Zak Ellman’s Post

Top 5 Reasons to Approach Recruiting with a Sales Mindset 📈 1.)Recruiting as a Sales Cycle: Understanding the hiring process as a sales cycle illuminates the essence of recruitment - it’s about selling the company and the role to potential candidates, just as they present their skills to you. This perspective emphasizes the mutual exchange of value, mirroring the dynamics of a sales transaction. 2.)Value of Qualified Leads: In sales, the focus on qualified leads is paramount; this principle is equally critical in recruiting. Investing time in candidates who match the company’s needs and culture is akin to targeting potential customers who have a genuine interest and the means to engage with your product. It ensures efficiency and higher success rates in both fields. 3.) Nurturing Prospects: The importance of relationship-building is a cornerstone of both sales and recruiting. Engaging candidates with the same dedication as potential clients fosters a connection that could be decisive in their decision-making process. Nurturing these relationships can set the stage for a successful hire, much like it closes deals in sales. 4. )Metrics and Data-Driven Strategies: Adopting a sales mindset in recruiting involves leveraging data and metrics to guide your strategies. This approach allows for a more structured and outcome-focused process, enhancing the ability to track progress and make informed adjustments along the way. 5.) Closing with Conviction: The goal is to progressively move candidates towards accepting a job offer. Each interaction is an opportunity to reinforce the value proposition, ensuring candidates remain engaged and interested. Treating recruiting as a sales process not only streamlines the hiring workflow but also enhances the quality of hires by applying proven sales techniques. This mindset is particularly advantageous in the fast-paced, resource-constrained environment of startups, where each hiring decision can have significant impact. By embracing these sales principles, recruiters can optimize their approach and contribute to their company’s success more effectively.

I was not a natural born sales person. I had to learn. The starting point was as a rookie recruiter being a told to do stuff that made no sense.  It made no sense to take a candidate to market, when most of the roles I was picking up were hard to fill. It seemed clear that what i needed to do was pick up easier to fill roles - and that meant having my clients see me as more than a cv factory. So when i built the Resonant Outbound method (it wasn’t called that back then but it always resonanted with people who value recruitment) it had to achieve three goals: 1. it had to communicate the true value of a good recruiter - more than just filling roles 2. it had to quickly deliver enough value for employers to trust someone they’d not worked with 3. it had to deliver more placements than taking candidates to market I saw that the value i wanted from my clients was greater than they were typically willing to give: I wanted their help to make filling all their roles easy so that I made more placements and they kept using me. So it was clear the value I added had to be greater than anything they’d ever received. Thar meant finding an approach that delivered huge value as well as productising my offering so that it was a no-brainer for them. The first version of this process was built and shared with hundreds of recruiters back in 2018. Since then it’s had several major overhauls and now, 6 years on, represents a full sales operating system. it works for both new business and expanding existing clients. And I’m prepared to suggest it’s the most effective and sophisticated approach to sales being delivered in recruitment…but you’d have to check it out to be sure. What’s more, all that work has lead to it becoming a simple, scalable systematic approach. But it came from humble beginnings. just me, trying to figure out why I was slogging my guts out for 15% fees and contingent terms whilst solving my clients biggest, most valuable problems. And being certain there had to be a better way. 

How to know if someone is a sales 'Hunter' When hiring sales people for their SaaS businesses, the majority of CEO's and Sales Leaders are looking to hire true 'hunters'. Here are a few tips when considering candidates to help identify their 'hunter level' Firstly let's look at their online profile, or CV. 💰 Don't put put off by the title, there are so many different titles in the SaaS sales space - Even Account Manager could be a new business role and Sales Director could be an individual contributor 💰 There should be lots of focus on numbers on the CV, top sales performers like to share detail on specific deals rather than just percentages against target. 💰 Lots of 'I did this' rather than 'we did this', with a real sense of achievement and purpose, often combined with details of specific client wins 💰 Don't always be put off by short tenures, top performers don't hang about if something isn't right, but clear progression is pretty key. Now let's look at the interview process 💰 Talking through their sales process is obviously very important to understand exactly 'how' and also 'how much' they sell. 💰 They should know their numbers well, so question them on specifics around deals and targets. 💰 Any top performer should want to see the product and will likely ask for a demo, they may also want to chat to the SDR's if you have them, or other members of the sales team 💰 They should be asking lots of questions to get a complete picture and they will ask for feedback at the end. 💰 If it feels like you are selling to them, then don't worry because the top performers are continually being offered 'great' opportunities. I have worked with many early stage and scale up SaaS businesses, advising on sales hiring and retention strategy, not just on sales recruitment. So, if you are after some advice or guidance then please get in touch.

