I would bet you a $100 that if you are in the direct sales industry you have a consistent problem with your interviews not showing up…if you are like most in this industry you have a recruiter that spends all day grinding it out on the phones and if he/she is lucky (and actually pretty decent at their job) maybe 30-40% of those people actually show up! Let’s talk about why….
- The person has little to no idea what they are interviewing for
- If you have a cheesy script that consists of telling the person as little as humanly possible just to get them in the door – you are doing it wrong! Shoot people straight and give direct answers….people can smell BS a mile away! If they ask you a direct question, give them a direct answer! If a candidate asks if the job is commission only and your response is anything but “yes”… you need to check yourself (before you wreck yourself)
- Your ads suck (sorry but it’s probably true)
- It likely that they called and booked an interview because you called/emailed/texted them to call and schedule an interview. Then after they call you they go back and read the ad they applied for (which they most likely skimmed bc most ads are unbelievably boring) and they realize “it’s just not what they were looking for”.
- If you are in the direct sales industry it’s likely that your ads sound like every other ad they have read – entry level sales, performance based pay (lets get real its commission!) – keep it real with people and promote what really matters (what makes your business special (only if it’s actually true!), working with legit clients, advancement opportunity, cool PERKS, etc…better yet shoot a video to explain the position and humanize it versus placing another boring cookie cutter ad!
- You focus on QUANTITY over QUALITY
- Your recruiter is grinding so hard they don’t have time to actually get to know someone or build a relationship with someone over the phone– focus on targeted, specific ads that bring in the type of person you are looking for versus a cattle call ad that is going to exhaust both you and your recruiter (bless their little heart!)
- Don’t get me wrong it is important to know your recruiting funnel but filling it up with the wrong people is a waste of their time and yours. Reward your recruiter for bringing in the right type of candidates versus the quantity….who cares if they booked 25 people if 19 of them suck?!
- Your company is not legit
- You either aren’t posting anything on social or your posts aren’t relevant – if 95% of your demographic uses social on a daily basis then you should be using these platforms to attract/connect with them. And keep it interesting….if you are posting things just to post things…YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG….people want to see the types of people they would be working with and the fun stuff your company does….if you ARE doing this stuff, congrats bc you are further along than 90% of your counterparts!
- You have a bunch of negative reviews online – if you google your company and the first thing you see is “SCAM!” you might want to invest in some SEO (right after you evaluate your business practices) or better yet address the negative stuff head on so people know you are taking the feedback seriously and what your plan is to improve (if needed). The ultimate goal is to run a legit business to these negative reviews don’t happen…if you are shooting people straight and not screwing people out of their last paycheck this stuff is WAY less likely to happen…
- Wait for it………………………….People are LAZY!
- You tell them very little information over the phone but then expect them to get dressed up in a monkey suit, drive across town (and in some cases pay for parking) so they can impress you! Get with it! Look into a video interview platform or offer phone/skype interviews so you don’t waste their time or yours!
- And if you do want them to come in person you may want to consider your value proposition…driving across town for another lame interview (when their couch is oh so comfy) doesn’t sound very fun to the target demographic but being invited to listen in on a motivational meeting where they might actually learn something or meeting for coffee sounds a lot more intriguing!
If any of this resonated with you and you want to learn more about how to recruit and sell like its 2018…hit us up!
