Sales talent has become incredible elusive in the 21^st century. Experienced rainmakers are “not looking at the moment” or “happy with what they’ve got.”  Generalist job boards deliver dozens of unqualified candidates to a hyper-complex corporate application process.  The lack of collegiate sales majors and Gen-Y job seekers pursuing a career in sales amplifies the already constant pressure on recruiters to meet their hiring quota.

Fortunately, we are living in the age of innovation.  We’ll take a look at three unorthodox methods to ramp up your pipeline:

1.  Engage with both active and passive candidates on the web

Recruiters know that active job seekers are relatively easy to find: post a position on a relevant job board and watch the resumes flow in.  Passive talent has historically been the evasive unicorn of the recruiting industry but new developments in social media have opened the floodgates to passive candidates.  Make sure to properly incorporate Linkedin and the QuotaBlitz discussion forum into your IT sales efforts to familiarize yourself with active members of the industry.  Read their posts, figure out their concerns, and answer their questions-you never know when one of them could be looking for one of your positions.

2.  Put a face and brand behind your company and job listings

Nothing annoys job candidates like generic job listings forwarding them to a maze-like talent acquisition system which submits their resume into an HR sinkhole.  Speak to your sales candidates directly-once you post a position on QuotaBlitz you can create a forum sub-topic and field questions from active and passive candidates alike.  Utilize your forum signature as much as possible: post your name, profile picture, company, contact info, and links to jobs you have posted with us.  Create a company profile on QuotaBlitz and even consider a guest blog post to brand yourself.

3. Stay in contact with the “Not Quite There Yets”

Enterprise tech companies have stringent requirements for field and inside sales positions.  If your employer requires three years of tech sales experience along with an IT certification, it will be nearly impossible to place a candidate with 8 months of unrelated inside sales experience.  Sales recruiters often toss resumes which don’t fit the requirements instead of gauging the potential of candidates and having a career-related discussion.  Advise the “Not Quite There Yet” on how to complete the requirements your employer is asking for and offer to stay in touch.  Within two years, your “not quite there” candidate will have three years of sales experience, certifications which you advised him/her to acquire, and be a primary target for one of your positions.  You can train a salesperson on product, but attitude and ability is irreplaceable so utilize the QuotaBlitz forums to scout upcoming talent.