How much time and money are you wasting on your sales recruiting efforts? If you don’t have the right strategy in place from the start, you could easily be costing your company money. This can all be avoided with the right screening processes. Whether you are building an entire team of sales engineers from the ground up or simply need to fill an additional position within your existing SE department, the following tips can help make the entire process much more efficient and effective.
Recognizing Qualified Candidates
Because a sales engineer is someone whose primary focus is on emphasizing the technical differentiators of a product, screening for those skills is pretty straightforward. Obviously, you want someone who is tech-savvy, or is at least a quick learner, and who is willing (with a proven track record) to continuously educate themselves and improve on their skills.
But having technical know-how isn’t the be-all and end-all of a sales engineering role. In fact, there are a number of other important characteristics that make an SE effective, such as interpersonal skills, good communication and the ability to present to any type of audience. Knowing what these characteristics are and how to spot them in a sea of applicants is the key.
For additional information on how to evaluate candidates, this resource should help.
Incentivizing
Just like other members of your sales team, your sales engineers can and should be properly incentivized. In terms of the SE role, industry standard is to compensate on a 70/30 basis, which means 70% comes from salary and the other 30% is commission, based on quotas and other criteria.
Additionally, aligning the way you pay your sales engineers with how you compensate your sales reps is important. For instance, if you offer a commission to your sales representatives based on customer renewals, you should offer the same to your SEs. When compensation structures align, it keeps everyone working toward the same goal which, in this scenario would be client retention.
And, of course, you’ll want to offer a competitive salary as well. Otherwise, you won’t even get the opportunity to interview top candidates.
Making the Right Partnerships
We’re not going to sugar coat it. Hiring SEs can be challenging. Not only is the candidate pool extremely competitive, but given the fact that we’re currently in a job seeker’s market, getting your hands on a qualified individual who will be successful and fit in well with your corporate culture can seem like an impossible feat.
That’s why partnering with a seasoned recruiting firm can be a good option – in particular, working with a firm that specializes in sales recruiting. Not only does such a recruiter have an existing network of resources from which to draw, but they can make the process fast and efficient, saving you time and aggravation in the process. Knowing when it’s time to wave the white flag and ask for help can be a weight lifted off your shoulders.
If you’re tired of wading through a sea of candidates, wasting a ton of time and energy in the process, know that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. At Betts Recruiting, we are pros at helping businesses scale and have a specialty in the sales field. Get in touch today to find out how a partnership with us can help you build your dream team.