Sales Models, Metrics, and Motions Blog

Now Is the Time to Focus on Hiring Momentum

by Matt Bertuzzi on Tue, Aug 16, 2016

This morning, I ran a LinkedIn search for open SDR, AE, and Customer Success jobs in greater Boston. I found 1,506 active job posts—with 600+ posted within the last week alone. With every social post, in every recruiter InMail, and on every career page, companies are screaming for sales talent.

There are two problems though. One, the unemployment rate (for the typical candidate profile) is nearing a natural floor.

Two, the era of sloppy growth is coming to an end (see here, here, and here). When times are fat, companies can ignore slack in their hiring process. Heads for headsets, paying signing bonuses, and “hire-fast + fire-fast” mentalities will put butts in seats when growth trumps profitability.

As the pendulum swings toward efficient growth, hiring momentum becomes what matters. And for high-growth companies, it becomes a strategic competitive advantage.

What is hiring momentum?

According to my good friend Google, momentum is the quantity of motion of a moving body, measured as a product of its mass and velocity. In sales, you can increase hiring momentum in three ways:

  1. Grow the volume of candidates entering your recruiting funnelhiring-hourglass.jpg
    (attract, convert, and advocate)
     
  2. Decrease the drag from wasted screening/interviewing/hiring cycles
    (qualify and close)
     
  3. Increase velocity from open req to offer accepted
    (qualify, close, and advocate)
     

In our latest ebook – The Sales Hiring Hourglass – I’ve shared advice, collected stories, and highlighted examples of companies doing just that. Being a sales leader means thinking strategically, architecting process, and maximizing resource utilization. Those are the exact skills you’ll use to embrace the hourglass mindset and increase hiring momentum.

I’d love to hear what you’re seeing, too. Please share in the comments below.

You can download the full ebook here >>
blogc2a_hourglass.jpg

 

 

Topics: inside sales hiring

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