What is the Recruiting Effort?

The sales personnel recruiting effort differs from one company to another, mainly as to the sources of recruits and recruiting methods, and stem from management’s size up of the appropriate combination of selling styles. Different selling styles call for individuals with varying qualifications as to type and amount of education, other training, and experience. If trade selling is the basic style, the management seeks individuals with minimal or general education and little or no experience. If missionary selling is the basic style, management looks for higher caliber individuals with specialized educations (as in science or pharmacy, if the job involves calling on physicians or hospitals) or equivalent qualifications, perhaps gained through experience in a similar job with another company. If technical selling is the basic style, management looks for even higher caliber individuals with scientific or engineering educations and/or backgrounds. If the selling job also involves new business selling, management looks for individuals with the required abilities to apply this selling style. Therefore, if the job specifications call for special talents, such as knowledge of engineering or pharmacy, then management tends to emphasize educational institutions as sources of recruits and solicits applicants through personal contacts. Conversely, if trade selling ability is the main job qualification needed, management taps diverse sources and emphasizes indirect recruiting methods (for example, advertising in help wanted columns and responding to “situations wanted” advertisements in newspapers and trade publications).

The scope of the recruiting effort is influenced by the number of recruits desired, which, in turn, is influenced by the size and maturity of the sales organization itself, the sales personnel turnover rate, the forecasted sales volume, distribution channels, and promotional strategy. A large sales organization must recruit more new people just to maintain its average strength than is true of smaller organization. Two firms of comparable size (as to sales volume) may have different sized sales forces, often because one uses a different distribution channel or stresses advertising more in its promotional strategy. As might be expected, companies with high sales personnel turnover rates must do more recruiting than those with lower rates.