The answer will surprise most owners and managers, because after five years of hiring, your team will total 8 salespeople.  Two less than when you started!

Turnover

The reason is sales turnover, and it's a huge problem in  the Information Technology field. Turnover in our industry averages 22.4% a year, according to a recent study, and that's faster than many companies can attract and hire great new people.  CSO Insights.

Many well-intentioned companies are frustrated they can't achieve full headcount with quality sales reps. They'll chalk it up to bad luck and bad breaks when salespeople quit or fail.  But ignoring sales turnover is like ignoring gravity. You can't ignore it. Deal with itl
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Retaining Under-Achievers

The worst thing a Solution Provider can do is keep their under-achievers on the payroll because they can't source anyone better.  This is a killer for many reasons. Second-rate salespeople diminish your brand reputation with customers and vendors.  And forget getting a lead or referral when everyone knows it will be loused up by a weak sales rep.

Your top salespeople are impacted, too. High-achievers enjoy associating with other top professionals. When they see a bunch of losers and misfits on their team, they'll question whether your company is worthy of their skill and potential..

The Cream of the Crap

The next bad tactic is to hire under-qualified people. The real problem is usually not the screening process, it's that the candidate pool is so poor. Approximately 100% of Solution Providers don't have enough quality candidates to fill their sales teams.  

When you attract crap, you screen crap, and you hire crap. Now begins the vicious cycle. You are short on headcount so you retain poor performers. You can't afford to attract and hire the most talented, high performing salespeople, so you "Hire and Hope". The new people under-perform, and you are back on the recruiting search again. How to Hire the Cream of the Crap.
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The Solution

The real answer to this dilemma is to source enough quality candidates in the first place. With the right sourcing, the entire process works in your favor. Let's see what happens when you have an over-abundance of great sales candidates:

• Your candidate funnel is loaded with high achievers
• There is competition and rivalry for the few open spots
• There is a "bench" of candidates when a position opens up
• Existing sales reps feel the need to perform
• When an under-performer is cut, a better alternative is available

Let's return to our hypothetical example of the company with ten salespeople that wants to double in size in five years. Their successful recruiting funnel might look something like this:

• Source 10 quality resumes per month (120 / yr)
• Interview 1 candidate per week (50 per year)
• 1 Employment offer every 2 months (6 per year)
• Hire 1 per quarter (4 per year)
• Turn over 1 every six months (2 per year)
• 2 Net additions to the sales team per year

This hiring activity will get the hamster out of the wheel and improve the size and the quality of your sales team.

It's the only long term way to fix the sourcing problem.

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