Tag: brand management

The Correlation Between a Positive Brand and Better Sales Recruiting

Posted on by hiredna

The impact of positive branding is far-reaching. From increasing brand equity with consumers to building trust with leads to winning over customers, effective branding is an essential precursor to success. But besides the consumer side of things, positive branding can also be immensely helpful for recruiting. In this post, I’ll examine some specific ways it leads to better sales recruiting, citing captivating stats that show just how big the impact can be.

A Higher Volume of Qualified Salespeople Will Apply

A basic yet essential first step in successful sales recruiting is simply getting qualified salespeople to apply. I’m not talking about getting just anyone to apply. I’m talking about getting qualified candidates that have the skillset needed to thrive in their position long-term. Those with a proven track record and who understand the entire sales funnel, how to build rapport, and how to close.

According to a recent study, “a business that’s considered a reputable brand receives 50% more qualified candidates.” And it makes complete sense. When a talented sales rep is searching for a potential employer, they’re naturally going to gravitate toward one that has amazing brand equity. Whether it’s receiving a great rating on job search sites, having a solid social media following, getting a nod of approval from other legitimate brands, or simply passing the “eyeball test” with brand recognition (think HubSpot or Salesforce), these factors can greatly increase your brand equity.

By the way, if you’re curious about which factors influence brand equity the most, here are some of the biggest.

By making your company a “destination brand,” you’re almost guaranteed to receive a higher number of applications from qualified salespeople when posting a job for a sales position. What I also found interesting is that this transcends just appealing to active job seekers and carries over to passive candidates who aren’t necessarily looking for a new job but would be willing to consider one if the right offer came along. As a matter of fact, “86% of passive candidates evaluate a brand before applying to a job.” So if you’re looking to bake this into your sales recruiting recipe (something I highly recommend), this is a good way to do it.

More Qualified Applicants Will Accept the Job

Research has also found that having a solid brand reputation is critical for getting elite salespeople to accept an offer. More specifically, “75% of Americans would not take a job if the company had a bad reputation.” That’s definitely worth noting, as it doesn’t do you much good if you go through all the trouble of creating a job ad, filtering through candidates, interviewing, and so on, and ultimately putting an offer on the table, only to have a candidate decline.

But if you have a strong brand reputation right from the start, you’re much more likely to seal the deal and bring elite salespeople to your team.

Recruitment Costs Can Be Slashed in Half

I’m not going to get into all the gory details of recruiting costs. But as you’re probably aware, it can be quite expensive in 2022. Recent SHRM data found the average cost-per-hire is $4,683, with leadership positions being sky-high at over $28,000.

Another huge benefit of effective branding is spending significantly less on recruiting. In fact, one study found that it can reduce recruitment costs by a staggering 50%.

Why? There are two main reasons.

First, more quality candidates will come to you. “One of the most marked benefits of successfully positioning your company as a desirable place to work is that more candidates will actively seek you out and apply for positions through your career site,” explains recruitment marketing automation software SmartDreamers. “In a job market in which the highest quality candidates can essentially sit down and decide which employers they’re interested in, being top of mind for these applicants can be a huge boon.”

Second, the candidates you get should be far more receptive than if you were a company with minimal brand equity. By having a strong brand, you should spend less time chasing candidates around, which should shorten your time-to-hire and, subsequently, lower your spending. This goes back to what I mentioned earlier about more qualified candidates accepting the job where you’ll have “fewer fish get off the line” and are in a better position to convert the A+ reps you really want.

Less Turnover

Finally, it should also be mentioned that “a strong employer brand reduces turnover by 28%.” When you have a firm framework in place where top-tier candidates are drawn to you, a high job offer acceptance rate, and so on, it naturally sets the stage for salespeople to hang around longer. And this creates a virtuous cycle that continues to strengthen your brand, which, in turn, helps you acquire more quality talent. In the grand scheme of things, this can create an immense competitive advantage.

Better Sales Recruiting Through Positive Branding

When most people think about branding, they see it through a consumer-based lens. And they wouldn’t be wrong. Strong branding is a critical component of winning over customers. But it goes much deeper than that.

As we’ve learned here, effective branding also leads to better sales recruiting by:

  • Generating a higher volume of qualified candidates
  • Incentivizing more qualified candidates to accept job offers
  • Lowering recruitment costs
  • Reducing turnover

That’s why branding should be a top priority if it isn’t already.

