Month: August 2024

From Guesswork to Growth: How Data Analytics Can Supercharge Your SaaS Sales Hiring

Posted on by Nick Mann

Multiple boxes must be checked when doing SaaS sales hiring, from process efficiency to candidate quality to cultural fit to addressing potential bias. Otherwise, if even one box is left unchecked, it can lead to a host of issues like an overly lengthy hiring period, a poor candidate experience, and high turnover to name a few. Fortunately, we live in a day and age where data analytics can take much of the guesswork out of SaaS sales hiring and provide you with a steady stream of high-quality candidates — many of which will convert into loyal salespeople who crush their quotas.

Here are some specific ways data analytics can supercharge your SaaS sales hiring.

Identify Ideal Salesperson Qualities

Ask most hiring managers what the ideal salesperson looks like and they’ll probably say that they’re confident, resilient, a great communicator, and so on. But they likely don’t have a concrete salesperson profile based on completely objective data.

That’s where data analytics comes in. With this type of platform, you can analyze historical data to generate a crystal clear candidate profile, highlighting things like:

  • Education
  • Experience
  • Desire
  • Commitment
  • Personality
  • Behavior
  • Motivation
  • Responsibility

And we’re not just talking about a generalized, cookie-cutter profile that could apply to any company. Data analytics can be fully tailored to your unique sales environment so you know for certain which types of candidates are most likely to succeed working for you.

That way, you can target your SaaS sales hiring approach to filter through the candidate pool and zero in on the true superstars, which should result in A+ hires while lowering your turnover rate. This brings us to our next point.

Assign Scores to Candidates for Easy Comparison

Based on salesperson qualities that contribute to an ideal candidate, you can use data analytics to generate a numerical score for each person who applies. Here’s an example of what that can look like where you objectively rate a potential candidate based on core competencies so you can see where they rank in terms of qualities like desire and commitment.

In turn, you can instantly see how a candidate stacks up against others, while always maintaining consistency. So if it comes down to a few candidates that you’re interested in but aren’t sure who to choose, having a quantitative score like this can make your decision much easier.

Lower Your Hiring Costs By 3x

The SaaS sales industry has a notoriously high recruitment cost. According to SHRM, the average cost per hire across all industries as a whole is around $4,700. However, the typical cost for sales roles is much higher, often ranging from $7,000 to $8,000 for each salesperson.

One of the biggest reasons to use data analytics is that it can help you find the cream-of-the-crop sales candidates more quickly. From using applicant tracking systems to keyword filtering to behavioral assessments to gauge the odds of candidate success, this technology helps you move through the sales hiring process much more efficiently than doing so manually.

In turn, this can significantly lower hiring costs. To quantify, “Organizations that use analytics to improve the quality of a recruiting effort can reduce the cost per hire by three times,” explains RecruitingDaily. Even filling one position can save money, but when you look long-term, this can dramatically lower your sales hiring costs.

Create a Far Better Sales Candidate Experience

Because you’re able to create a more efficient, streamlined SaaS sales hiring process, this tends to result in a better candidate experience. This mainly stems from moving through the process quicker where you’re able to provide candidates with timely updates on their job application status.

That way they’re not left waiting, and you can get them from one round to the next without wasting their time with long, drawn-out sales recruiting. Besides that, you’re less likely to lose A+ candidates to competitors simply because it takes too long to hear back from your recruiting team. So it’s a win-win situation.

Eliminate Hiring Inefficiencies for Continual Improvement

No matter how good your SaaS sales hiring process is, there’s always room for improvement. But without the right data, there’s usually a fair amount of guesswork rather than data-driven decision-making.

The beauty of data analytics is that it continually provides you with objective data that helps you get better and better. Let’s say your hiring process looks something like this.

But somewhere along the way, quality candidates are dropping off and you’re missing out on golden opportunities. However, you’re not exactly sure where it’s happening.

Armed with data analytics, you could pinpoint precisely where the majority of candidates are being lost. For instance, maybe everything is going smoothly up until the phone interview. But poor communication or inefficient interviewing results in a high level of qualified candidates ditching your SaaS hiring process without moving on to the next round.

By having this information, you would know that the phone interview would be the area you would want to focus on improving. Once you’ve done that, you can eliminate a major friction point and create a more seamless hiring process.

Build Your SaaS Sales Dream Team Data Analytics

With so many variables that can affect SaaS sales recruiting success, it’s important to leave nothing to chance. Although there is no magic bullet that can guarantee a 100% success rate with every hire, data analytics has been proven to get legitimate results.

Using the right platform should help you predict which candidates are most likely to thrive in your sales environment, while simultaneously reducing your time-to-hire, lowering your hiring costs, improving the candidate experience, and more. For an overview of some of the top data analytics products on the market, I suggest reading this guide from People Managing People.

And if you’re looking for one of today’s leading hiring readiness assessments to level up your SaaS sales recruiting, check out HireDNA’s free assessment.

