Don't let politics influence sales recruitment, bosses urged

Sales recruitment is among the most difficult endeavours for any industry, a new article asserts.

Sue Barrett writes on her blog for Smart Company that recruiting candidates for sales jobs is hard and often hampered by politics, nepotism and inaccurate perceptions of the qualities a good salesperson requires.

Ms Barrett describes her "shock" at a recent sales recruitment exercise that interviewed two internal candidates for leadership roles - one of whom was endorsed by their manager but seemed inadequate, the other of whom was clearly competent but had been rated poorly by "internal stakeholders".

She asks: "When it comes to assessing sales and sales leadership capabilities in your business, do the lines blur between the cultural morays, views and perceptions, gossip and politics and the real capabilities needed to be assessed against your actual sales strategy?"

Meanwhile, a recent study by Croner Reward found that managers feel pressurised to give pay rises to their workers.

Aaron Wallis are a Milton Keynes Sales Recruitment agency with a unique service offering that includes 12 months rebate. Psychometric profiling and online skills testing are also included within a fixed recruitment price.

Filed: 04-08-2008