In an interview with Talk Show Host Joel Helfer, on Main Street Mavericks Radio, Cotton, President of Best Sales Talent, LLC, stated: “Employers need to know exactly what they are looking for and what they need before they set out to hire a top sales person. If they don’t know what they are looking for, they’ll never know if they found it.”

He noted that employers need to recognize that hiring a top-performing sales person with a very specialized skill of building profitable relationships with new and existing customers is key to a company’s future.  Utilizing a recruiter can increase the odds of hiring the best sales talent, according to Cotton.

All things being equal if three sales people are selling basically the same thing in terms of product, service and price, customers will buy from the sales representative they know the best, like the best and trust the best over other sales competitors. That being the case, it’s critical to find the talent who has demonstrated that he or she can do the job and do it well. 

Mistakes in hiring the wrong people to represent your firm can be very costly.  It will reduce profitability, cause a loss of business, create customer dissatisfaction, and negatively impact company morale. 

Cotton noted, when asked by Helfer about the hiring of sales professionals, “Fewer people are entering the sales profession for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the declining birth rate in the USA.  Only about 10% of the total current work force in the USA is comprised of  sales people.  With the lower birth rate, there are fewer college grads, and as a result a very small percentage of them go into the profession of sales. Companies are having a tough time finding the top sales talent on their own, so they turn to recruiters who seek out sales people who are not actively looking for a new job, but who would consider a career change if it is in their best interest to do so.”

Cotton recommended that employers need to identify the top 5 or 6 performance objectives of the person they need to hire.  They need to identify exactly what it will take for the new hire to be a top sales performer in the first 6-12 months of employment. If a clear-cut blueprint of expected levels of performance is not spelled out the employer will not be able to track and determine success.  They also will not know if they hired the right person until they later realize that the person is not performing as well as they had hoped. That is when it is expensive to repeat the hiring process both in soft and real dollar costs.

Here’s what one of Cotton’s employer clients had to say. “Peter is the best recruiter I have worked with over the last 20+ years. He is detailed, professional and knowledgeable. One of the things I appreciate most about Peter is the research he invests during a search. While many recruiters simply pull out a file of resumes, Peter tries to match personalities, experiences and outcomes. His ability to analyze and understand our needs has lead to a better process and better outcomes. I have hired three candidates from Peter.”

David F., Vice President of Sales & Marketing     Plastics Manufacturer

To listen to the entire radio interview of Peter C. Cotton, on Main Street Mavericks Radio and discover what it takes to hire the best sales talent, go here: http://businessinnovatorsradio.com/peter-cotton-sales-talent-recruiter-best-sales-talent-improves-bottom-line/

For more information on Peter C. Cotton and Best Sales Talent, LLC  http://www.bestsalestalent.com