Wild Shifts in Sales Hiring Drive the Hire Rate From 3% to 0.5%

Struggling to fill that sales role? You’re not alone, and the numbers are getting wilder.

Have you attempted to hire salespeople or sales managers lately?  Have you put yourself out there to look for a new sales or sales management position?

While the process to recruit and select sales professionals is the same as it has been for several years, we are seeing dramatic changes to the conversion rates for sales and sales management positions.

For example, I was recently asked to hire a sales manager for a client and it required the following:

The Numbers Don’t Lie

There are a number of insights we can grab from the stats in this table:

• 169 candidates to hire 1 – just .5% (600% lower rate than previous rate of 3%)
• 64% response rate from total candidates (up 28% from previous rate )
• 46% assessment incompletion rate (more than 200% worse than the previous rate of 18%)
• 38% pass rate on the *Objective Management Group sales candidate assessment used by 30,000 companies to hire their ideal salespeople, sales managers and sales leaders (statistically significant increase from previous average of 33% as it varies by the difficulty of the role)
• 43% drop out or cancellation rate for the 1st Zoom Interview (was near zero previously!)

Those are some wild variations and changes from prior norms.

Do I care how much those numbers change and vary?

Not really – it is what it is.

Do I need to know what to expect?

Yes.

Why We Weed Them Out Early

Perhaps the biggest lesson from the data is that this is just another pipeline, with this particular pipeline carrying a .5% hire rate. One of the reasons the hire rate is so low, is the number of hoops a candidate must jump through, the number of milestones for which they must qualify, and the degree of qualification they must possess by the time the first Zoom interview is scheduled.

If you’re going to work backwards from a .5% win rate, and a large percentage of candidates are going to be disqualified along the way, all of the numbers are important, and you must have a job posting that will attract enough candidates to generate the required number of candidates.

Candidates that don’t respond to our note?  We already know everything we need to know about those candidates.  Thank you very much for saving our time!

Candidates that don’t complete the application or assessment?  Thank you very much for demonstrating your unwillingness to do what it takes to achieve success.

All the candidates that aren’t recommended by OMG?  That’s why we use OMG!!!

Candidates that no show or cancel their Zoom interview?  Again, thank you very much for the real-time demonstration of how you roll!

There are reasons not to get bogged down with resumes or phone calls early in the recruiting process.  You don’t want to develop bias for or against a candidate, and you don’t want to waste your time with candidates who won’t succeed in the role!

When we recruit on behalf of a client, it’s usually because they either don’t have the bandwidth, or it’s a crucial hire and a hiring mistake for that role is not an option.  If they can’t get it wrong, then we must get it right.  The first time.  Every time,

If you need help with your hiring, whether it’s choosing the right tools, teaching your team how to do what we do so you/your team can do this as efficiently and effectively as we do, or having us do 95% of the process for you, reach out to us here.

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