Chapter Four
Recruiting and Selecting Sales Personnel
4.1. Definition Recruitment
Recruitment is a process to discover the sources of manpower to meet the requirements of the
staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that manpower in adequate
number to facilitate effective selection of an efficient working force. Recruitment is a process of
searching for prospecting employees and stimulating and encouraging them to apply for jobs in
an organization.
It is often termed as positive in that it stimulates people to apply for jobs to increase the hiring
ration i.e., number of applicants for a job. On the other hand tends to be negative because it
rejects a good member of those who apply, leaving only the best to be hired.
4.2. Sources of Recruitment
The searching of suitable candidates and informing them about the openings in the enterprise is
the most important aspect of recruitment process. The candidates may be available inside or
outside the organization. Basically, there are two sources of recruitment i.e., internal and external
sources.
A. Internal Sources:
Best employees can be found within the organization… When a vacancy arises in the
organization, it may be given to an employee who is already on the pay-roll. Internal sources
include promotion, transfer and in certain cases demotion. When a higher post is given to a
deserving employee, it motivates all other employees of the organization to work hard. The
employees can be informed of such a vacancy by internal advertisement.
1. Transfers: Transfer involves shifting of persons from present jobs to other similar jobs. These
do not involve any change in rank, responsibility or prestige. The numbers of persons do not
increase with transfers.
2. Promotions: Promotions refer to shifting of persons to positions carrying better prestige,
higher responsibilities and more pay. The higher positions falling vacant may be filled up from
within the organization. A promotion does not increase the number of persons in the
organization. A person going to get a higher position will vacate his present position. Promotion
will motivate employees to improve their performance so that they can also get promotion.
The promotion policy is followed as a motivational technique for the employees who work hard
and show good performance. Promotion results in enhancements in pay, position, responsibility
and authority. The important requirement for implementation of the promotion policy is that the
terms, conditions, rules and regulations should be well-defined.
3. Retirements: The retired employees may be given the extension in their service in case of
non-availability of suitable candidates for the post.
4. Former employees: Former employees who had performed well during their tenure may be
called back, and higher wages and incentives can be paid to them.
5. Internal advertisement: The existing employees may be interested in taking up the vacant
jobs. As they are working in the company since long time, they know about the specification and
description of the vacant job. For their benefit, the advertisement within the company is
circulated so that the employees will be intimated.
Benefits of Internal Sources of Recruitment:
1. The existing employees get motivated.
2. Cost is saved as there is no need to give advertisements about the vacancy.
3. It builds loyalty among employees towards the organization.
4. Training cost is saved as the employees already know about the nature of job to be performed.
5. It is a reliable and easy process.
Limitations of Internal Sources of Recruitment:
1. Young people with the knowledge of modem technology and innovative ideas do not get the
chance.
2. The performance of the existing employees may not be as efficient as before.
3. It brings the morale down of employees who do not get promotion or selected.
4. It may leads to encouragement to favoritism.
5. It may not be always in the good interest of the organization.
A. External Sources
1. Press advertisement: A wide choice for selecting the appropriate candidate for the post is
available through this source. It gives publicity to the vacant posts and the details about the job in
the form of job description and job specification are made available to public in general.
2. Campus interviews: It is the best possible method for companies to select students from
various educational institutions. It is easy and economical. The company officials personally visit
various institutes and select students eligible for a particular post through interviews. Students
get a good opportunity to prove themselves and get selected for a good job.
3. Placement agencies: A databank of candidates is sent to organizations for their selection
purpose and agencies get commission in return.
4. E-recruitment: Various sites such as [Link], [Link], and [Link] are the
available electronic sites on which candidates upload their resume and seek the jobs.
5. Competitors: By offering better terms and conditions of service, the human resource
managers try to get the employees working in the competitor’s organization.
Benefits of External Sources of Recruitment:
1. New talents get the opportunity.
2. The best selection is possible as a large number of candidates apply for the job.
3. In case of unavailability of suitable candidates within the organization, it is better to select
them from outside sources.
Limitations of External Sources of Recruitment:
1. Skilled and ambitious employees may switch the job more frequently.
2. It gives a sense of insecurity among the existing candidates.
3. It increases the cost as advertisement is to be given through press and training facilities to be
provided for new candidates.