Looking to accelerate your sales hiring and fill open positions faster? Learn how HireDNA can help using science-based assessments and intelligent matching to predict success. 92% of candidates climb to the top of their sales team within the first year, and turnover is lowered by 33% with HireDNA.

7 out of 10 Sales Candidates Will Apply to Companies That Practice Brand Management. Here’s Why.

Posted on by hiredna

When most people think of brand management, they think of it from the consumer side of things. And they wouldn’t be wrong.

The definition of brand management, according to Investopedia, is “a function of marketing that uses techniques to increase the perceived value of a product line or brand over time.” Further, “effective brand management enables the price of products to go up and builds loyal customers through positive brand associations and images or a strong awareness of the brand.”

But as we’ll discuss in this post, there’s a heavy overlap between brand management and sales recruiting. When done correctly, brand management can be instrumental in generating high-quality sales candidates that can be tremendous assets to your team. Here’s why.

The Correlation Between Brand Management and Increased Applicants

A few years ago, extensive research was done to identify the correlation between brand management and the likelihood of qualified sales candidates applying to jobs. Their findings were interesting, but perhaps the most compelling stat is that nearly 7 out of 10 “job seekers are likely to apply if the employer actively manages its brand.” Specific examples include responding to reviews, updating profiles, and sharing information on company culture and work environment.

And this makes sense. Being heavily involved with brand management tends to create a positive impression on sales candidates and shows them a company is invested and truly cares. On the other hand, never responding to reviews, for example, would give the opposite impression that a company is simply “setting it and forgetting it.” After all, if they’re not willing to actively participate in a digital conversation, potential candidates will have to wonder how much they’re invested in their employees.

Going deeper, a separate study found that “companies with positive brands get 2x as many applications as companies with negative brands, and they spend less on employees.” So in theory, if you had two sales companies competing with one another where one had a positive reputation because of solid brand management and the other had a negative reputation because of poor brand management, the former would get double the applicants and spend less on recruiting.

It’s not rocket science. Today’s salespeople are smart and savvy, and they can easily tell which companies take brand management seriously and which ones don’t. And the companies that win in this area have a massive advantage over the competition.

Some Other Compelling Brand Management Stats

To paint an even more detailed picture, consider these other stats.

  • “62% of candidates agree that their perception of a company improves after seeing an employer respond to a review.
  • Companies with bad reputations pay 10% more per hire.
  • 50% of candidates say they wouldn’t work for a company with a bad reputation — even for a pay increase.”

By these numbers, it’s clear that focusing on brand management helps improve the overall perception of sales candidates and can significantly reduce your cost-per-hire. Beyond that, it can potentially help you be more competitive even if you can’t afford to offer the big bucks to salespeople like companies with much deeper pockets.

A Real-Life Example

To get a better idea of what great brand management looks like, let’s check out a real-life example. Asana, one of the world’s leading work management platforms, has developed an excellent reputation since its launch in 2008. They’re known for providing a simple, intuitive, well-rounded platform that makes it easy for teams across a myriad of industries to manage projects and stay on track.

Asana, for instance currently has a 4.7 out of 5-star rating on Apple and a ton of great reviews.

Besides that, Asana has also developed a reputation as being a great company to work for, with 96% of employees enjoying their experience. For comparison, that’s 39% higher than your typical company.

Here are some specific reasons why employees love working for Asana.

And if you check out the application page for a commercial account executive, you’ll see that Asana succinctly explains why candidates should be interested in working at their company.

And if that wasn’t enough, they have an in-depth careers page on their website that discusses Asana’s culture, values, benefits, growth opportunities, and much more. You can check it out for yourself here.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Asana has consistently been a leader in the work management industry and has a knack for acquiring some of the best and brightest talent. Salespeople are naturally attracted to them for many reasons, with their strong dedication to brand management being a big one. So if you’re looking for a great template to base your strategy off of, Asana is one of the best.

Brand Management: The Ultimate Win-Win

Having a great reputation is obviously important for winning over customers and establishing loyalty. In today’s hyper-competitive climate, brand management is almost always a precursor to any type of long-term success.

But it’s also extremely important from a sales recruiting standpoint. I think most companies understand this on some level, but many don’t realize just how big of an impact it has. To recap, nearly 70% of sales candidates will apply to companies that emphasize brand management, and it usually results in double the number of applications.

So if brand management is something you haven’t fully invested in thus far, now is a great time to do so.

And if you’re looking to fill your talent pipeline with qualified applicants faster, check out HireDNA. It uses intelligent matching and science-based assessments to source top talent in your industry to cut hiring time in half and lower turnover by 33%.