Hiring is difficult and complicated and botching a sales hire could be (or possibly already has been) your most expensive mistake. Making a hire starts with your job description. So whether you are making your first hire, or are attempting to correct mistakes of the past, here are five tips for writing a job description for your agency.
Less is more
Please pardon the cliche, but it fits. Your job description shouldn’t be multiple pages. The more you try to include, the more you’ll convolute the core of what you’re actually after, and the more you’ll attract applicants who check boxes 18 and 19 but not 1, 2, or 3. Stop at the essential, and leave the rest for the interviews.
Attract, don’t describe
A job description should attract the right fit for the position. It shouldn’t be a description of duties. Anyone can “provide product demos to our core audience,” but not everyone has “elite presence and posture” or is “willing to hunt relentlessly.” Of course some background information on the company is appropriate, but spend the lion’s share of your word count describing the person who should be applying to the position.
Be direct
Do you expect a high volume of prospecting? Must they sell to the C-suite? Is the pay mostly commission? The job description is the time to let them know. You do not want to waste your time interviewing non-starter candidates.
Shoot for an elite hire
If you have a great product or service, marketplace differentiators, good culture, high margins, and believe in compensating salespeople for results - you deserve (and can afford) an elite sales hire. So shoot for it.
Don’t confuse experience and capabilities
Relevant experience, more often than not, does not coincide with sales competencies and capabilities. You must distinguish the sales capabilities and competencies an applicant must have to be considered for an interview. Having “five years of agency sales experience” tells us nothing about someone’s abilities. On the other hand, having a “proven track record of hunting for, finding, and cloning new business”
Embrace your company’s current identity
If you are a $300,000 agency climbing to 7-figures, or a $1,000,000 shooting for $1,500,000, working for you will be different than working for McKinsey or Hubspot. So embrace it! It will be a grind! It will take an entrepreneurial mindset! This job isn’t for a corporate type who needs a strong brand and a lot of guaranteed money. Everything about your job search, including the job description, should embrace this.
Rob Lime is a sales development and hiring expert. Schedule a time here to contact Rob!