83% of Sales Candidates Want a Clear Hiring Timeline: Here’s How to Give it to Them

Posted on by Nick Mann

Put yourself in a sales candidate’s shoes for a second. The average person is eager to find a sales position and ready to start ASAP. They’re also likely facing a lot of uncertainty that could make them anxious. The last thing they want is any vagueness with the hiring process.

In fact, this could easily result in them jumping at another sales position, where you lose out on top-tier talent to a competitor. A simple way to avoid this problem is to provide sales candidates with a clear hiring timeline so they know exactly what to expect.

Why It’s Important to Have a Clear Hiring Timeline

Almost everyone knows what it’s like to be in job search mode. I know I do.

You’re busy sending out resumes and cover letters, filling out applications, and corresponding with hiring managers. There’s a lot going on.

When you find a prospective employer that looks promising, your goal is to quickly build rapport and swiftly move through the hiring process. From initial screenings to interviews to follow-up conversations to ultimately getting an offer and beginning onboarding, you want to navigate through this sequence of steps seamlessly.

But what if you find what seems like an amazing employer but they have absolutely no transparency in terms of what to expect with the hiring process? This can be incredibly frustrating, and many would-be superstar salespeople may be lost because of it.

Having a clear hiring timeline is essential because this provides the structure that lets sales candidates know for certain what’s about to happen. And this is something that most people crave, with research finding that “83% of candidates prefer having a clear timeline of the hiring process.”

But it goes deeper than that and is beneficial for your hiring team as well. This quote from ClearCompany summarizes it perfectly.

“Without a hiring timeline, you’re essentially creating a new process every time you hire. You can’t tell candidates — or your internal teams — when a decision will be made. Everyone, including your recruiting team, is in the dark. That’s frustrating for employees and candidates alike.”

With that said, here’s a straightforward strategy for giving sales candidates the clear hiring timeline they seek.

Outline the Sequences of Your Hiring Stages

First, you’ll need to articulate the exact series of steps involved in your sales hiring process. This can look slightly different from company to company, but here are two examples that you can build your outline around.

This one is quite simple and involves five basic steps.

  1. Verify a candidate’s information
  2. Interview them
  3. Evaluate their skills
  4. Perform employment verification
  5. Make your hiring decision

The other example is a little more involved with additional steps, but it should provide a thorough hiring process that increases your chances of finding the ideal sales candidate.

I suggest spending some time looking at these two examples and considering any other steps that are unique to your hiring and fleshing out a concrete process. Also, be sure to include roughly how long each step will take so that candidates and your sales hiring team know.

For example, you may mention that candidates can expect to hear back from you within three days after conducting an assessment test to schedule an interview.

Keep in mind that you can (and probably should) make changes as time goes on. But this should serve as a solid first draft so you can be on the same page with sales candidates. This brings us to our next point.

Provide an Overview of the Hiring Timeline to Sales Candidates

Once you’ve got a finished product, you’ll want to type up a tangible outline that you can give to sales candidates, as well as your hiring team. Here’s a simple example that I came up with off the top of my head.

Application Review and Screening1 week
Initial Phone Interviews3 days
In-Person or Video Interviews3 days
Reference/Background Check3 days
Offer and Negotiation1 week
Onboarding2 weeks

Notice that this not only shows the precise sequence of steps that will occur in the hiring timeline but also the approximate length of time with each step. And in the spirit of underpromising and overdelivering — which I find to be highly important in hiring and business in general — it’s best to give yourself some wiggle room with dates.

For instance, it would be better to tell candidates to expect it to take a week to receive an offer after conducting a reference/background check and it only takes five days to get back to them rather than promising three days and it taking you five.

In terms of the tools for creating a clear hiring timeline, a basic spreadsheet should be sufficient. However, you can find free, customizable templates here that have stronger aesthetics.

Track Progress and Make Adjustments

After you’ve identified the hiring timeline, created a tangible outline, and started implementing it, be sure to track your progress and measure the results.

Here are some specific quantitative KPIs to look at:

  • Time to fill
  • Time to hire
  • Interview-to-offer ratio
  • Offer acceptance rate
  • Quality of hire
  • Cost per hire
  • Employee retention

It’s also important to dive into qualitative metrics that rely less on numerical data and more on feedback. Mainly, I suggest getting direct candidate input on what their experience is like so you can identify pain points to fix. It’s also smart to get direct input from your hiring team to see how satisfied they are with the process and what could be improved.

Optimizing Sales Recruiting with a Clear Hiring Timeline

Given that 83% of sales candidates like having a clear hiring timeline it’s definitely worth your time to provide them with one. And it’s really not that complicated and only involves three steps.

Outline your hiring stages. Provide a concrete overview of those stages to sales candidates and your hiring team. Make ongoing improvements as you gather data.

Do that, and you should be on your way to creating an amazing sales candidate experience, which should result in more quality hires, increased ROI, and greater retention.

If you’re looking to eliminate weaknesses in your sales recruiting, try out our Hiring Readiness Assessment. It can help lower your recruiting costs, expedite your time to fill, and dramatically reduce poor hires.

