Sourcing Top-notch Sales Talent on LinkedIn: Best Practices for Hiring Managers and Recruiters

Hiring managers and recruiters who are aiming to locate and hire top talent in the field of sales have to address the challenge of sourcing on LinkedIn as a part of their hiring endeavors. These endeavors can be facilitated by dividing the task of sales candidates into two parts, sourcing a talent pool using LinkedIn and identifying the ideal candidates within them. 

In this blog we will be looking at some of the best practices that recruiters and hiring managers alike should be following, firstly for sourcing a pool of candidates on LinkedIn that you can draw from and finding the right fit from them for the sales role in your company, We also talk about some of the benefits that candidate sourcing on LinkedIn can provide you when you include it in your hiring practices.

What are the best practices for sourcing candidates on LinkedIn?

• Build a strong employer brand: Before you start sourcing sales talent on LinkedIn, it is quite beneficial to build a strong employer brand. This means that your company has a positive reputation that attracts top talent naturally. You can do this by creating an engaging company page, showcasing your company culture, and sharing updates about your company. This will help you attract more candidates and make your job postings more appealing.
• Showcase diversity and inclusion within your organization: In the same thread as building a strong employer brand, diversity and inclusion are important factors for many candidates when considering potential employers. Showcase your company's diversity and inclusion efforts on your company page, and in recruitment materials. Highlight your company's commitment to creating a culture of belonging, and showcase employee resource groups and diversity initiatives when sourcing on LinkedIn to attract top sales performers to your organization. 
• Monitor candidate activity to gauge interest: LinkedIn provides analytics into candidate activity, such as their engagement with your company's content. Potential candidates can follow your company’s page to keep themselves updated on the undertakings of the business and to be notified when vacancies open up. By monitoring candidate activity you can identify passionate and dedicated candidates who would be ideal for your company. This also allows you to find and engage with candidates who are actively interested in your organization.
• Create a concise job description: When you're creating a job description for a sales position, it's important to make it as targeted as possible. This means that you should highlight the specific skills, experience, and qualifications that you're looking for in a candidate and the responsibilities that would be associated with the role in question. State any relevant details and incentives that your company provides. Use SEO optimization along with keywords and simple language that gets your point across to get better responses and rankings in search results. This can help ensure that your company gets a higher volume of candidates when sourcing on LinkedIn, or use our free JD generator to create JDs instantly. 
• Networking and sourcing on LinkedIn: One of the most effective ways to source sales candidates on LinkedIn is to leverage your network. If your organization is operating in the sales sector, your employees and stakeholders would be able to provide you with candidates from amongst their peers. These candidates would come with the approval of the person recommending them and in the long run this results in a reduced incidence of employee turnover. Therefore you should reach out to your connections and ask for referrals or recommendations. This can be especially useful if you're looking for candidates with a specific skill set or experience level. You can also join LinkedIn Groups related to sales and engage with their members to build your network and diversify your talent pipeline.
• Use search filters: LinkedIn's advanced search filters can help you find sales talent that meets your specific requirements. You can search and sort candidates based on a number of different factors. This can help you narrow down your search and find candidates who are a good fit for your company.
• Make a good first impression: When you're reaching out to potential candidates on LinkedIn, it is important to make them feel like you have gone through their profile and have thus determined them as being a good fit for your organization. This means that you should tailor your message to each individual candidate. This can be accomplished by mentioning specific skills or experience (Ex. prior work experience in B2C sales) that caught your eye and expounding on why you believe that the candidate would be a good fit for the role. This will help you stand out from other recruiters and build a connection with candidates even prior to hiring. 
• Provide a call-to-action: When you are sourcing candidates on LinkedIn, it would be ideal to provide a call-to-action that instructs the candidate on what to do next. For example, you might ask the candidate to schedule a call or send in their portfolio or resume. By providing a call-to-action, you can increase the likelihood that the candidate will respond to your invitation for application.

What are the best practices for identifying ideal sales candidates when sourcing on LinkedIn?