Hiring Sales people to succeed is hard. Unless you are hiring superstars from a direct competitor (and sometimes even then), there is a higher element of risk than in other areas of your business. You can hire a finance professional, an HR professional or a skilled trades person and know the vast majority of their skills will transfer. You can design simple tests before hiring that work too. But Sales? For whatever reason (and some of that is on us as sales people, not us as hiring managers), it seems to be a lot murkier. A high performing SaaS CRM salesperson doesn’t crack the new SaaS ERP role they were hired for. That top-selling rep from your key vendor that you hired, moves back to the old job after 6 months of struggling with your processes and targets. We have all been there, and we know the impact to the business. There are some fundamentals that have to be in place for success before we talk about the soft skills and processes of course. An understanding of what your organisation likes in successful employees (from all areas, it’s the culture, people), a clear definition of the role and what success looks like in that role, a well-defined onboarding procedure, as examples. If these aren’t in place, you are increasing the risk of making the right hire exponentially. Assuming you have all these, things can still go wrong (even the late great Jack Welch allegedly said he only hired successfully eight out of ten times). So, what can we do to help mitigate the risks? Here are some things we at SOAR have implemented before in Sales hiring; 1.      Testing during hiring phase. Look for communications skills, ability to think outside the box and using previous experience to navigate a sales process. 2.      Look for inherent traits. Long term success in B2B sales requires intellectual curiosity, resilience and empathy. This is especially important when hiring for entry level jobs. 3.      Interview for culture. Another late great, Tony Hsieh, made sure a separate interview was conducted for culture fit, and no matter the result of the skills/experience interview, no-one was hired having failed the culture fit interview. We have a great story of Tony Hsieh out late on a vendor trip to back that up! 4.      Stop looking for purple squirrels! The likelihood that you find the absolute perfect candidate, in your budget and timeline, is extremely low. A good and well-suited B performer will do far more for you than that A-game candidate you still haven’t found. We get it. Hiring Sales people seems tougher, especially as most of them are good communicators and therefore perform well in interview scenarios. And you’ll never get it right every time. But there are systems and programs you can put in place to improve your lot! And should you ever need it, SOAR can help build a hiring program designed specifically for you and your business to succeed. Drop us a line and we can chat.

With only a few weeks left in the year, sales hiring appears to be high on many company to-do lists in 2025. Here are 3 things hiring managers want to know about you that can help you stand out: 1) What is your sales process? Why it's important: If you've had success selling one product, your success selling something different (even to the same audience), is not guaranteed. Rather than treating this as a question to prepare a "right" answer to, view it as an opportunity to instill confidence in you and your methodology. If you can articulate a regimented, process-driven approach (especially one that has worked at multiple companies), interviewers will feel more assured of your likelihood of success. It certainly beats hoping that a combination of your personality and the interviewer's gut instinct will win you the job. 2) Are you comfortable running a sales cycle from prospect to close? Why it's important: SaaS startups and boutiques in particular have faced enormous challenges in winning market share the past 18+ months. It's never been easy to persuade a brand-new client to onboard an unfamiliar product, but it's even more difficult when inbound leads and external marketing efforts don't result in pipeline development. You can stand out if you convey a willingness to do your own prospecting instead of appearing reliant on BDR teams and robust marketing efforts to be successful. Easier said than done, but for companies looking to win market share in 2025, it's a pivotal attribute that former BDRs and skilled sellers can leverage to their benefit during the interview process. 3) Do you have deep industry relationships? Why it's important: Right or wrong, sales is commonly whittled down to one word- relationships. Even when someone has demonstrated success in a previous role, hiring salespeople can still be fraught with risk, and we find it is often treated more like art than science. Despite the massive windfall that can result from hiring one great salesperson, the impact of hiring someone who fails to launch can be equally harmful. To guard against the risk of unanticipated challenges, hiring managers seek out those who have cultivated their own relationships instead of solely inheriting them. This holds weight whether a firm has set out to serve an entirely new industry or wants to expand market share. To drive home your strengths in this category, it's critical to outline your key relationships, how you built them, and why those people decided to work with you. Sales is about helping your clients improve their lives through your solution. You can help your interviewer imagine the benefits of having you on their team by being specific & truthful in discussing the 3 points above. If you're interested in discussing trends in the industry, feel free to reach out. I'd love to connect before the year is up! Kaleb Albro #Recruiting #Sales #Hiring #SaaS #TalentAcquisition #BusinessDevelopment #Data #Revenue #RevOps #Job

