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7 Lessons Recruiters Can Learn From Great Salespeople

In Hiring Software & Tools — by Dave Anderson

In most companies, the sales team has the greatest impact on the bottom line. They use the right tactics to turn prospects into buyers so the company can achieve its revenue goals and be successful.

Recruiting is more or less another version of sales. It’s all about connecting with the right people and convincing them your company offers the best employment opportunity. Here are seven lessons that can help you be as successful as your quota-crushing sales team:

1. Understand the importance of empathy

There is no skill more crucial in sales than being able to put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and understand the world from their perspective. Great salespeople know the best way to make a connection with a prospect is to truly learn what challenges they face and offer them a genuine solution.

Successful recruiters listen to candidates before they speak. They try to uncover what a person’s current job is lacking to determine if their opening would be a better fit. We often assume people want to earn more money in their next role but that’s not always the case. Some people desire better benefits, more work-life balance or simply to start fresh at a new company.

Sometimes your role won’t be the solution to a candidate’s problem and you need to be okay with that. Being empathetic means honestly telling a person when you don’t believe your role makes sense for them.

2. Use the right language

People draw a lot of assumptions from the language we use. Salespeople know they have to choose their words carefully to grab a prospect’s attention and keep them interested.

Great recruiters also use psychologically effective language to better engage with candidates. They don’t use templated emails or copy and paste job descriptions. They’re instead authentic and come across as a friendly person who wants to help a talented person land an excellent job.

Be conversational and personable in your candidate communications and your response rate will likely increase.

3. Visualize the hiring process as a funnel

Companies with a long sales process move their potential buyers through a funnel. Prospects enter the top of the funnel and progress through a series of steps that prepare them to buy. Each step is measured and optimized to ensure the overall sales process is as effective as possible.

Modern companies also use a recruiting and hiring funnel to attract, assess and ultimately hire great employees. Recruiters monitor the funnel and determine which steps are effective at moving candidates forward and which ones need to be adjusted.

4. Source candidates anywhere you can

Sales people need a constant flow of leads to do their job. If the leads stop coming, the entire sales process, and possibly the entire company, will come to a sudden stop.

Companies that successfully hire fast always have a pool of candidates to consider. They keep the pool stocked by sourcing candidates through a variety of avenues. Job boards, employee referrals and social media are great ways to garner interest in your company and generate applicants. But don’t just go for the low hanging fruit. Try to find candidate sources other companies are missing out on.

5. Use software to manage the hiring process

Successful salespeople don’t just possess all the right personality traits. They’re skilled at using a CRM system to make informed decisions, automate tasks and provide prospects with a tailored buying experience.

Great recruiters run their entire hiring process through an applicant tracking system (ATS). Solutions like Trakstar Hire make it easy to post job openings, schedule interviews, request candidate assessments and understand your best candidate sources.

6. Maintain the same level of excitement everyday

Both sales and recruiting require a high level of excitement. Enthusiasm is contagious and makes a pitch resonate with the person on the receiving end.

However, both jobs also require many repetitive tasks so it can be difficult to be bubbly and lively every single day. That being said, it’s a must. You might be describing your company’s culture for the 100th time but it will be the first time the candidate is hearing about it. Coming across as dull, bored or anything but excited doesn’t make your company seem like a fun place to work.

7. Build long-term relationships

The best salespeople build long-lasting relationships. They stay in touch with uncommitted prospects and check-in with the ones they’ve closed. When they move onto another company, they have prospects to reach out to who they’ve already established trust with.

Similarly, the best recruiters know a past candidate can reemerge at anytime. A person who didn’t get a job during the first go around may be better suited for another role down the road. And someone you’ve hired in the past may be worth contacting again when you find yourself at a new company.

People like good people

Sales and recruiting both boil down to forging person-to-person connections. Spending money or accepting a new job are not decisions someone makes lightly. Strive to be empathetic, personable and to provide the candidate with a great experience so they come to understand you have their best interest at heart.

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Trakstar Hire is considered the most user friendly hiring software on the market. If you’re ready to take your recruiting and hiring to the next level, request a Trakstar Hire demo today.