FAQ

Here are the answers to frequently asked questions about our approach to helping customers hire top performing sales professionals and achieve sales targets, fast.

1. What does your service include?
2. What makes Peak Sales® different from other recruiting services?
3. What positions does Peak Sales® recruit for?
4. What defines a top performer?
5. Why is the selling environment so important?
6. Aren’t all good sales people the same? Why does it matter which one we hire?
7. How does Peak figure out what we need?
8. Do you mine the job boards for job seekers?
9. Are you a local search service or national?
10. Who are your clients? What verticals are they in?
11. Does Peak work in other languages?
12. What if we just want résumés?
13. Do you work with start-ups?
14. How are you going to help us become successful?
15. How much does your service cost?
16. How long does it take to get candidates?
17. What do I need to do while you’re searching for candidates?
18. Do I have to sign a contract?
19. Can I cancel a project after it begins, if I’m not happy?
20. What if I decide I want to hire more people?

1. What does your service include?
We provide a fast and effective sales recruiting solution for employers. We assess your needs and specifications, profile your roles, develop a comprehensive recruiting strategy, find qualified candidates, then screen, interview and test them, and present only the best to you. We keep you informed with regular progress updates, and provide advice on compensation and contract negotiations. We work for you.

2. What makes Peak Sales® different from other recruiting services?
Unlike most staffing and recruiting companies, which have limited experience with sales hiring and often resort to mining job boards or databases of existing candidates, we are sales recruiting experts. Our process is proven and highly efficient, enabling both speed to success and high quality results. Peak was founded by successful sales leaders who have built companies and sales teams, so we know firsthand how to create high performance sales teams.

3. What positions does Peak Sales® recruit for?
We successfully fill roles from the C-suite executive level to the sales rep level. Typical engagements include Vice President of Sales, Director of Sales, Director of Sales Operations, Sales Manager, Sales Operations Manager, Account Executive, Account Manager, Sales Rep, Channel Representative, Sales Engineer, Business Development Manager, and Channel Manager.

4. What defines a top performer?
Top salespeople are high-achievers who consistently meet or exceed their sales targets. While top performers share certain work styles and personality attributes, the specific skills and traits required for success are often different at different companies, with different products and services to sell, converting different prospects. We consider the variables in the selling environment before initiating the search. Remember, we’re not going to bring you job-seekers and people who are lucky to have a job. We are going to find you reliable, consistent performers who are going to come into your company and produce profitable growth.

5. Why is the selling environment so important?
A ‘selling environment’ is an interwoven set of variables defining the way a company sells. They include product price, typical deal size, sales cycle, selling methodology, sales team culture, marketing support, company maturity and competition level. Research shows that different personality traits and competencies are required for success in different selling environments.

6. Aren’t all good sales people the same? Why does it matter which one we hire?
There is no such thing as a ‘selling machine’, the salesperson who can sell anything to anyone. It is not uncommon for a successful sales person to become less successful when they move into a new selling environment, such as beginning a new position with a different company, or selling a different product or service. Top performers have some common traits, but different roles in different selling environments require different skills.

7. How does Peak figure out what we need?
We have a structured process for understanding and defining the selling environment and determining the traits required to be successful in the role. This process has proven to result in a high percentage of sales hires who consistently produce at or above target for the company on a long term basis. We know what we’re doing, and we do it well. Our process involves behavioral interviewing and screening, very thorough background checks, and profiling and testing so that we can give you the certainty that you are hiring the right person.

8. Do you mine the job boards for job seekers?
Our field is often called “headhunting” because successful sales people are almost always happily engaged in their current jobs. While they may be open to new opportunities, they are not actively looking for a career change, so they’re not scanning job boards to see what is out there. We don’t mine job boards. We do our own research to identify targets, reach out to them and develop relationships that allow us to assess whether they are the right fit or not. This is very time consuming, but it is an indispensable part of our proven process.

9. Are you a local search service or national?
We have our own extensive database of sales professionals across North America. Our research tools give us access to sales professionals who have the specific qualifications required to complete a successful search, no matter where they’re living and working now.

10. Who are your clients? What verticals are they in?
Our customers are small and medium businesses, large nationals, emerging growth companies and start-ups. Our speciality is the technology sector, comprising product companies, service companies, resellers, business to business (B2B), and companies selling to consumers. Our customers span many different verticals and technologies: software, telecommunications, new media, Internet, e-commerce, semi-conductors, embedded systems, engineering services. We also recruit for other types of companies.

11. Does Peak work in other languages?
We have completed numerous successful projects for French-speaking salespeople in Quebec City and Montreal.

12. What if we just want résumés?
We want our customers to be successful, so we provide a full range of services built on our proven process and powered by our expertise and experience. This includes developing a comprehensive search plan and tracking progress with regular reports and updates. We also provide advice and counsel on compensation and negotiation. However, if you already have this capacity in-house, we are happy to simply provide candidates for your consideration.

13. Do you work with start-ups?
Yes. We have built the first sales team for many customers. While the challenges of attracting top people are different for early stage companies, our agile process is flexible, fast and adaptable. We have plenty of experience helping new companies launch and grow.

14. How are you going to help us become successful?
We understand the reason you’re hiring is not to make a hire, but to generate sales. We understand the linkage between sales performance and company success, because we have built sales teams and led successful companies ourselves. Leading companies choose us because we focus exclusively on finding top performing sales professionals who will perform in their unique culture and selling environment.

15. How much does your service cost?
Our fees are calculated on a case-by-case basis, and are not tied to the salary of the person being hired. Our pricing model is a combination of milestone payments and performance payments. We are compensated throughout the life of the project for finding candidates, but our compensation is mostly tied to the sales performance of the professional we place onto our customer’s team. That way, we share responsibility for the quality of the candidates you hire.

16. How long does it take to get candidates?
That depends upon the search parameters, but generally it takes a few days to find the first candidates on a typical search.

17. What do I need to do while you’re searching for candidates?
We begin by collecting business and hiring requirements from you. We will also ask you to provide constructive feedback throughout our process to ensure that we find the best candidates as quickly as possible.

18. Do I have to sign a contract?
Yes. Our contract covers project goals, process and obligations so that we meet your expectations without expensive surprises along the way.

19. Can I cancel a project after it begins, if I’m not happy?
Yes. Our contracts may be cancelled at any time.

20. What if I decide I want to hire more people?
A search can be expanded before, during or at the conclusion of a project. Once our customers experience firsthand the quality of the candidates we provide, they often expand the scope of the project to make additional hires.