Hire Employees, Fast A study conducted by Harvard Business Review emphasized the impact of hiring high-performing talents from sales talent agencies. The study observed that a team with these talents performed 5% better than those without one. Natural Social Pressure Natural social pressure in the workplace refers to the direct influence of high-performing employees on the team's laggards. They naturally place the low-performing salespeople under pressure to motivate them to deliver the same performance as their higher-performing counterparts. A proven way for a business to execute this is to acquire a high-quality pipeline of new sales talent through sales talent agencies. These agencies provide a pipeline of skills with sales expertise that guarantees best practices from their past experiences. It's also a way for managers to incorporate new strategies with these unique talents to help the laggards. Furthermore, high-performers must outnumber the low-performers to increase performance and overall revenue. It may cost some money for businesses to accomplish this. What Impact Does a Sales Talent Agency Have on Your Existing Sales Staff? Increase in Revenue As mentioned, sales talent agencies can successfully drive your business to immense sales growth. They also increase your overall profits by reducing costs from recruiting, training, managing, and on-boarding new hires. You can also use them to test new sales approaches before introducing them to your existing team avoiding potential confusion. This method allows you to analyze and hone them before you extend these approaches to large-scale prospecting. Maximize Productivity You can maximize productivity when you hire through staffing agencies as they provide a competitive edge with years of experience. It also encourages your existing staff to increase performance, given the fresh and new perspectives their new talents can contribute. They guarantee world-class talent with vast experiences to reinforce your sales goals and bring more ideas into the table. With their recruits, you are empowering your existing staff, which maximizes productivity. Encourage an Adaptable Culture The number of people in a low-performing group tends to increase when managers overlook decreased performance over the years. Managers prefer maintaining chronic performers than enduring vacant sales territories. They become complacent in dissolving this group with fear of losing enough workforce to sustain optimum performance. Sales talent agencies can help handle these rapid changes. For more information or to find motivation for your sales team, contact LA Sales Recruiter today! LA Sales Recruiter Office: (310) 933-5809 / Toll-Free: (800) 505-0665 [email protected] 9350 Wilshire Blvd Ste. 203 Beverly Hills, CA 90212 LAsalesrecruiter.com #salesrecruiters #jobsearch #losangeles #LA #sales #Hiring #candidates #Humanresources #california #recruiter #staffing #jobs #LAsalesrecruiter

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 In the tech industry, where growth happens fast, having the right sales talent can make or break a company’s success. Strategic sales recruitment is essential for building a team that not only meets immediate goals but also drives long-term scalability. Here’s why it matters: 1. 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 🎯 Tech sales often require unique knowledge, from understanding complex SaaS solutions to navigating long sales cycles. Strategic recruitment ensures you hire sales professionals with the specialized skills needed to effectively sell your product and tackle the industry’s challenges. 2. 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 📈 When scaling, it’s not just about hitting targets; it’s about aligning your sales team with the company’s broader growth goals. Strategic recruitment focuses on hiring individuals who can grow with the company and contribute to long-term success, ensuring sales efforts support overall business objectives. 3. 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 💸 Hiring the wrong person for a key sales role can be costly. By prioritizing a strategic approach to recruitment, you reduce the risk of hiring candidates who don’t fit the company’s needs or culture. This results in better long-term hires, reducing turnover and associated costs. 4. 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 🌱 As tech companies grow, so do the demands on the sales team. Strategic recruitment ensures that you’re not just filling seats but building a team that can scale with your company. By identifying and hiring adaptable, high-potential salespeople, you set your company up for sustainable growth. 5. 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 🏆 The tech industry is highly competitive, and top sales talent is often hard to find. A strategic approach to recruitment ensures you’re proactively identifying and attracting the best candidates before your competitors do, giving you a competitive edge in both talent acquisition and sales performance. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 Strategic sales recruitment is essential for tech companies looking to scale. By hiring for specialized skills, aligning talent with growth objectives, and building a scalable team, you create a foundation for long-term success. In a competitive market, investing in the right talent can be the difference between growth and stagnation. 💬 How has strategic sales recruitment impacted your company’s growth? Share your thoughts in the comments! #SalesRecruitment #TechSales #SalesGrowth #BusinessScaling #TalentAcquisition

