Ads
Salespeople are routinely recruited through ads in the classified section of local newspapers. However, searching for candidates that way requires research, planning, and good copywriting skills. Why?
To really understand the challenges involved, do the following exercise. Pretend you are looking for a job in sales, and you have decided to check the local want ads to find that job. When do you look? What day or days?
Did you decide the best days to look are Saturday and Sunday? And did you further decide Sunday was preferable? If your answer is yes, why? If your answer is no, which day did you decide to look?
When I conduct seminars and workshops on this subject, the most popular answer is Saturday and Sunday, with the best day being Sunday—the day when the greatest number of want ads are in the paper. Sunday offers the most choices for employment. And most companies know that, so they place their ad on Sunday along with everyone else. What’s wrong with that?
Here is another exercise for you: Pick up a Sunday paper and scan the want ads for a job in sales. There are a lot of ads, aren’t there?
Start reading the very first ad in the sales section and go through every one until you get to the end. Do this before reading the next paragraph. Remember, you are on the honor system. I’ll trust you not to skip ahead.
If you did what I suggested, here is what happened. You read the first few ads entirely, but then found yourself speed-reading the next few. After a few more you found yourself skimming instead of reading—sliding your finger down the column looking and for an ad that grabbed your finger or your attention.
It is a difficult task for prospective employees to read every single want ad even when they actually need a job. Add to that difficulty the fact that Saturday and Sunday are days when many of their friends are off work and there is a lot to do, a lot of distractions. So skim over the want ads again and circle the ones that catch your eye. Ask yourself why. Why did this ad grab me? What did it say that captivated me?
When you are done, cut out the ads that grabbed you, stick them on a piece of paper, and ask yourself again what it is that makes them stick out. What did the want ad say that attracted you? Do all the attention-getting ads say similar things?
If you were a salesperson looking for a job, would you have been stopped by the same ads? If no, go back to the beginning and think like a salesperson. If you cannot do this, then you’ll need a salesperson to perform the exercise.
When I look at a company’s hiring procedures, I often find that the person writing or designing the ad isn’t a salesperson and doesn’t think like one. Painful as it may seem, this exercise will help you create an ad that gets salespeople’s attention. If you are going to invest money on a newspaper ad, you want to write an effective ad.
Another decision you will have to make is whether you should place an in-column ad or display ad. There is an obvious cost difference. However, choosing incorrectly can result in a total waste of money, so placement is important. How do you decide?
Go back to the newspaper and compare the display ads to the in-column ads. What did you learn? What kinds of salespeople are companies searching for when they use display ads? What about in-column? Which one fits the candidate you are looking for? If your answer is display ad, then you should place a display ad regardless of the cost. If the answer is in-column, then use in-column.
In either case, what you say in the ad is of paramount importance. It is well worth your time to design an ad that will draw.
You’ve heard the term “different strokes for different folks”; keep it in mind as you design your ad. You may discover that one group of salespeople responds well to an ad that talks about money while another group responds to an ad that focuses on career.
What kind of person are you seeking? Do you want someone who is self-motivated, disciplined, a closer, a team player, or a potential manager? Then use those buzzwords in your ad so the salesperson you want knows you are talking to him.
Can salespeople earn a six-figure income working for your company? If yes, say so. Is there an opportunity for advancement into management? If yes, put it in your ad so the salesperson who feels like she has hit a wall when it comes to advancement will become excited about your offer.
Your ad acts as a salesperson promoting an opportunity to work for your company. In as few words as possible, sell your opportunity to would-be candidates.
Having described the position, consider your call to action. How do you want interested salespeople to respond?
I have seen want ads in newspapers that said, “Mail your resume to PO Box 12345, Somewhere, USA.” This request may sound reasonable; after all, you will want to know about your candidates’ experience. However, asking for a resume creates an opportunity to procrastinate. Many salespeople perusing want ads don’t have an updated resume ready. They might think, “I will follow up on this as soon as I can get my resume updated.” And then they’ll move on to the next want ad.
Your goal should be to remove any and all obstacles so that people can respond easily. You’ll have an opportunity to ask for a resume after the salesperson answers the ad. Get them in the door. “Call for a confidential interview” will get the job done. “Apply in person at 1234 Main St.” may also work for you, depending on the type of candidate you are looking for.
Should you place a blind ad or tell them who your company is?
The answer depends on a few factors. Do you want everyone in your organization to know you are looking for another salesperson? (I can’t imagine why not.) Is your company known in the area? Will the use of your company name add value to the ad? If yes, then absolutely use it.
Blind ads tend to scare off some prospective salespeople because so many of them are for multilevel organizations.
All in all you must know that salespeople respond to words that tell them what they want to hear. Have you seen an ad that starts off with, “Tired of your dead-end job?” or “Are you ready to earn a six-figure income?”
These ads target a specific emotion—one your candidates may be feeling.
The want ad that caught me many years ago was what I call a double-blind ad. First, it didn’t mention a company name, and second, it didn’t make clear what the new hire would do. It grabbed my attention anyway because it spoke to what I was going through at the time.
I had recently mustered out of the Navy after serving four years and eight months mostly aboard an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War. I had spent weeks searching for a job that would pay me enough to live on and make up the difference between what the GI Bill paid toward a college education and the cost for same. I had very little experience doing anything in civilian life.
I showed you this ad earlier, but let’s look at it again to analyze why the company placed it and what emotions they expected the ad would awaken in a candidate.
Men wanted to move stock from warehouse.
No experience necessary.
Apply in person Monday between 8 am and 9 am.
$500 per month guaranteed.
1234 Claiborne Ave, suite 4
By saying “no experience
