Recruitment & Selection Sales
Without the right sales professionals, any growth strategy remains an intention.
Still, the choice of a sales professional is too often left to gut feeling, while it is one of the most decisive decisions for turnover, customer retention and market position.
Velde guides SME / SME+ entrepreneurs in the recruitment & selection of key positions in sales, in which we remain actively involved in the first year.
A selection from our Sales assignments
Mis-hires at the sales level
Sales is the engine of the organization, but an engine that is not properly tuned gobbles up fuel without getting mileage. The damage of a mismatch at the sales level counts on multiple fronts at once: sales that fail to materialize, customers that walk away to competitors, a reputation that stealthily erodes and months, sometimes years, lost to recovery.
Yet mis-hires in sales are by no means always the result of poor candidates. More often, the cause is a blurred picture of what the organization needs commercially. Are you looking for someone to open new markets, or someone to deepen and expand existing customer relationships? Someone who performs individually, or someone who makes a sales team work? These questions are skipped too early, with all the consequences that entails.
For 35 years we have been helping entrepreneurs ask those questions and find the right people to fulfill the commercial ambition of the organization.
When sales makes or inhibits the difference
We work for entrepreneurial SME / SMB+ organizations, family-owned businesses and Private Equity holdings where sales is directly linked to the growth ambition of the organization.
Most clients recognize a similar moment: the ambition is clear, but the commercial organization is lagging behind. What was once good enough, a small team, a few regular customers, the entrepreneur himself as the main sales force, no longer suffices when the bar is raised and the market demands structure, consistency and scale.
Typical times when organizations call on us:
- the entrepreneur increasingly wants to remove himself from the operational sales role
- targets are not met and the cause is people, not the market
- the sales team needs leadership and direction
- a new market or customer segment is tapped into
- the key commercial position must be filled differently to cope with the next phase of growth
- the next growth phase of the company requires a different commercial profile
We always start with the commercial assignment at hand, not a job posting. What should this sales professional bring to the organization within 6 to 12 months? That is the question that starts the process.
Wondering if this fits your issue?
First the commercial assignment, then the profile
Before we even approach a single candidate, we sharply map out together what the commercial assignment is. What contribution must this professional make to turnover, customer retention or team development? What is the desired result after 6 or 12 months? This forms the basis for the search profile and for a selection process that focuses on impact, not speed.
Understanding who someone is, not just what someone did
With in-depth interviews and sales-specific assessments, we map personality, drives and behavior. How does someone deal with pressure and rejection? How does someone build trust with customers? What drives someone in the long term? These are the questions that determine whether a candidate really fits and that we answer before you make a choice.
An honorarium that parallels your interest
Our fee is a fixed investment, spread over 5 installments, regardless of the candidate’s salary level. We invoice the fifth installment only at the end of the first year. We want the same thing you want: a sales professional who makes a difference. Your interest is our interest.
Clarity on mandate and position
A new sales professional has a direct impact on the existing team, the client portfolio and collaboration with the board and management. We take a critical look at how the role is positioned commercially, what the mandate is, where the boundaries are and what is needed to operate effectively from day one.
Commitment does not stop at the signature
We think in relationships, not transactions, and that applies equally to our collaboration with you as a client. After placement, we evaluate after 6 and 12 months whether the commercial impact agreed upon beforehand is being realized. We believe that sustainable success starts with lasting commitment
Unconditional guarantee
In the unlikely event that the placement proves unsuccessful, we will restart the process without charging a fee again, except for recruitment costs.
We provide this guarantee for the 1st year, because our involvement does not stop at the signature.
Sales professionals who look beyond the deal
Good sales professionals are plentiful. Sales professionals who fit your organization, your stage and your customers. That’s another story.
We are looking for people who take ownership of the commercial agenda, who build customer relationships with perspective and who measure their success by the growth of the organization and not by the number of deals they closed this month. Who understand that trust is built over years, but can be lost in one conversation.
From the intake we look not only at the profile, but also at what type of commercial leadership the organization currently needs and who can grow in it.
The Velde Method helps us make that question concrete. Starting with the commercial ambition of the organization, not with a standard sales profile.
Selection by personality and ambition
A strong resume and a convincing interview do not guarantee success in sales. Two candidates with identical backgrounds can perform completely differently in the same organization because commercial success is largely determined by who someone is, not just what someone has accomplished.
We look beyond experience and career. We analyze personality, drives and decision-making style and test how a candidate relates to the culture, existing team and stage of the organization.
Sales-specific assessments give us insight into how someone operates in practice: how someone deals with resistance, builds customer relationships and identifies and capitalizes on commercial opportunities. In this way we make explicit what a first impression hides.
The ROI story of Quootz
What is the result of a recruitment process? Not just immediately after the hiring, but rather over a longer period… Read more
The ROI story of VEGA
Regularly Jürgen Schruijren, Managing Director at Vega Meet- en Regeltechniek, is looking for new colleagues where… Read more
The ROI story of Ushio
Curious about the ROI of a recruitment process? So are we! And that's why Job van der Heijden, Sales Director at Us… Read more
Turn targets into reality.
Want to further professionalize your sales, get closer to your commercial ambition or find the right person to take the next step of growth?
We start the conversation by asking you where you want to go with your organization and what commercial assignment goes with it. That is the starting point for everything that follows.