Sales Leaders > I don't post very often. As someone who refuses to waste your time, a post must bring value or I don't post. I'm going to address a problem we are beginning to see and a solution which may prevent headaches for you if you are a Sales team leader tasked with bringing in revenues. As a 20+ year headhunter focused on building Sales and GTM support teams for technology and cyber security companies, I have spent the past year fielding calls, emails and LinkedIn communications and having daily discussions with absolute deal closing masters. Most are employed, but looking to make a move. These are the top 1- 5 sellers in the company they work for. Companies you compete with or are familiar with. Most calls end with: "Call me if you see anything I should know about" The thing that concerns me is this trend is slowing. The candidate market is returning to the patterns seen from 2009 - 2022 and soon, companies will again struggle to attract and hire the best talent. If you are a hiring manager... Consider moving open demand and if needed, build a case to borrow from another budget in order to make a hire this quarter or next. The window is closing to hire the best of the best without massive competition, inflated salary ranges and dreaded sign on bonuses. 💡 Hire now: ✔ Interview passive 100 - 300+% achievers accustomed to 1- 5M$ sales targets ✔ Market average base salary + uncapped commissions ✔ Fewer competitors for top achievers, by a lot. They may earn 1-2 other offers max ✔ Experience potentially 100 - 300% achievement against a 1 - 5M$ sales target ✔ Alleviate rolling, daily cost of inaction which equates to $5,500 X 365 days incurred by leaving a 2M$ patch open OR 👎 Hire when every other company does: 👎 Your company is one of many trying to hire them 👎 Candidates are overloaded with openings and must eliminate first interviews. They do so by back channeling you personally, your company and research you in great detail for the purpose of inclusion or elimination from consideration before you even interview them 👎 This is when you will find out if the marketing, data, comp and HR teams have positioned you to attract talent 👎 Every inflated salary discussion is fairly one sided because candidates have multiple offers 👎 Time to have that sign on bonus discussion again 👎 Unless a company is at the top of every jobseeker's list they may see patches stay open for 90 - 120 days 👎 Headhunters are slammed with searches and cherry picking what they work on If we can help create the business case or brainstorm with you, please reach out.

Sales Leaders: Are you hiring for the right mindset? Each poor hire costs you 210+ hours in wasted time over just 6 months, time you could be using to drive growth. With over half of all new sales hires fail in their 1st 12 months, that’s a lot of wasted time, effort and budget. Why is this happening? Sales is, at its core, a prospecting role. No matter the product or industry, the ability to hunt for new business is what sets high performers apart. But here’s where many leaders miss the mark when hiring: they focus too much on industry experience and not enough on a proactive sales mindset. If you want a proactive sales culture, start targeting hires who live for prospecting. Those who are naturally curious, comfortable being uncomfortable, happy to engage new leads, and have the will to drive the business forward. If interviewing, think about it for a second; a great CV lands on your desk. This candidate has smashed it at a market leader, where incoming leads are rife, where they have every advantage going. Are they going to even want to prospect? Maybe, but don’t be blinded by big brand names. Yes, industry knowledge is important, but if your team lacks the hunger for new business (whether in raw new business or farmer type roles), you’re building a reactive culture, not a proactive one. When hiring, shift your focus towards people who have the drive, curiosity, and persistence that define a great prospector over and above big-name former employers. You can train industry specifics, but you can’t teach someone to love the hunt. Build your team with this in mind, and watch your sales culture shift from passive to powerfully proactive. The cost of hiring badly is way more than just money, it’s valuable lost time. Over 6 months, a poor hire costs you 210 hours of your time (that’s 26 days!). Over 18 months, it jumps to 360 hours (or 45 days). With 55% of new Saas hires failing within their first year according to Saas Brief, no wonder sales teams struggle to meet their goals, and the managers have no time to coach their people. The good news is, there is a better way… What do you do to mitigate the risk of hiring poorly? How do you spot the right sales mindset? If this resonates with you please drop a comment. If you’re hiring now and want to improve your process, DM me to learn how I help sales leaders get it right 9 times out of 10 with minimal effort. #leadership #sales #management

SOLUTION SELLING It's the ONLY way recruiters can achieve consistent revenue growth. Most are sick of the rollercoaster and tired of watching their billings yo-yo. I've helped over 1000 recruiters sell solutions. I've seen them try and fail, struggle and grow. Here's how to master the art: -------------------------------------- PART 1: The vacancy is not the problem. Solution selling is not about vacancies and placements. Filling a role doesn't improve your clients business. It gets the company back to normal. There is no lasting change, no commercial impact. Filling roles is transactional. No matter how consultative you feel. Making placements has nothing to do with solution selling. ------------------------------------------ PART 2: Solutions = Transformations. They have a lasting impact. They improve the business forever. The only way to consistently and confidently win new business is to sell solutions. Transformations. To create real change. - Change the way they assess talent - Change the way they define their needs - Change the way they present their opportunities To win, you must sell a change in BEHAVIOUR and CULTURE around hiring. And it's easier than you think. -------------------------------- PART 3: Make it Happen Expert Recruiters already know... - The real problem - The cause of the problem - The value of fixing the problem - The best solutions to the problem - And the way the solution should be measured This is the core of your sales process. Nail this and several very good things happen. Your fees increase, improve your terms and work with better clients You become less reliant on new business on get more referrals Your clients commit and help you fill their roles You fill the majority of the roles you work You retain the client You're either transactional, or transformational. There is no in-between. Which are you?