{"id":13744,"date":"2021-05-25T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elementapp.ai\/blog\/?p=13744"},"modified":"2026-03-01T11:03:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T10:03:20","slug":"how-to-recruit-salespeople-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elementapp.ai\/blog\/how-to-recruit-salespeople-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"How to recruit salespeople: 6 practical tips"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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How to recruit salespeople: 6 practical tips<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Recruiting salespeople<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In my recent articles, I wrote about costly recruitment mistakes<\/span><\/a> and about how much recruitment mistakes can cost<\/a>. This time I want to share 6 practical tips for recruiting salespeople<\/strong>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Everything here comes from my own experience. I spent close to 10 years recruiting for sales and sales-adjacent roles. I made plenty of mistakes along the way and watched others make theirs. On top of that, I have been doing sales myself for a decade, and in recent years it has eaten up most of my workday. So I have seen this from both sides — as the person hiring salespeople and as a salesperson. I think at least a few of these tips will save you some headaches.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Let’s get to it.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Recruiting salespeople - verify references!<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Sales roles almost always come with specific targets. Hitting those targets is usually easy to measure. So if you expect a candidate to deliver results, check whether they actually delivered in their previous jobs. The simplest way? References.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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How do you get references from a candidate’s previous employer?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Before the GDPR, this was straightforward. You asked the candidate for a contact at their old company — a direct supervisor, typically. The candidate could refuse, but an unexplained refusal raised a red flag. If they agreed, you called the person and asked about the candidate’s work habits and results.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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After the GDPR, things got murkier. Fortunately, on the question:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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“Can you contact a candidate’s previous employer to obtain information about them?”<\/i><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Polish Data Protection Authority says:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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“It is inadmissible for a prospective employer to obtain information about a job candidate from their previous employer unless the candidate has given consent for the above<\/b>.<\/i><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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It should also be noted that a candidate’s submission of references does not authorize the employer to contact the party that issued them in order to obtain additional information about the candidate. It should be remembered that the disclosure of personal data to the employer takes the form of a statement by the data subject. The prospective employer therefore cannot contact the previous employer for information about the tasks the candidate performed or for an opinion about the candidate. During the recruitment process, the candidate themselves should be the source of information regarding their professional history”<\/i> (source: https:\/\/uodo.gov.pl\/pl\/file\/1469<\/a>)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Read the first sentence again — a contrario<\/i>, we can gather information from a previous employer as long as the candidate consents.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The rest of the Authority’s response deals with a different scenario: when a candidate attaches reference letters to their application. The Authority makes clear that submitting reference letters is not the same as giving consent for you to call the former employer directly. You need explicit, separate consent for that.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Of course, references alone are not the full picture. But they can be extremely useful during candidate selection.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In my career, I hired experienced candidates several times without checking references. One person turned out to have never actually worked at the company listed on their CV. Another had worked three months, not twelve. A third completely missed their sales targets — though in the interview they swore they were way above plan.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Bad luck? I don’t think so. A CareerBuilder study (link to the study<\/a>) found that nearly 60% of hiring managers had caught lies on candidates’ resumes<\/strong>. You might not notice the problem when you are only running a few hires. But the more processes you run, the more likely you are to get burned. References help you filter out candidates who are hiding things — or flat-out lying.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Recruiting salespeople - ask about KPIs<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Most sales positions are tied to Key Performance Indicators<\/a> (KPIs). If you are looking for someone experienced and self-sufficient, ask them about their metrics. The usual ones: call volumes, emails sent, meetings booked, number and value of proposals, revenue generated.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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After you explain what the candidate would be selling at your company, ask them to propose their own KPIs for the role — and to explain why. This one question tells you a lot about their experience, how they think analytically, and what kind of goals they set for themselves.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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If the candidate does not know your market or product well enough, pay attention to how they react:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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