Hiring salespeople involves high-stakes decisions. Any organization’s success heavily relies on sales team performance, yet too often, decisions during the hiring process are made with a shortage of insights into candidates, thwarting the odds of making good hires.  

Sales candidates are often hired based on their past success alone, which may not translate to success in a new job opportunity. Candidates are also chosen based on their charming charisma, great performance during the interview process, or quick rapport with a hiring manager or sales executive. This isn’t how to recruit or choose good sales staff.   

More of this is needed: Past success and compelling personalities can be indicators of effective salespeople, but several must-haves are essential to any sales job. For example, during the recruitment process, deep consideration must be given to a sales candidate’s demonstrated resilience, aptitude for problem-solving, and critical thinking and negotiation skills. Many more attributes and skill sets are discussed below that recruiters not only share but are disciplined to find in filling sales job openings. 

All of this is avoidable: Leaders and hiring managers soon discover when key characteristics are missing in a new sales hire. Follow-through is sloppy and sales processes aren’t followed, creating internal havoc. Sales goals are missed. Customers become dissatisfied. New business opportunities are lost. But 20/20 hindsight isn’t helpful. What’s helpful is preventing this from happening in the first place. How do you do it?    

Take a cue from other companies. More and more industry leaders are turning to specialized recruiting firms to source top talent for important sales roles. Why are they doing it and what do they find? Beyond a recruiter’s talent acquisition expertise and extensive network of potential candidates, hiring companies find a simple but empirical truth about why recruiters excel in sourcing highly competent candidates for open positions in sales.  

What is that truth?  

Recruiters know sales  

Think about this. Who better to identify top-performing sales professionals than recruiters themselves, whose very disciplines and core skill sets so closely align with those required of a sales professional? A typical day in the life of a talent recruiter revolves around:  

• Selling recruiting services to potential clients 

• Listening to clients’ talk about specific needs, challenges, opportunities, company culture, and goals 

• Talking with job candidates about the best new jobs for their career goals and the right cultural fit 

• Analyzing the requirements of both clients and job candidates 

• Bringing clients together with right-fit candidates and creating win-win relationships  

Great salespeople go through the same motions every day in matching customers with right-fit products, services, and solutions.  

Talent recruiters know exactly what you need in a sales professional because they share a range of overlapping skill sets – the ability to build relationships, understand needs, identify the right solutions, influence decisions – and close deals! In other words, recruiters are innately disciplined to recognize the following skills in great sales candidates.  

9 overlapping skills that recruiters and sales professionals share    

The only real difference between a pro talent recruiter and a pro sales professional is found in the solutions they offer – talented people vs. ideal products and services. However, the way they conduct daily business is structured around the same principles, skills, and core values.  

1. Driven by quantifiable goals 

Talent recruiters and sales professionals are focused on measurable outcomes. Recruiters work to meet hiring goals, meaning the number of hires that result from presenting candidates to employers. Success is also measured by the amount of time involved in a placement and the ensuing satisfaction levels of a hiring company and job candidate.  

Equally focused on selling goals and satisfaction metrics, the performance of sales professionals is quota- or target-driven to meet or exceed monthly, quarterly, or annual revenue goals, as well as desired customer satisfaction levels.   

Recruiters intimately understand how sales performance is structured and measured, and especially the discipline, planning, and project management skills required for success in a key sales position.  

2. Strong communication skills   

Recruiters and sales professionals must be able to clearly articulate the value of what they offer, whether it’s a job opportunity, a great job candidate, or a product or service. This starts with active listening, the ability to be fully engaged while another person is speaking and listen with the intent to understand. Solid interactions also include effective speaking ability and clear written communications, which are crucial to connecting with candidates, clients, and prospective customers.   

For example, recruiters approach candidates with fitting job opportunities and present the best candidates to hiring managers, expertly communicating unique attributes to each party. Recruiters know the same prowess is required of a sales professional – the ability to identify and present the right products or services and know how to explain their benefits and value proposition to existing and prospective customers.   

3. Natural aptitude for building relationships  

The professions of talent recruitment and sales are both highly relationship based. They’re built on the same four pillars of success – trust, loyalty, mutually rewarding transactions, and long-term relationships. Recruiters nurture relationships with candidates and hiring managers by helping them grow through strategic recruiting that aligns with their respective goals.   

