Stage 1. Telephone Vetting
The first stage of the process is applied during the applicant's initial contact with PMA Recruitment. We believe that a successful salesperson should be able to deal with most situations in a professional and thorough manner. By implying that we believe the applicant is not of to a suitable standard we look for the applicant to overcome any objectives and 'sell' themselves to us. During the call we establish the applicants level of experience, manner, motivators, career history, education and desires. We specifically ensure that their expectations are realistic, and that they are looking for a new position for a valid reason. Those that manage to close for an interview will be invited in to see us, having established that they could be suitable for one or more of the specific vacancies we are recruiting for.
Stage 2. Initial Impression
A good sales professional understands that anyone can have an impact on a decision to buy and thus always conduct themselves in a professional and polite manner. All applicants to PMA Recruitment are assessed from the moment they arrive at our offices. This includes their appearance, their approach, the way in which they introduce themselves at reception and generally how they handle themselves in the presence of other staff and candidates. Any applicant who is disrespectful at reception, dressed or groomed inappropriately, or behaves in any way other than that you would expect from a professional is unlikely to be successful in their application.
Stage 3. Interview
PMA Recruitment implements a structure and fully investigative interview process. All applicants are interviewed by a minimum of two consultants over a period of one to two hours. Having previously received the applicants CV, our consultants are able to prepare the interview in a way that ensures all aspects of the applicants education and career history are thoroughly probed. During the interview we investigate all aspects of the person, including the following:
Career History
We establish why each position was taken, their role, their targets in that position and their performance including both successes and failures, and remuneration. By gaining an understanding of how they performed against targets and also against their peers we are able to gain a true picture of their sales ability. We especially look into the reasons for changes, how long they remained in each role and their attitude towards the companies they have worked for.
Motivators and Motivation
By determining how the applicant is motivated both in terms of reward and career aspirations we are able to ascertain the type of environment that will produce the highest levels of achievements. Whether it be financial reward, a 'pat on the back' or the urge to win, the type of motivation a person responds to is important when determining a candidates next move. In addition, by identifying a lack of motivation we are able to identify those candidates that are unlikely to succeed. We will also look for non-vocational indicators such as records of success in sport, participation in team events, and factors such as family and personal life.
Communication
An applicant's ability to communicate effectively is imperative. Whether they are looking to take on a telesales role, field sales or a move into management we assess all aspects of their communication. This includes their ability to take control of the direction of a conversation, their use of language (written and verbal), their physical stature and positioning and the way they handle difficult situations i.e. do they become aggressive in response or are they able to remain calm yet assertive.
Record of Success
This needs little explanation - the past is nearly always a reliable indicator of the future. By assessing the applicants' record of achievement we are able to reasonably predict their future performance.
The Next Position
We spend a considerable amount of time discussing the type of position the applicant is hoping to attain, we discuss the type of industry they wish work in, the type and size of company, the role, the product or service, target clients, order values and sales cycle. We establish that their expectations are reasonable and achievable, then use the information to discuss suitability matched vacancies. We attempt to devise a recruitment plan for the candidate taking into consideration their current position, the recruitment process of the client, any required preparation or investigation that needs to be done and finally discuss time scales and the way forward.
By understanding and implementing the above procedures we believe that we can ensure that by the time a candidates’ details are discussed with you, the client, we are able to fully brief you on the benefits of the particular candidate to your organisation. We are able to inform you of not just positive aspects of the candidate, but also those areas that may need to be addressed at interview of future training needs.
We are confident that you will realise, almost immediately, that by using PMA Recruitment you will be able to concentrate on the building of your business, safe in the knowledge that your sales staffing requirements are being managed and supported by a professional organisation that understands your needs, and produces the desired results!
