national audience of potential recruits. Finally, firms may advertise in trade journals for applicants. Trade journals are specialized magazines that focus on a particular industry. Sales managers advertising in trade journals hope to attract candidates that know and have experience in a particular industry. An excellent recruitment source is the company's own website. Research in recruitment has found that accompany website is much more effective than print ads in attracting qualified candidates. Applicants are seeking to apply with this firm which shows initiative on their part. Firms should have a well-defined recruitment process on their web page which includes job information, as well as a process to sort an interview qualified applicants. Companies often used colleges and universities as a source of recruitment for sales positions. This is an excellent venue for recruitment because college, and campuses provide a large number of educated individuals who will be looking for jobs upon graduation. New hires straight out of college can be trained and developed a new because they will not have to unlearn a previous firm's culture. Ongoing partnerships with universities is an excellent way for firms to recruit new hires as well as mentor students who aspire to enter the sales profession when they graduate. Finally, employment agencies and part-time workers can be used as a source for recruiting. Employment agencies can assist with applicant screening, but tend to be an expensive option for firms. Part-time workers may be a source for sales positions. Part-time workers tend to be flexible, and prefer to work from home. This option is a good choice for firms who need in-home sales people, who will would need to work around a client schedule. Now that we have a solid list of sources to look for recruitment, we need a well-structured process for continuous recruitment. An excellent tool used by managers for the recruitment process is called the recruitment funnel. A typical recruiting and hiring funnel has several steps that help companies attract, assess, and hire the best people for the job. The goal of the funnel is to ensure a never ending pipeline of candidates so that they can find the right people for the right job. Using our identified sources for sales talent, we fill our funnel with potential applicants and gradually screen each applicant through the funnel to arrive at the most qualified individual for the job.
