Myself and the team at Kingman Lennox like the start of a New Year. December is a frantic push to get interviews scheduled before our clients are on their Christmas breaks. January, February is a month for setting out on the path we’ve mapped out at our end of year review with the energy that comes from recharged batteries and a new year optimism.
When we started Kingman Lennox we knew our biggest challenge would be attracting the calibre of candidate we wanted – consummate sales professionals. Great sales & business development people are always hard to find and businesses with great sales people are eager to hang on to them. Equally, successful sales people can understandably be reticent about taking a chance on new businesses. We had a strong client base, there were jobs we were looking to fill, we needed the right people to fit them.To attract the candidates we want to build our reputation on, we worked on the way we ran our recruitment business. We focused on selling ourselves to candidates. As with any industry there’s no shortage of stories about unethical recruitment practices.Non existent vacancies, references being used for leads, commission driven pressure, recruiters lack of knowledge about the target industry. We wanted to be chosen by top class sales people so we had to step up and deliver a service that stood out.
Why Candidates Buy into Us
We Tell Them If We Can Sell Them. The biggest gripe you’ll hear from recruiters is dealing with the number of online CVs they receive for vacancies, they can’t get through them, CVs disappear into the ‘only successful candidates will be contacted’ We filter our applications up front to save potential candidates time and effort. While we don’t expect the
Greatest Sales People Of All Time we are clear about our Candidate Core Criteria.The foundation of experience we need to sell them to our clients. We confirm candidates have a solid employment record, evidence of driving revenue and meeting targets, consultative selling experience and B2B experience. Only then do we move onto CVs.
We Don’t Leave Them Hanging Without great sales professionals on our database we can’t work.We believe people who have entrusted us with their career deserve to know where they stand. We maintain an open line of communication. We’ll be straight about exclusivity of positions, our relationships and manage expectations. If we discuss a position with a candidate we keep candidates in the loop. If the client rejected them or we failed to get them in front of the client we tell them.
We Specialise in Sales People We’re building our reputation as the recruitment agency businesses know to call when they need sales people. We specialise in, and have an intimate knowledge of the sales industry and the kind of people who are successful in it.
We Carry Great Sales Jobs We won’t use non existent jobs to drive candidate registrations or business leads.We carry all the jobs we list. Our team actively seek out growing companies to source sales opportunities and often help clients write their briefs.We carry sales positions from many successful Scottish companies the vast majority of which are exclusive.
Our Success Rate in Gaining and Interview is 80% We’re sales people as well. We need to make placements to make money. If we believe a person has the profile and experience a client is looking for 80% of the time we get them an interview. We get candidates interviewed because we work hard at our client relationships and we’re known for quality candidates. Clients know if we give them a CV that candidate is worth talking to.They do what it says on the tin. We don’t waste their time.
We Know The Businesses We Recruit For
We know what sales people need from businesses to do their jobs properly and thrive. When we talk to clients you can rest assured we’re asking the questions candidates need the answers to. Commission structures, business plans, management structures, product information and business development plans will all affect a sales persons performance. We don’t put our candidates into businesses which have unrealistic expectations or are waiting for a rainmaker to save their skin.
What We Ask From Candidates
Transparency We’re very clear on the kind of candidates we work with at Kingman Lennox. We’re building a reputation on supplying people we know can help our clients take their businesses to the next level. We know to do this certain experience and skills are key.Don’t confirm you have the skills to get a meeting and hope we’ll change our minds. The core skills we ask for are non negotiable.
Courtesy Many of our candidates are exclusive, we’re the only recruiter they work with. This definitely makes it easier to manage our side. However not all candidates are exclusive aren’t so we ask candidates to let us know where they are with other job offers and what interviews they’ve had. We can streamline our efforts if some companies aren’t on the table or an interview went really well and an offer is expected.
Respect for Clients We work hard to get our candidates in front of the clients they’re interested in working for. We like to think the respect we show our candidates will be reciprocated. No shows, late arrivals and lack of preparation at the level we recruit at aren’t acceptable. A no show gets you dropped like a hot potato.
A Clear Position An offer of a position isn’t a guarantee a candidate will take it – contract negotiations can be tricky. They say a good negotiation is one in which both parties leave slightly disappointed. Know what you’re willing to compromise on and what is non negotiable for you. We’re better negotiators when we know what we have to bargain with.
We’ve got some dynamic clients in 2014 with growing businesses looking for great sales people.
How to arrange a meeting
Mobile – Call me on 07966 444329
Email – mg@kingmanlennox.com“> mg@kingmanlennox.com Put ‘Meet Mark’ in the subject line so it reaches my priority box
Twitter – Kingman Lennox use #meetmark