How to Recruit Sales Reps: Secrets to Build a Powerhouse Team
Sales departments have a turnover problem. A rep turnover problem.
Dreaded talent churn in sales is nearly three times as high as the average for other professions, substantially impacting sales revenue and recruitment costs.
While the causes are multifaceted, addressing this challenge begins with smart hiring practices. A strategic recruitment process isn't just about filling seats, it's about building a foundation for long-term success.
A happy team—one that isn’t checking the job openings of your competitors every other two minutes—is likely to hit targets consistently.
So, let’s look at how to implement and scale a successful hiring strategy.
Key Qualities to Look for When Recruiting Sales Reps
There’s no exact set of qualities that ideal sales reps possess. The difference in requirements between industries and even individual businesses can be substantial.
Before we dive into these qualities, remember that you'll need to adapt these criteria to your specific context. A successful enterprise software sales rep will need different strengths compared to someone selling professional services.
Generally speaking, sales reps should have the following traits:
Strong communication skills. Excellent communication is essential for successful pitching, dealing with client objections and needs in a nuanced way, and maintaining morale within the team.
Resilience and adaptability. Reps need to be able to deal with difficult clients, rejection, and promising deals going sour. They’ll also have to manage the (hopefully) inevitable highs of closing, too.
Proven track record of success. If a salesperson has a demonstrable history of prospecting high-quality potential customers, generating sales-qualified leads, or winning deals—whatever metric you choose—then there’s no reason to suppose they won’t perform equally well in your company.
Customer-centric mindset. Do candidates understand your customers at a genetic level? We’re talking more than rhyming off a few ICP attributes here.
Strong negotiation skills. “Negotiation skills” is one of those phrases you see on every resume. But discovering if and applicant can back up their claims requires your hiring managers to put on their detective hats.
Team player attitude. Even the most experienced sales professionals have weaknesses as well as strengths, and a strong team—where communication and understanding are valued—can plug these gaps while maximizing what individuals do well.
Technical proficiency. This may be secondary to the “softer” skills of negotiation and pitching, but it’s still essential that your reps know their way around the Salesforce dashboard and can make sense of complex analytics to identify areas for improvement.
One striking example of why technical proficiency is especially important in a modern sales team is because of the rise of AI virtual reps. They’re freeing up sales reps to focus on the essential human elements of the sales cycle. And SDRs with technical experience in this area are best placed to see optimal results.
How to Recruit Sales Reps: A Step-by-Step Process
When hiring salespeople, what differentiates successful interview processes is the specifics of implementation. It’s easy to define the various stages of recruitment at a high level. It’s a little—ahem, a lot—more difficult to make it work in practice.
Sales recruitment has eight distinct stages:
Define your ideal sales rep profile
Write a job description that sparks interest
Choose the right recruitment channels
Screen applications and resumes effectively
Conduct structured interviews
Assess candidates through practical exercises
Check references and backgrounds
Craft a job offer they can’t refuse
Let’s look at each of these steps in more detail.
1. Define Your Ideal Sales Rep Profile
A lot of organizations don’t know how to answer the question, “What does our ideal sales rep look like?”
All too often, they resort to tired platitudes like "team player," "goal-oriented individual," or the overused "dynamic."
Defining your ideal sales rep is about concrete details, such as::
Years in sales
Industry and vertical experience
Past client demographics
Average deal size (e.g., $10K to $100K)
Past quota success
Experience with B2B sales channels (social, email, cold calling)
CRM and tech stack experience
Preferred sales frameworks (SPIN, N.E.A.T., SNAP, etc.)
Soft skills are important, too. Again, specificity is the key word. Think about abilities like creative objection handling, metric-based goal setting, and tact around sensitive topics.
2. Write a Job Description That Sparks Interest
Don’t assume sales reps will automatically be interested just because you’re offering a salary and bonuses.
Part of the reason for the high churn among sales departments is that competition is fierce for reps who can drive outcomes.
When writing your job posting, include the following points:
Clear details about compensation (including salary, bonuses, and commission)
A description of your company culture
An outline of your values and mission
Details about employee benefits and perks (health insurance, paid time off, remote work options, free beer at the office bar, etc.)
Regular reviews of targets, compensation, and benefits
The final point—regular reviews of pay and targets—is particularly important for reducing churn. According to the 2022 Salesforce State of Sales Report, the biggest reason that sales reps resign is uncompetitive pay and unrealistic targets. Building a mechanism to address these issues into the formal role description of new sales hires is the best form of prevention.