Recruiters fully understand this dynamic in sourcing sales talent for today’s organizations. They know that successful sales professionals have a knack for building rapport with clients and prospects by knowing their product and service needs inside-out and helping them meet productivity and revenue goals.  

4. Proven negotiating skills  

The art of negotiation is key in both talent recruitment and sales. Recruiters negotiate salaries, compensation packages, job offers, and onboarding processes, while salespeople negotiate pricing, contracts, and terms. This can be a delicate area of communication between a provider and buyer, where strong communication skills, product knowledge, and the flexibility of give-and-take come into play.    

Recruiters are extremely adept in identifying and assessing negotiation skills, tactics, and strategies in sales job candidates, with the full knowledge that these skills are essential to success in any sales job. 

5. Problem-solving with the right guidance and solutions 

Talent recruiters solve a company’s hiring challenges by finding ideal talent for their open roles. Just like recruiters, salespeople must understand customer needs so they can solve challenges by offering customers solutions that truly work.  

Recruiters know that problem-solving skills are the heartbeat of any sales job, which is why they look for sales candidates with the know-how and strong track records in identifying customer pain points and providing solutions tailored to their needs.  

6. The ability to persuade and influence decisions 

Successful recruiters and sales professionals are focused on motivating, influencing, and moving others to act. Recruiters do this by persuading candidates to pursue great job opportunities, selling those candidates to hiring companies, and convincing candidates to accept job offers. Similarly, salespeople persuade customers to purchase products or upsell those customers, and they persistently work to convert prospects into customers. 

Recruiters are acutely aware of the gravity of persuading people to make potentially life-changing decisions about their careers. They are equally aware that sales professionals must not only possess the ability to influence the decisions of others, but that their approach must always be in the best interests of the customer. This ties directly to the skill of building trust and nurturing long-term relationships.  

7. Relentless networking 

Successful recruiters and salespeople develop business networks and continually expand their connections to people and other organizations, whether it’s to source top talent or identify, connect with, and convert potential customers.    

Talent recruiters know that networking translates directly to lead generation, referrals, and sales, and that building a robust network of prospects and industry contacts is crucial for success. This is why networking ability is one of the key traits recruiters aim to identify in candidates for sales roles.   

8. Equal measures of resilience and persistence

Rejection is a fact of life in talent recruiting and sales. Job candidates turn down job offers from recruiters for other positions, and hiring companies reject a recruiter’s job candidates, including eminently qualified ones. Similarly, salespeople struggle with lost deals, customers who defect to other providers, and nonresponsive prospects.  

It’s well known that rejection makes certain recruiters and salespeople resilient, a crucial quality for success in these professions. Talent recruiters recognize that resilience is what keeps professionals moving forward – because they’ve been there and done that. It’s a recruiter’s job to identify sales candidates who persist in closing deals despite rejections that are inherent to the job.  

9. Professionalism, patience, creativity, and confidence 

Of all the characteristics and skills that recruiters and sales professionals share, the traits of professionalism, patience, creativity, and confidence tend to shine more brightly. These traits reflect the mettle and beliefs that make true professionals stand out among their peers.    

• Professionalism is knowing and proficiently fulfilling one’s responsibilities, accepting accountability, committing to continuous improvement, and treating coworkers, customers, business partners, and all stakeholders with utmost respect.  

• Patience is being comfortable with other people’s timelines and expectations. Recruiters and salespeople seldom know exactly when a hire will be confirmed or a sales deal will close – but they always stand ready.  

• Creativity – providing ideas, options, or alternative ways to answer a need or solve a problem – is what sets great recruiters and sales professionals apart from average ones.  

• Confidence is what makes rainmakers out of recruiters or salespeople. When recruiters and sales professionals believe in what they are selling, it’s impossible to conceal the confidence they project to others. And confidence sells!    

Recruiters quickly recognize these traits in sales candidates and know how fundamental they are to the success of the individual and the companies and customers they serve.   

Make a wise high-stakes decision by partnering with a recruiter   

As you can see, sales recruiters know precisely who you need for your key sales roles. At Goodwin Recruiting, our industry expertise, dedication to integrity, and personalized service make us an ideal partner for companies seeking driven and skilled sales professionals. In fact, we’re a top choice in the recruitment industry, recently named as a Top Sales & Executive Recruiting Firm.      

We not only know sales, but we also know when solid sales reps are perfect fits for specific companies. 

Connect with our team of recruiting experts today and let us help you find your next sales pro.