• Job titles and keywords: One of the most effective ways to identify ideal sales candidates for your company on LinkedIn is to use job titles and keywords related to the sales role that you are currently trying to fill. This can include common sales job titles such as Sales Representative, Account Executive, Sales Manager, or Business Development Manager. Alternatively you can also search for keywords related to your specific industry or sales techniques, such as “B2B sales”, "SaaS sales" or "Consultative sales."
• Skills and endorsements: LinkedIn allows users to list their skills and receive endorsements from other users. We can assess the same by taking a look at the skills listed on a candidate's profile and the number of endorsements they have received for each. This helps you get a good sense of their strengths and expertise in the sales domain. Candidates who have endorsements in sales-related skills such as Sales Management, Customer Relationship Management, and Sales Process are among the ideal candidates who can be present in your talent pool.
• Recommendations: Recommendations are another valuable resource for identifying sales candidates when sourcing on LinkedIn. Recommendations are written by other LinkedIn users who have worked with the candidate and can provide insights into their communication skills, work style and sales abilities. If a candidate has received positive recommendations from their colleagues and managers in sales-related positions it adds credibility to that candidate's ability to work in a professional setting.
• Metrics on performance: If a candidate has listed their sales performance metrics on their profile, it gives us a quantifiable perspective of their abilities as a sales professional. Quota attainment, revenue growth, and win rates are among the most popular metrics that can be used to highlight a candidate’s sales acumen. Therefore, if we can find candidates who have a track record of exceeding their sales goals we can be assured that they are more likely to be strong performers and ideal candidates for a sales position at your organization.
• Industry experience: Experience in a specific industry is an invaluable asset for sales professionals. Candidates who have worked in industries that are relevant to your organization or the position you're hiring for cuts down on training time and onboarding processes. When sourcing sales candidates on LinkedIn this is gauged by looking at the candidates profile and seeing where their prior work meets your needs.  For example, if you're hiring for a B2B sales role, the type of sales is more relevant than the industry. Therefore in this case you should look for candidates who have experience selling products or services in a business to business environment regardless of the industry that they were involved in.
• Social selling skills: Social selling is the practice of using social media platforms to engage with potential customers and build relationships. Look for candidates who are active on LinkedIn and have a strong social selling presence. This includes candidates who share relevant content, engage with their network, and participate in sales-related groups and discussions.
• Education and Certifications: Education and certifications are generally a strong indicator of a candidate's knowledge and expertise in the sales domain. Having a degree in business or sales-related fields is not mandatory but is a plus when sourcing candidates on LinkedIn. Certifications such as Certified Inside Sales Professional (CISP), Certified Sales Leadership Professional (CSLP) or in SPIN Selling are among the top certifications that should be focussed on when identifying top talent from within your candidate pool. 
• Sales-related accomplishments: A candidate's profile can also contain any sales-related accomplishments they have listed. This could include awards they have received for sales performance, notable clients they have worked with, or sales-related publications they have contributed to. Candidates who have a track record of success and have been recognized for their achievements are likely to be strong candidates for sales positions.

What are some of the benefits of sourcing sales candidates on LinkedIn?

• Detailed candidate profiles: LinkedIn profiles provide detailed information about candidates, including their job history, skills, and education. This information can be used to evaluate candidates and determine their suitability for a role. Additionally they often include recommendations and endorsements from previous colleagues, advocating for the candidate's skills and experience.
• Ability to source candidates from around the globe: LinkedIn provides recruiters with the ability to source candidates from different locations and constituencies. This makes it easier for recruiters to find candidates for foreign branches and expand their talent pool to international grounds. Additionally, recruiters can use LinkedIn to identify candidates with relevant international experience and language skills, making it easier to source candidates for global roles.
• Filters for finding the right candidate: Sourcing on LinkedIn is made easy by using its advanced search filters that allow recruiters to narrow down their search to specific criteria, such as job title, location, and industry. This helps in locating the target candidates and filling up vacancies, saving recruiters time and effort.
• Ability to source passive candidates: LinkedIn provides recruiters with access to [passive candidates](https://www.hirequotient.com/blog/how-to-recruit-passive-candidates), who may not be actively seeking a new job but may be open to new opportunities if the right one presents itself. These candidates can be valuable additions to a talent pipeline and can provide you with access to top sales talent currently engaged in the industry you are hiring in.
• Cost-effective sourcing: Sourcing candidates on LinkedIn can be a cost-effective solution for recruiters. LinkedIn provides a range of tools and features for recruiters, which cut down on the time and costs inherent in other traditional means of recruiting. It is also useful for building connections with candidates and their networks.

We can help you source and hire candidates on LinkedIn with EasySource!

We at HireQuotient understand the importance and need for effective candidate sourcing. With access to over 600 million candidate profiles across the globe and a concise pre-screening procedure, HireQuotient can help you finish your candidate sourcing in days rather than weeks with the use of automation. Utilize our job description builder to quickly create the ideal job description when you decide to hire and access and communicate with HireQuotient’s vast pool of candidates via our targeted mass outreach procedures. This has saved over 70,000 hours for recruiters and with our pre screening you can sort out candidates and find the ideal candidate in under 5 minutes!

HireQuotient integrates with sourcing on LinkedIn through our new product EasySource, which allows you to sort between the multitude of candidates available on LinkedIn based on the categories that are important to you. Systematically filter candidates based on the job title or location of the work to quickly obtain candidates that are needed on short notice. Get a list of candidates sorted according to the relevant experience, skills or education demanded of the job or role in question. We also make it possible to filter candidates based on the industry, course and authorization for work in the US. Therefore you get access to an immense pool of candidates, boiled down to the ideal candidates for your needs. 

HireQuotient also provides an entire plethora of skill assessments that you can employ in gauging the skill of your employees. Our repository is constantly updated with the latest industry relevant tests and assessments pertaining to all non-tech related positions. The questions are created by dedicated subject matter experts in the relevant industries and are categorized based on the difficulty levels so that you can effectively assess the candidate you choose to hire.

All of this is available in a few clicks of your mouse, so check out the company website to book a demo or get on a call with our experts here at HireQuotient to learn how we can help you hire and integrate candidate sourcing on LinkedIn in your hiring practices.