Here’s an example of a job post that doesn’t hit the mark:
Growth Marketing Lead: Salary TBD
Software Widgets is a software development company specializing in artificial intelligence. We have revenues of over $10 million a year and cater a diverse array of industrial and business sectors.
We offer a competitive benefits package.
Here’s an example taken from a real job advertisement for Artisan that provides all the details described above:
Growth Marketing Lead $130K - $180K / Stock option: 0.05% - 0.20%
At Artisan, we're creating AI Employees, called Artisans, and software which is sleek, easy to use, and replaces the endless stack of point solutions. We're starting with outbound sales and our AI BDR, Ava. Our platform contains every tool needed for outbound sales - B2B data, AI email sequences, deliverability optimization tools and so much more.
We're growing very rapidly (closing $xM in new ARR each month). We recently raised a $12M seed round from top investors, and are looking for superstar engineers to join us on our rocketship growth as we relentlessly work towards building a multi-billion dollar company 🦄
Benefits:
Full-coverage medical, dental & vision insurance.
Equity options.
Company off-sites and events.
Food & drinks provided in-office.
3. Choose the Right Recruitment Channels
Focus your recruitment efforts on channels that consistently deliver quality candidates. Based on industry experience, here's a tiered approach to recruitment channels:
Primary channels (highest ROI):
Employee referrals
LinkedIn (direct sourcing and job posts)
Industry-specific job boards
Professional sales networks
Secondary channels:
General job boards (Indeed, Glassdoor, etc.)
Sales-specific job sites
Industry networking events
University career programs
Supporting channels:
Social media
Company careers page
Professional associations
Industry publications
All channels have their pros and cons. For sales hiring, research indicates that companies are most satisfied with hires that come from referrals. However, this doesn’t mean you should ignore alternatives.
4. Screen Applications and Resumes Effectively
It’s not uncommon for companies in the process of hiring to receive thousands of applications for open sales roles. HR departments and sales leaders are already busy, so effective early-stage screening of job seekers is a must.
Follow the three steps below to filter candidate resumes:
Identify non-negotiable red flags and exclude and remove offenders. These might include an absence of references, limited client experience, and a lack of industry experience.
Define core skills and qualifications and attach specific keywords to these attributes to quick-scan for keyword inclusion.
Rank high-potential candidates and select the best to go onto the interview stage. Interview capacity will vary. For some organizations, the shortlist will comprise the top ten. For others, the top 50 or 100.
It’s often possible to use AI to streamline the filtering process, but human review and input are still needed. Consider training an AI model to process resumes based on your specific criteria and hiring preferences.
It’s also worth mentioning that overly prohibitive red flags can cause you to miss out on some of the top talent. Factors like gaps in employment, a lack of certifications, and even (God forbid) the odd spelling mistake shouldn’t necessarily exclude otherwise qualified candidates.
Want to see how AI can improve your sales results? Artisan is a next-gen outbound sales platform that’s changing the way sales teams work. Our clients are seeing big increases across metrics like email response rates, meetings booked and closed won deals. If you’d like to see Artisan in action, book a demo.
5. Conduct Structured Interviews
Standard operating procedures (SOPs) for interviews aren’t static documents. At least, they shouldn’t be. You will undoubtedly find that better hires result from updating and refining interview templates based on candidate interviews and interviewer feedback.
Here are the main things to keep in mind when planning interviews:
Define open-ended questions to assess selling skills
…but don’t forget closed interview questions (they’re useful too)
Ask about past achievements and metrics
Don’t be afraid to ask unusual or challenging questions
Evaluate cultural fit and workplace expectations
On the last point, it’s difficult to overstate the importance of cultural fit. Business leaders cite it as one of the most important indicators of employee longevity.
6. Assess Candidates Through Practical Exercises
Ah, the good ol’ mock sales pitch.
Practical exercises are excellent opportunities to test candidates. And any sales representative worth their salt will relish the challenge to demonstrate their skills and show off their sales experience.
Where a lot of hiring companies go wrong, however, is in putting together practical exercises that are too narrow. Obviously, interview time is limited, but you should try to make these “tests” as broad as possible.
Here’s a sample scenario structure:
Provide an outline of a hypothetical client with a sample ICP.
Set a clear goal for the exercise, such as scheduling a follow-up meeting or addressing a specific product need.
Provide product-specific materials for the candidate to reference in the mock pitch.
Respond with few realistic objections such as budget or competitor interest.
Always offer an opportunity for the candidate to successfully close the hypothetical client.
