Believe it or not, the first step to improving the overall hiring methodology involves writing formal job descriptions for both your open and existing sales positions.

Most of my clients are surprised by this suggestion and wonder about the importance of such an exercise. But as hiring-related projects go, starting with this step can improve your hiring process with minimal up-front costs.

Top Performing Sales Representatives

Talented sales representatives are not plentiful or easy to recruit. They are very much in demand and pursued by many companies. Highly competent salespeople want to work for companies with outstanding reputations, generous compensation plans, and strong training programs. During interviews, they ask hard questions of their potential future employer. One of the questions they might ask during the interview process is, "Do you have a written job description for this position and may I see it?"

Sales Representative's Impressions

If a potential employer cannot produce a job description, the sales rep may think the company lacks:

• ·an organized sales department
• ·formal policies and procedures
• ·the infrastructure to support a highly compensated salesperson

Client's Reactions

My client's sometimes say, "No one in our organization has a formal job description, not even me! What does it matter?" Others feel unfairly judged. "We're very organized. Just because we don't have a job description doesn't mean we're all over the place."

No, the absence of a job description does not mean that you are disorganized. I'm trying to let you in on how salespeople think. If no written job description exists, they may wonder about how the sales organization is run in general.

How to Begin

Start this project by getting your existing reps to write down everything they do. Ask them to track how much time they spend doing it. On your end, or if you are hiring your first and only sales representative, start thinking about what you would expect from the new hire in the following categories:

• General responsibilities
• Customer(s)
• Market(s)
• Skill sets
• Sales reporting requirements
• Software system usage
• Territory
• Territory coverage

This information combined with data provided by the sales reps will enable you to start writing an accurate, informative job description. As an added benefit, completing this document will also make it easier to write an employment advertisement if one is needed. You would use some of the same information in a slightly different format.

High performing sales representatives want to work for reputable, solid organizations. Portraying your company as such begins when you present candidates with dynamic, factual job descriptions. Write one and see how a job applicant responds when it's shown to them.