How much does sales recruitment cost? The answer may surprise you.
For honest answers, contact NewConfig today.
Sales Recruitment: Calculate the Costs
How much should you spend per hire on sales recruitment? The answer to this question should guide your recruitment efforts—and not the least because an estimated 20% of all hires leave within the first 45-days of employment.
After all, attrition costs can be significant: $3,000 to $18,000 to replace hires, according to Forbes.
Unfortunately, many businesses do not even attempt to quantify sales recruitment costs. For many companies, sales recruitment is a willy-nilly affair. Spend a little on advertising here; a little more on a database or social media subscriptions; still more on in-house labor.
In the end, the costs balloon far beyond the standard quote for in-house recruitment: 8%-15% of the new hire’s salary.
This number is often used as a benchmark by firms who believe in-house recruitment is the best option—especially for sales people.
The motivations for this belief may seem viable: Only in-house recruiters genuinely understand the nature of the business and what is required to sell the unique product; and, of course, in-house recruitment presumably saves money.
From the perspective of Newconfig, a leading sales recruiter, this first view neglects a central premise of sales recruitment: Sales aptitude, which is revealed in characteristics like drive, optimism, and trust, is much more important than specialized knowledge. In practice, this belief is a mere rationalization.
Read: “The Best Salespeople Possess This One Personality Trait”
The second view, that in-house recruitment saves money, neglects fundamental elements of business cost. That 8%-15% number is often compared to the presumed costs of outsourcing sales recruitment: 15%-30% of the hire’s salary. However, both numbers are arbitrary.
The first number does not adequately quantify the costs of hiring a new salesperson, which extend far beyond ads, subscriptions, and labor. Simply put, most firms do no account for the actual cost of human capital, which includes time management and other teams (like content writers) spend on recruitment. Nor does this number adequately quantify the loss of in-house productivity, or the cost of a subpar hire, which may lead to attrition.
The second number is a mere number, oft-quoted but rarely cited. So what is the actual cost of recruitment? As a leading sales recruitment firm, Newconfig understands how to quantify the actual costs for any sales recruitment project.
We explain our costs clearly—our prices are not arbitrary. Save your firm time and money while sourcing the best possible sales candidates. Call NewConfig at our Philadelphia offices today: 1-800-901-6526.