WRITING A JOB AD FOR SALES CANDIDATES

Job postings are often boring, uninspired and even spammy, so they don’t attract the highest quality commission only sales reps. If you want to make it easier to recruit the right type of salespeople, you need to make sure you’re writing a job ad that will attract top talent.

The Danger of the “generic” Ad

We all know what a generic sales person job description looks like:

“Blue Widget Co is seeking motivated door to door salespeople in us in a fast-paced, challenging work environment. The ideal candidate will have strong interpersonal skills and work as part of a team. You will be expected to:

  • Generic task description A
  • Generic task description B

Etc.

Since you’re paying for your job ads, you want it to stand out as much as possible, and get high-quality sales candidates to contact you. Generic salesperson job postings do the opposite – They’re easily overlooked and fade into the background. How can you prevent that? It’s simple:

  • Start with the sales person job description.
  • Take the key duties, roles, responsibilities, and skills for your salespeople from the sales person job description.
  • Use the right language and approach.
  • Inject some personality into the job advert.
  • Describe the one main thing the job role does and the value it adds.
  • See examples of good and bad salesperson job postings
  • Use clear, original headings and good formatting.
  • Add in duties, skills, and any other information.
  • Get ready to hire the right salespeople.

job description for sales candidates

Start With the Sales Person Job Description

Some people think that a sales person job description and job adverts are the same thing and they can both help you hire sales people – They’re not. In our last article, we explained how to write a job description for the various sales rep roles in your business.

It’s important to understand that sales person job descriptions are an internal document. They’re designed to tell your sales reps what’s expected of them when they’re hired.

Time to Hire says: You shouldn’t copy the text from a sales person job description and use it “as is” for your salesperson job posting.

Instead, think of the job description as something you can use when writing a job ad. You’ll certainly want to refer to the main areas of the job description, but you’ll also want to tweak and refine the copy in your job description for sales candidates so it attracts the best commission only sales candidates.

Take the Key Duties, Roles, Responsibilities, and Skills from the Sales Person Job Description

Go through the sales person job description and copy the key areas you’ll need when writing the job ad. These are the qualities you actually want to hire salespeople for, and the skills, experience, and approach you want from the perfect candidate.

Use the Right Language and Approach

It’s vital to use the right language when you’re writing a job ad, here are some tips:

  • Address the person reading the ad directly – When writing a job ad, use terms like “You” and “Us” rather than “the candidate” or “the company.” This makes your job posting more immediate and relatable.
  • Avoid technical wording and jargon – Steer clear of sales industry specific wording, acronyms, technical terms, or anything that’s not easy to understand.
  • Be very specific – Rather than describing broad areas, duties, sales skills, and responsibilities, be as specific as you can.
  • Keep it brief – Remove any extra, unneeded words from the salesperson job posting.

Inject Some Personality

Don’t think that all sales job adverts have to be incredibly formal. When writing a job ad, don’t be afraid to inject some personality and maybe even a little humor into the writing. Think about the values and principles of your business and your salespeople – Try to bring these out in the job description for sales candidates.

Time to Hire says: Keeping this in mind when writing a salesperson job posting will help to make sure the people who apply like the tone and culture of your business.

Describe the One Main Thing the Job Role Does and the Value it Adds

At the top of your job advert, you’re going to describe the job role in terms of the one thing it does best. This should be focused on the value it adds to your sales business, and expressed in a simple, inspirational way. For example:

“If you know how to delight customers and keep them coming back, we want you to join us. As our Senior Customer Account Manager, you’re going to get to know our clients really well. You’ll use this knowledge, together with a bright, positive attitude, and your wide range of customer management skills to support them, every day.”

Examples of Good and Bad Sales Job Postings

Here are some examples of “before” and “after” wordings from job adverts:

  • Bad: Seeking a candidate with excellent interpersonal skills to respond to and deal with customer issues via telephone, email, and online reporting.
  • Good: You’re going to be talking to customers. A lot. You’ll sort out their issues and leave them delighted, because you’re brilliant at customer service.
  • Bad: Responsible for growing business and bringing new customers into the company via following up on leads.
  • Good: You’ll get a great understanding of our products and pitch them to major retail clients and buyers. You’ll bring out the benefit of our products and be comfortable presenting them to anyone from senior execs to junior buyers.
  • Bad: Expert graphic design skills, able to turn concepts into marketing collateral.
  • Good: You know Photoshop and Illustrator, and you’re not afraid to use them. You’ll talk to our marketing people, grasp their ideas and turn them into beautiful designs for our website, product packaging, and more.

Use Clear, Original Headings and Good Formatting

Don’t be afraid to use different types of headings in the advert. Instead of saying “Duties” and “Sales Skills,” you could say: “What you’ll be doing” and “What you’re good at.”

Use clear headings to break the job advert up into logical sections. Use short, simple, concise sentences to explain each area. Bullet points and numbered lists will make your ad easier to scan and understand.

  • Make sure you use plenty of white space and avoid long walls of text. Get your ad proofread to remove any spelling, typos, or grammatical errors.
  • Add in duties, skills, and any other information.
  • Go through the original job description and make sure you’ve captured the major areas, duties, skills, and expectations in the job advert. Go through each of the points above to make sure you’re writing the advert in the best possible way.
  • When you’re finished, go through and edit it to remove any extra words, keep it punchy, and make sure it has personality. Review the advert with your peers and incorporate their feedback.

Get Ready to Hire

Time to Hire says: Now you’re ready to post the advert on various job recruitment websites. Publish it, and get ready to hire.

Want us to find the best commission only sales reps on your behalf and reduce your time to hire?  Get in touch now.