The first step in hiring sales representatives is to assess your existing sales culture, not your existing sales representative recruitment process. To understand what your sales culture is, it is imperative that you conduct a sales benchmark audit. A sales benchmark audit looks at how your sales culture compares with best practice companies in your field, what changes or investments you need to make in your sales culture, and what metrics you need to be cognizant of and act upon.  This will uncover the good, bad, and ugly in the technology,  processes, and people that affect your ability to source, screen, hire, and retain the best and brightest sales professionals.

Think of a real estate agent for a moment.....if he or she is chartered with recruiting potential buyers to a property and the property (AKA product) has pink elephant wall paper...good ones (real estate agents) will step up and say to the buyer," Change the wallpaper or we don´t have a prayer of selling this place!"  The analogy here is that the recruitment team - much like the real estate agent - must make their "product" presentable before introducing it to the market. In other words....spruce up your sales culture!

You may be asking yourself if this should be part of the duties and responsibilities of the staffing team and the answer is an unequivocal yes. If there are weaknesses in your "product" it is up to you to help refine, redesign, and reintroduce your "new and improved" sales culture.