Originally published August 2021. Updated April 2026.
Competition for jobs is at an all-time high. While that sounds like a boon if you’re hiring, that’s only true if the people competing for your position are all highly qualified. They’re not. Talent shortages are hurting organizations, and employee retention continues to be a pain point.
So, how can you secure those few individuals who have the skills you’re looking for? When you are looking for the highest-quality sales professionals to join your team, you are essentially selling your company and mission to them.
Many of the same techniques you use to engage potential clients can be used to attract potential hires just as effectively. Not only do these techniques impress potential hires, but they also serve as an indicator of how new hires will be expected to treat clients.
CONTINUAL COMMUNICATION
You would never pitch to a prospect and then wait a few weeks to see if they call you. You keep up a cadence of communication—check in, uncover and address objections, answer any questions. Potential hires also need continued communication in order to remain engaged.
You might still be conducting interviews, but that doesn’t mean you can’t reach out to those who have already interviewed and update them as to where you are in the process. They will appreciate your effort and being kept in the loop, and it will make you stand out amongst your peers, as 65% of candidates report that they don’t receive consistent communication.
Just as you would with a client, find out how your potential hires prefer to communicate. Today, 52% of talent acquisition teams are using centralized text platforms to communicate with candidates. It’s an effective way of keeping candidates informed.
ACTIVE LISTENING
You know that as a sales professional, it’s better for your potential client to do more of the talking while you are attentively listening. Use the same rule of thumb for hiring interviews. This is your chance to learn as much as possible about potential hires, and it’s broadcasting to them that you care about what they have to say.
Use the information you learn from actively listening to personalize the applicant’s experience as much as possible. Just as personalization is key to customer experience, it makes an impact on prospective employees as well.
OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
Do you use open-ended questions? Don’t answer that! It was a trick binary question that I threw in to see if you’d catch it. You could only say yes or no.
What kinds of questions do you ask during interviews? That’s a much better question. Now you have to do more talking, and I can learn more about you. If you’ve read any of our blogs or done any training with us, you know how much we love open-ended questions. Why? Because they give you so much more information.
Asking open-ended questions (and then allowing for some silence while you wait for an answer) is the best way to mitigate the risk of not having enough information. Just as it’s dangerous not to have enough information about your potential client, not having enough information about your potential hire can also leave you in a precarious situation.
Asking questions like, “What are some of your must-haves in your next role?” can help you uncover objections early on. Sound familiar? When interviewing for an open position, it’s important to figure out potential blockers early. For example, are they expecting to be able to work from home while you’re looking for someone who would be happy with a hybrid schedule? Knowing details like this up front ensures that a wrench won’t be thrown into the works later.
THE 7 P’S OF HIRING
Maestro coaches sales professionals on the Phoenix Method—seven practices that guide professional excellence and personal growth. If you think about your hiring process as selling to job prospects, you can easily see how the seven P’s of the Phoenix Method can provide as good a framework for hiring as it does for sales.
- Preparation: Know what questions you will be asking and be familiar with them. Be ready to jot down notes. Research your candidate before the interview just as you would a sales prospect.
- Process: Your hiring system should be intentional and well-organized. Each interaction you have with potential hires should have clear goals. Each interview should be designed to elicit new information.
- People: Everyone on your team should be familiar with your hiring process and know their role. Your employees should be prepared to share their experience and answer questions as their testimonials mean the most.
- Product: The position description for your potential hire should be clear. They should come away from an interview with a precise understanding of what they would be responsible for and how they would fit into the organization as a whole.
- Presentation: Prepare yourself and any information you will be sharing just as you would for a sales pitch—the same level of professionalism and the same attention to detail.
- Pay: Be ready to answer questions about compensation. Have a clear understanding of what you are able to offer and what you can’t. Candidates value salary transparency.
- Post Sale: You’re not done once someone accepts your job offer. Your next step—onboarding—is just as critical.
STORYTELLING
We’ve written before about how powerful storytelling can be as part of your sales process. It is equally beneficial when hiring. People remember stories better than statistics. You might want to tout your company’s growth, but wrap these details into a narrative and your prospective hire is more likely to remember it.
Stories captivate more of our brains than simple facts. They activate our emotions. Don’t just say that your company is a great place to work—tell a story about it. This prompts others to put themselves into the story. It essentially lets your prospective hire “try on” the job.
Storytelling isn’t just useful for when you’re interviewing candidates. It can also be effectively used to draw more applicants when used in your job description. Don’t just share a list of qualifications that you’re looking for. Share a narrative about what this person will be doing. Even more important, outline potential career paths so that applicants can imagine their growth within your company.
SHARING CONTENT
Just as you might share relevant content with a customer, sharing content can also be an opportunity for gifting potential hires. Are there blog articles on your website that they would find useful? Send them the link along with a message about why you thought it would interest them.
Sharing content with potential hires can keep you top-of-mind. It also positions you as an expert in your field. Perhaps an applicant isn’t the right fit for the position you are currently hiring for, but they are impressive and might be a great fit for future positions. Sharing relevant content is a great way to reach out and stay in touch.
TESTIMONIALS
Do we believe it when a company tells us how great their product is? No. Instead we turn to friends and complete strangers who have used the product. We trust what they have to say much more than we trust a business. It’s why we comb through Amazon reviews.
If the product you are selling is a job at your company, then who are your previous customers that have already made that purchase? Your employees. Of course the founder of a startup is going to say it’s a great place to work, but what about the last few people she hired?
Let your potential hires hear straight from your employees. This can be in the form of testimonials on your website’s open positions page, or simply access to other people that work for you. Letting applicants speak directly to employees also provides a level or transparency that can help build trust.
PROCESS
Let’s say you had a discovery call with a new potential client. It went well, and they requested a demo. You schedule the demo with one of your colleagues, and on the demo call, this colleague asks the exact same questions you already asked on the discovery call.
That’s a ridiculous scenario. It wouldn’t happen because your team has a process, communicates, and is much too organized to let something like that take place. And yet this is often what happens to potential hires. They go through an interview, but when they move on to the second or third interview with other people, they get asked the same questions.
Your hiring process needs to be as defined and organized as your sales process. Neither clients nor applicants want to feel like you are wasting their time, or worse, don’t value their time.
Interview questions should be purposeful. Each should be uncovering new information. A sloppy or repetitive interview process does not instill faith in an applicant that your organization is well-run.
THE CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE SETS THE TONE
Not only does treating candidates like clients result in better hires. It also results in new hires coming in with accurate expectations of how they should treat clients. If you take weeks to respond to a job application, this signals to your candidate that taking weeks to respond is acceptable. According to Employ, 36% of new hires leave within the first 90 days because the job description did not reflect the actual day-to-day role. If you present a laissez-faire attitude toward process and timeliness during the hiring process, don’t be surprised when your new hire doesn’t think they’ll be expected to follow a consistent sales process or quickly respond to clients.
Economies swing. The stock market rises and falls. The job market shifts. But that doesn’t really matter. If you truly want to attract the best and the brightest to your organization, you need to be selling your organization effectively.
This applies to any business, but particularly startups. If you don’t have the name recognition or pocket depth of a Google or an Amazon, you need to be sure you stand out in another way. You build relationships, earn trust, and solve problems with clients. You need to do the same with your job prospects.
Need help with recruiting or hiring? Reach out to us at mastery@maestrogroup.co.