4.3. Methods or Techniques of Recruitment
Another summarizes the possible recruiting methods into three categories: direct, indirect and
third party.
i) Direct methods
These include sending traveling recruiters to educational and professional institutions,
employees’ contacts with public and manned exhibits. One of the widely used direct methods
is that of sending of recruiters to college and technical schools. Most college recruiting is
done in cooperation with the placement office of a college.
ii) Indirect methods
Indirect methods involve mostly advertising in newspaper, on the radio and professional
journals, technical magazines and brochures. Advertising is a very useful technique to recruit
blue-collar and hourly workers, as well as scientific, professional and technical employees.
iii) Third party methods
These include the use of commercial or private employment agencies, state agencies,
placement offices of schools, colleges and professional association recruiting firms,
management consulting firms, indoctrination seminars for college professors and friends and
relatives.
4.4. Selection of Sales Force
The selection procedure is concerned with securing relevant information about an applicant. The
objectives of selection process are to determine whether an applicant meets the qualification for a
specific job and to choose the applicant who is most likely to perform well in that job.
The selection procedure adopted by an organization is mostly tailor made to meet its particular
needs. First, the nature of selection, whether faulty or safe, because a faulty selection affects not
only the training period that may be needed but also results in heavy expenditure on the new
employee and the loss that may be incurred by the organization in case of job occupants fails on
his job. Second, the policy of the company and the attitude of the management. Third, the length
of the probationary or the trait period. The longer the period, the greater the uncertainty in the
minds of the selected candidates about his future.
4.5. Selection Process of the Sales Forces
1. Application in blank:
Application in blank is a written formal application submitted by the person in quest of a job.
The object of this application in blank is to get the candidate introduced to the interviewer so that
he is in a position to prepare himself as to what kind of questions he is to ask to size-up the
candidate. It enables the sales selection committee to weed out undesirable candidates at the very
outset.
2. References: The candidate is asked to give references of persons that guarantee of his
integrity. The number of references may be two or three. The reference relates his character,
educational career, past service or experience. Here, the sales manager is to get confidential
reports about the candidate and verify the statements made by the candidate and the referee or
referees. To get first-hand and frank information about the candidate, the selection panel should
have face to face telephone contacts, discussions and deliberations.
3. Preliminary interview: Interview is, by far the most important part of selection procedure. The
panel of experts decides the number of candidates to be called for interview and cards or letters
are sent to the candidates well in advance. Interview is both a formal and informal talk and the
conversation between the interviewers and interviewee.
Since, it is a crucial point in selection process; the interviewer is to be sympathetic, receptive,
accommodative and interested in the problems of the candidate. The purpose of interview is to
form the opinion of applicant’s appearance, bearing, poise, voice, resourcefulness and the
philosophy of selling.
4. Psychological testing: Testing represents an additional tool in the kit of selection panel. The
psychological tests operate on the common theory that human behavior can be well forecasted by
sampling. Tests create situations in which an applicant reacts and such reactions are considered
as replica of his behavior in the work area for which he has applied. Divulging the weakness of
candidate is the basic tenet of a test.
In case of selection, two types of tests are held namely, ‘personality’ and ‘aptitude’. Personality
tests gauge whether the candidate has good sales personality a congregation of physical, mental,
character and social qualities. On the other hand, aptitude tests measure his aptitudes in the field
of selling such as self-discipline, sales motivation resistance to discouragement, acceptance and
appreciation of criticisms, diplomacy, tact, controlled aggressiveness, emotional stability and so
on.
5. Medical examination: Confirmation of physical fitness demands that every promising or
likely candidate to be selected is to undergo a medical test. Invariably, everyone in this world is
suffering from one kind of disease or the other. The salesman’s job needs physical fitness in
addition to mental. Normally, persons with high blood pressure, foot affliction, kidney and heart
troubles, tuberculosis, cancer etc. are not selected. It is worthwhile to have outright rejection of
such candidates than repenting at leisure. At the same time, it is the moral responsibility of the
candidate to disclose the facts of his health conditions before it is too late to do anything good for
both the parties.
6. Final interview: A candidate, who has crossed all the above hurdles, stands on the threshold
of final interview or selection. The selection committee has, at its disposal, all the detailed
information in terms of qualifications, references, physical and psychological test that helps to
come to final decision. The final interview is the milder one unlike the first which is bound to be
wilder. Normal, yet crucial questions are asked as to his or her willingness to accept the job, his
reliability as to continuity, if appointed. He might be asked questions as to how he plans his work
and works his plans. Finally, selected candidates are given official letters of appointment that
gives the details of his remuneration, to whom he is to report, when and where. It also gives
other conditions to establish contractual relations between the firm and himself.