Marketing is the heart of business and sales is a part of marketing. In this article we will cover details about hiring a sales executive and related factors. Factors that very few talk about in small businesses. If you are worried about how to make sales online then you should hire the right staff to do it. Before we go any deeper, understand the meaning of marketing. First of all, very few understand the difference between sales and marketing. In simple words, sales talks about numbers. Numbers keep the business moving and growing. In marketing we look at the broader aspect. We look at it as a department that does many things.
For example you can promote business online, generate leads offline and do brand building activities. You can hire a marketing team that does everything. You can also make a sales website with all products and services but you need people to manage after sales support.
Marketing teams work on a lot of things including brand building and promoting business on social media. There is no doubt that the numbers are important for business survival. If you are not using outsourcing services then you cannot ignore other things. In this article we will try to address some of the important concepts of sales and marketing.
Before you start Hiring Sales Executives read this
As mentioned above, very few understand the basics. When we hire sales executives we have a lot of expectations. But this is more than creating an appointment letter for a sales executive. Many questions should come to your mind irrespective of the size of the company. The idea is to make sure the recruitment process is not only smooth but also the results are effective.
Additionally, when hiring a sales executive, make sure you read the existing profile carefully. There are very few exceptions due to which most employees perform in sync with their previous experiences. They can learn for sure but learning also needs time and resources.
What is the difference between sales and marketing executives?
First of all, sales is just a small part of marketing. It is related to generating revenue for the business. Closing the deal and keeping on adding new customers is the primary objective. On the other hand marketing does all the activities to support the sales team. The Closing of a deal depends on many factors such as the brand name, customer trust in the company, social image of the company and previous experiences. A relatively new company has less chances of deal closure if the competitor is an experienced company and pricing is similar. Therefore you should also work on improving brand image and this is a job of marketing executive. There are many brand building activities you can do as part of the marketing. You can also read more articles on marketing to understand it in a better way.
Some marketing realities you should not ignore
Business schools teach theories from famous marketing books but reality is very different. Things change dramatically with change in situations, clients and businesses. Here is what I understood from real life experiences.
- First of all, most people do not understand the difference between sales and marketing.
- Small companies have limited budgets due to which they want multi-skilled sales executives.
- Companies hire sales executives and expect them to fit in marketing, customer support and many other roles.
- Very few sales executives get good sales and marketing training in their jobs.
- Limited companies do employee verification before hiring sales executives. This is very important.
- In many cases even sales managers are less skilled than the executive. They cannot make the sale that they expect their team members to make.
- Sales managers fail to pass on the credit on the real sales or marketing executive.
This is not just an assumption because I learned it over time. Now the next thing is to do something about them. Additionally you also need to make sure that the performance of the sales executive is not limited to the interview. We hire them to make profit in business. Therefore when you start recruiting sales executives, follow these steps.
Follow Systematic Process for Hiring Sales Executive
Recruitment process for sales and marketing executives is similar to the standard process. You only need to be extra careful because this is linked with your business.
Job Description
When you create a job description make sure you mention all the details. It is perfectly fine if you do not want to disclose the salary. Mention all your expectations from sales teams as part of your JD. Additionally, mention sales or marketing executive skills that you need. For example if you want the executive to make sales online or promote business online then you should write it. This criteria will filter all the applicants who do not have command over the internet.
Make use of Technology
Technology is among proven ways for improving performance in business. This will help you make sales online increase revenue in business. If you are serious about making a company a global brand then your employees should know about how to promote business online. Additionally, you can do a lot of data analysis to improve results. All this starts from the first step. Hiring a sales executive that knows the internet. Therefore you must implement it in the company. You can also use some software or software for hiring employees.
When hiring sales executives then time is important. Maintain data for hiring activities. You can use this data for follow up. If you are regularly involved in the recruitment activities then this data will help you save precious time in finding candidate related information. Additionally, you can also call previously rejected candidates who did well in most rounds and can improvise performance.
Practical knowledge is important than theoretical concepts
Many companies prefer to hire a marketing team from leading business schools. All these candidates are freshers with no experience. These people will take time to learn and consume your resources. There is no doubt that when hiring a sales executive from a business school you believe he or she can perform better in future. If you have time and money to invest then you can trust them for sure. But if you want early results then there is no better way then hiring marketing executives with experience. You may not get a B-School candidate but you will get a performance history. You can cross check details with the previous company. Therefore you can also expect performance numbers.
Why Employee Verification is Important when Hiring a Sales Executive
We live in a competitive world where nobody has time to waste. Due to this many companies skip this important step while hiring a sales executive. Many people are involved in unlawful activities and we need to make sure that we are verifying an employee before he or she joins.
To check these experience letters, you can do the following things.
- First of all, check the company website.
- Read about company profile products, services, contact information.
- If everything looks alright move to the next step. Send an email communication to verify employee details.
- Send a personal on the physical location to verify if the company exists. In the case of remote companies this does not apply. They run offices via virtual address and most employees work from home.
- You can also do a police verification to be double sure.
Fake Experience Certificates can be a Threat while Hiring a Sales Executive
Fake experience certificates are as real as the normal ones. There are many reasons for making fake experience letters. Out of all the employees making fake experience letters some of them are still usable. For this you need to understand the types of experience certificates. There are many terrorist organizations and fraudsters who plant people in organizations. They live a normal life until their masters send them a requirement. These people may be a threat. Therefore, this is the most important part of a recruitment process.
Transparency is Important
Starting from the first step your employee should be clear about what to do. This means that after completion of the recruitment process what will be the role of sales executive in the company. Make sure you answer all the questions. Starting from the job profile to the work culture, everything should be transparent. If you are hiring a sales executive to make sales online or for a field executive job, inform in advance. This information and detail helps in resolving future conflict. For example you hire a marketing executive to make online sales then it will be a desk job. You should inform the marketing executive about the performance tracking system or the employee scorecard. This does not mean sharing the internal details. Only share the important stuff.
Once you implement these as standard practices before hiring a sales executive you can expect results. If you want to make sales online or generate leads offline, performance is important. Additionally, only the right candidate can help you promote business online and offline both. Therefore, as a business owner either you know these things or learn them to ensure business survival.