Use the following evaluation checklist to score candidates:
Pitching clarity
Recall of details
Assertiveness and compromise
Storytelling
Empathy and emotional intelligence
Problem-solving
Objection handling
Ability to talk about technical details
Dealing with difficult client responses
Dealing with financial objections
End-of-call closing abilities
Practical exercises should mirror the nuances of your sales process. For example, if your process relies on lots of sales calls, mock conversations (on a phone line) should be included.
7. Check References and Backgrounds
Once you’ve decided on a shortlist of candidates with the right sales skills, it’s time for background checks.
Yes, this is a formality. But it’s important to be thorough. If you miss something, it can create significant issues later on, for both your company and clients.
Cover all the following bases with references and background checks:
Employment history verification
Education verification
Criminal background check
Credit check (if handling finances)
Reference checks from past employers
Professional license verification, if applicable
Social media and online presence review
Identity verification
8. Craft a Job Offer They Can’t Refuse
Great salespeople will often have a choice of multiple employers. If they've submitted a stellar resume and aced the interview, they've demonstrated their value. Now it’s time for you to differentiate your job offer.
Here are some simple tips for crafting a job offer your ideal candidate can’t refuse:
Send a physical document (an email will usually do).
Also reach out by phone to let them know you would like to offer them the job.
Discuss benefits beyond salary and emphasize regular reviews.
Stipulate a clear advancement path.
It’s also worth saying to candidates that you’re happy to discuss any questions that may have arisen since the interview. Indicating flexibility for negotiation makes the offer more attractive. The job offer is an essential part of the hiring process, with 76% of candidates saying a positive experience impacts their final decision.
Use the following framework when writing your job offers:
Date and contact details
A personal greeting in which you make the offer
Payment and benefits package
Reiteration of main role responsibilities
Information about contingencies (such as background checks)
Decision period that stipulates how long the candidate has to decide
How they should respond (phone, email, letter, etc.)
A warm closing that expresses your excitement
When to Consider Hiring AI Sales Reps
Finding and keeping good sales reps is hard. Even if you bag the right candidates, onboard them successfully, and get past the high turnover rates, day-to-day running costs are still high. That’s why AI models are being used to supplement sales reps' work, boosting their efficiency and allowing them to focus on the most important tasks that only humans can do.
These AI models aren’t precipitating a human workforce Armageddon, as many would have you believe. Instead, AI and human sales reps are working together to create powerhouse sales teams.
Companies still need to hire sales reps and sales managers for what is fundamentally a human process, internally and externally. But the simple truth is that businesses of all sizes, from startups to multinational enterprises, are seeing the benefits that AI brings.
Modern sales teams are evolving to leverage both human expertise and AI capabilities. This hybrid approach allows:
Sales reps to focus on:
Strategic account planning
Complex negotiations
Relationship building
High-value prospect engagement
Creative problem-solving
AI to handle:
Lead qualification
Initial outreach
Data enrichment
Follow-up scheduling
Activity logging
AI virtual sales assistants can work 24/7, don’t require incentives, rarely make errors, and scale up instantly based on business needs.
They also fill the roles of both business development representatives (BDRs) and sales development representatives. Specifically, AI can take on data-driven tasks like lead generation, qualification, outreach, and follow-up, while human reps handle in-person meetings and complex negotiations with high-priority prospects and ready-to-convert leads.
If you’re not already using AI, now is the time to think about adding next-gen outreach and automation platforms to your tech stack. Many of these apps are ready to go, and you can have them fully integrated into your workflow and driving results in as little as a few days.
Future-Proof Your Sales Team with AI-Powered Sales Reps
What happens when you mix the right salespeople with the very latest AI virtual assistants?
You create a team that’s not only more efficient, scalable and cost-effective, but one that’s also able to focus on the task of building and maintaining real relationships.
Artisan is a sales platform that supplements and improves the work of human sales reps. It uses technology at the forefront of AI to automate the early and middle stages of the outbound sales process.
Ava is Artisan’s virtual SDR. She manages a database of over 300 million enriched and validated leads and can personalize thousands of emails a day at a human level of quality.
Ava can take care of all the following jobs:
Prospecting from an up-to-date pool of over 300 million B2B leads
Lead data enrichment and validation
Ongoing ICP and market segmentation optimization
Personalization based on a unique proprietary “waterfall”
Email warm-up and email deliverability optimization
A/B and multivariate testing of outbound campaigns
LinkedIn outreach (which runs on autopilot, just like with emails)
Syncing across your tech stack (integrations for CRMs, ERPs, accounting, etc.)
If you’d like to see how Artisan can help your sales reps work better and drive more closed deals, get in touch to book a demo.
You might also like
