Salesforce Search

Creating a great sales resume is a critical first step for a successful job search. Your resume is how you sell yourself which gets your foot in the door and differentiates you from the other candidates. While proper formatting and clearly outlining your past experience will always be important, the use of “Key Words” in you resume is becoming more and more critical.

Most companies today use some type of recruitment software to track, store and manage resume submissions…including SalesForce Search. The use of these types of programs allow companies to quickly search their database using key word searches that match the specific criteria required for a particular role. Make sure your resume includes keywords that identify the:

• Names of the companies you have sold to or managed accounts for;
• Names of the industries you have worked for, sold into, or managed accounts in;
• Top sales and business development skills you possess;
• Awards or recognition you have received;
• Education or certifications you possess.

Including key words that describe these parts of your background will get your resume noticed and bring you one step closer to landing your next great job in sales.

SalesForce Search is a sales recruiting company which specializes exclusively in the recruitment and placement of sales professionals. To contact us please call 1-800-461-SELL (7355) or email us at info@salesforcesearch.ca

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www.SalesForceSearch.ca

Put yourself in this situation. Your company’s revenues have been flat lately and you’ve been handed one straight forward yet very challenging task: increase sales. It’s time to prove yourself so you jump right in. You quickly throw together a generic brochure summarizing the company’s services, create a list of every company in the phone book from A to Z, and then spend the rest of your budget on stamps and envelopes for a mass mailing. Then you sit back and wait for the orders to start pouring in. Then you wait some more. Then, before you know it, you’re out on the job hunt looking for your next exciting opportunity.

So what went wrong? The experienced sales professional will recognize your approach was not well thought out and did not meet the fundamentals of a successful sales methodology. You didn’t identify which companies were in the greatest need of your services; you didn’t use your network of personal and professional contacts; and you didn’t tailor your material to match the company’s unique needs. Sales is a process, not an event, and it requires a strategic, targeted and customized approach.

How does this all relate to your job search? Because when looking for your next job you should follow the same principles that lead to success in sales. There’s a cliche that when you’re searching for a new job you’re actually “selling yourself”. However, a better way to think of it is that you’re offering your services, skills and experience to help a company fulfill their current needs and provide value to their business. The more committed you are to following a sound sales process, the more success you will have landing your next great position. With that in mind, put on your sales hat and consider the following when starting your career search:

• Develop a strategy. Any sales initiative should start with a sound assessment of the goals. Assess why you are looking for a new role — for career advancement, a higher income, or perhaps just a change of scenery. Once you’ve determined where you want to end up, you can start planning the steps you need to take to get there.
• Define target companies. First, determine what type of company you want to work for. What industry? Large or small? Start-up or well established? Second, do some research to determine which companies would benefit from your skill set and experiences. There’s little value sending off your resume to any random company that’s out there. Remember, you have to be a good fit with the company and the company has to be a good fit for you.
• Create a contact list. Identify those individuals in your personal and professional network and open up a channel of communication. These resources are very valuable and will help open the door to opportunities that may not have otherwise been available.
• Customize your materials. Just as a successful sales professional would not send out the same generic information to every potential client, make sure any resume or cover letter you send to a prospective employer is tailored specifically for them. Explain why you are a good fit with their company and how your qualifications can address their specific needs and add value to their business. Submitting generic information sends the wrong message to the employer — that you’re not really interested in them in particular but are just out looking for “any job”.
• Present well & follow-up. A job interview and a sales call have much in common. It’s your opportunity to confirm for the prospective employer that you will be able to provide the services required to address their business needs. Provide specific examples that demonstrate the value you can offer, ask the right questions to show your interest in the company and to learn more, and ensure you leave the meeting with a clear understanding of next steps. Follow-up accordingly to express your serious interest in the position and to keep yourself on the employer’s radar.

Treating your career search like a sales initiative will give you a competitive advantage over other job seekers. Sales is a long process, but if you follow sound sales fundamentals your efforts will be rewarded by a career opportunity that is mutually beneficial for you and the organization. At SalesForce Search we meet with hundreds of sales professionals each month and help guide them through the search process and “close the deal” on their next job. But you don’t need to be a seasoned sales professional to conduct a successful job search. Whatever your profession, whether finance, accounting, technology, operations or general management, the beginning of your job search is a good time to start thinking like a sales person.

SalesForce Search is a sales recruiting company which specializes exclusively in the recruitment and placement of sales professionals. To contact us please call 1-800-461-SELL (7355) or email us at info@salesforcesearch.ca

 Follow us on Twitter:

  http://twitter.com/salesjobsearch

www.SalesForceSearch.ca

We had an interesting discussion this week with our partner SalesForce Training & Consulting.

They received a call from a sales rep from a publicly traded, billion dollar company based in the United States. She was recently hired into a business development role in Toronto and had no sales experience at all. She was instructed by her sales manager to, “find some sales training” in hopes this would be the catalyst to make her a sales superstar and blow away her numbers. What’s worse, her sales manager had no interest in attending the session!

Sales training needs to be an ongoing process and not an event. Expecting miraculous improvements in your sales results after 1 day of sales training is not realistic and will set up the sales person and sales manager for disappointment. Sales training is about changing behaviours and it is the job of the sales manager to reinforce the proper behaviours through coaching and feedback. Expecting a sales person to do this on their own will not improve sales numbers.

It was a shock to us in this environment that such a big company had no established sales training program and that they were placing their hopes in the hands of an individual with no sales experience.

Whether you find a sales person through your own internal resources or use a sales recruiter like SalesForce Search, make sure you are hiring the top sales talent and give them ongoing sales training and coaching they’ll need to hit their targets.

SalesForce Search is a sales recruiting company which specializes exclusively in the recruitment and placement of sales professionals. To contact us please call 1-800-461-SELL (7355) or email us at info@salesforcesearch.ca

 Follow us on Twitter:

  http://twitter.com/salesjobsearch

www.SalesForceSearch.ca

You’re a Sales Manager or Sales Director, and you’ve finally got your sales team where you want it to be. You’ve assembled a team of high performing sales professionals, all of your open sales jobs are filled, and you no longer have to concern yourself with recruiting. Or do you?

This past December SalesForce Search surveyed over 3,000 sales professionals to find out what they are thinking about their current job, and future career plans, in light of today’s economy. The results were certainly telling. Over 80% of survey respondents indicated they are considering other opportunities or have already made the decision to leave their current company. And over 50% said they anticipate being with their current employer for less than a year.

The economic downturn is a significant driver of this type of instability. Many sales professionals are nervous, not only about their ability to make their targets, but are also concerned about the long-term viability of their company. Sales professionals are more mobile than ever before, and are willing to pack up and leave if another opportunity presents itself - especially if they deem it to be more secure and have greater earning potential.

So what does this mean to leaders of sales organizations? First, it’s no time to become complacent in your sales recruitment efforts. Knowing you can expect a high level of turnover in your sales team, you need to be constantly recruiting for top sales talent. Companies need to build their bench strength to ensure that if a top sales person leaves they already have top sales talent in place ready to step in. Keeping top talent in the pipeline requires continuous recruitment, whether it’s direct requirement efforts or regular networking with sales professionals.

High performing companies, especially in sales, are always looking for their next superstar. If your company isn’t, you may get left behind.

SalesForce Search is a sales recruiting company which specializes exclusively in the recruitment and placement of sales professionals. To contact us please call 1-800-461-SELL (7355) or email us at info@salesforcesearch.ca

 Follow us on Twitter:

  http://twitter.com/salesjobsearch

www.SalesForceSearch.ca