How Optimized Sales Recruiting Can Shorten Your Hiring Cycle By 60% 

Posted on by Nick Mann

The average time to hire in 2023 was 44 days, with research finding that the process is harder than ever. While you never want to cut corners and risk the quality of the salespeople you hire, it’s important to shorten your hiring cycle as much as possible. According to a 2024 study, the best way to accomplish this is with optimized sales recruiting, which can shorten your hiring cycle by 60%.

For perspective, if it normally takes your recruiting team 44 days to make a hire, that number would be slashed to around 17 days. For this post, I’ll unpack the three main strategies to establish optimized sales recruiting based on the 2024 study referenced above.

Refine Your Job Posting

Sales recruiters tend to run into one of two problems with job postings. They either bring in too many unqualified candidates, which creates delays as they have to sift through a bloated candidate pool. Or they don’t bring in enough qualified candidates, which means they have to make revisions and spend more time chasing down additional candidates.

Ideally, you’ll find the sweet spot, where you drive a sizable volume of qualified candidates, which you can quickly narrow down into the best of the best. But how do you do this?

Here are some suggestions:

  • Use clean job post formatting that’s easy to read
  • Include must-have requirements in a job posting
  • Be transparent about salary
  • Be clear about your company’s values and culture
  • Offer employee testimonials

Another hack is to include a specific keyword toward the end of your job description. When applying, ask candidates to mention the keyword to prove they read the entire job description.

Remove Candidate Application Obstacles

Let’s say a qualified candidate has found your job posting, checked out your brand, and is ready to apply. But once they start the application process they quickly sour because they encounter frustrating obstacles — mainly the application being overly lengthy or complicated.

This is an issue that’s far too common. In fact, one study even found that as many as 60% of talented salespeople ditch an application because it’s too long or complex. Because more than half of would-be candidates never enter the candidate pool because of the application process, this is a low-hanging fruit that most sales recruiters need to assess.

We wrote an entire article on how to simplify the job application process, which you can find here. But some of the highlights include:

  • Keeping the entire process under five minutes
  • Avoiding having multiple steps where candidates have to fill out several pages or forms
  • Avoiding requesting excessive, unnecessary data
  • Avoiding asking a candidate to create an account to apply
  • Having autofill to instantly populate an application with sales candidate info

Also, keep tabs on the functionality of your application, ensuring pages load quickly and there are no glitches that are creating disruptions.

Outline the Hiring Process

The final strategy stated by the 2024 study to reduce your hiring cycle by up to 60% was clearly outlining the hiring process so candidates know exactly what to expect. Not only does this set the right expectations with sales candidates right from the start and create a better overall experience, it also helps your recruiting team because it provides you with a consistent roadmap so you can move through the process more efficiently.

Below is a simple example of what a hiring process outline may look like. Note that this is an arbitrary example and doesn’t specifically involve the sales industry. However, it does a great job of showing what a concise overview should look like.

Use Analytics to Pinpoint Specific Areas to Improve

Like most areas of business, succeeding with sales recruiting requires making data-driven decisions. Even the most airtight sales recruiting process has some type of weakness, and analytics will help you find it. That’s why I suggest using a recruitment analytics platform to make a thorough assessment of your process.

While you can figure out a lot on your own, this provides full transparency that lets you see the big picture. For example, you can see:

  • The total number of candidates you’re getting
  • How many days it takes on average to fill a position
  • How many days to the first interview
  • Which sources are generating the most candidates
  • Which devices candidates are using

Here’s a real-life example of what the main dashboard looks like for recruitment analytics platform Talentech.

This is extremely helpful for getting an overarching view of what’s happening. It should also help you identify any issues that are getting in the way. For instance, maybe you’re spending a lot of time and money on a particular source for driving candidates but it’s only having a minimal impact. In that case, you would want to reevaluate your strategy and potentially pivot, where you double-down on a different source that’s having a bigger impact.

I also like that Talentech has a candidate quality score, which gives you a quantifiable number of what percentage of candidates possess the qualities you’re looking for.

Keep in mind that this is just one platform, and there are numerous options available, each with different strengths and features. The bottom line is that if you haven’t been using recruitment analytics up until this point, it’s definitely worth considering, as it can improve nearly all aspects of the recruiting process.

Drastically Reducing Time-to-Hire with Optimized Sales Recruiting

Hiring Readiness Assessment

Sluggish, inefficient sales recruiting can be toxic to your company, as it can put a strain on your workforce, lower morale, and increase turnover. Therefore, developing a game plan for optimized sales recruiting should be a top priority.

Some of the best ways to do that are to improve your job posting, remove application obstacles, clearly outline the hiring process, and use analytics to eliminate problem areas. Do that effectively, and you can shorten your hiring cycle by as much as 60%.

When it comes to recruiting elite sales talent, try the Objective Management Group sales assessment. It’s designed to help you find rockstar candidates who will thrive in your unique sales environment and keep turnover to a minimum.