Sales is the lifeblood of every business. Launching a new product? You better have a strong go-to-market (GTM) strategy.

Looking to grow after a couple of down quarters? A strong sales function is usually your best bet.

Selling has changed a lot over the past few years. For the past 20 years in the tech industry - the playbook was pretty much the same. Hire a bunch of Business Development Reps (BDRs) and have them generate a strong pipeline. Then let Account Executives turn that pipeline into paying customers. And then turn those paying customers over to a Customer Success team to ensure they are happy, renew, and buy more of your products.

When tech hiring first slowed two years ago, the first place we felt it was in our Go-to-Market practice. They were heavily focused on VC-backed, high-growth SaaS and tech firms. Those companies went from having an endless demand for sales people to hiring freezes seemingly overnight.

Through the end of 2022 and for the first 3 quarters of 2023, demand for tech sales people dropped over 50% with our clients. While we saw an uptick in sales hiring in other industries (think financial services, industrial, and CPG) - it was still painful.

Luckily, demand started to come back Q4 2023. That continued through the first half of 2024. Demand for GTM hiring increased roughly 50%.

But things have changed. There is less demand for BDRs. AI and automation have taken a big bite out of that. Though I have to question the effectiveness of the AI generated spam sales emails that jam up my inbox. Demand has shifted to domain experts that can hit the ground running. I continually hear (and see) of success coming from strong existing relationships. And those are nearly impossible to develop via cold outreach.

So where is the market going from here?  We’ve got two videos to share about the topic.

The first is an interview of Mike Theron. Mike runs sales for Rainmakers, Hirewell’s Sales Talent Marketplace. He’s got firsthand knowledge of trends in the space. We are launching a self-service tool for companies that want access to vetted sales job seekers. Need to hire sales people, but hoping to do it on a lower budget? Then this tool is for you. We are looking for a few BETA clients - so if you are hiring sales people, drop me a line. I’d love to get you a demo.

The second is a video from Ryan and Emily. They discuss the demise of large hiring classes of sales people. They discuss the downside of that - particularly the onboarding and training aspects.

Check them out!

Recruiting Reality, Ep 42 "All Things Hirewell: Rainmakers"

In this episode of Recruiting Reality, Liz and Shania continue their ‘All Things Hirewell’ series by delving into Rainmakers, a platform acquired about Hirewell! They’ve invited Mike Theron, co-founder of Rainmakers, to share insights into the partnership and how the Hirewell x Rainmakers partnerships can help you fill your open roles!

The Hirewell Update, Ep 14 "Big Sales Hiring Classes Are Out"

The times of hiring 5-10+ salespeople together to be onboard and trained in classes together are behind us. Big hiring classes used to mean in-depth onboarding and sales training programs and camaraderie amongst new employees. Emily and Ryan sit down to discuss how the decline of big hiring classes has affected the investment in onboarding and training and therefore overall company loyalty and retention.

—Matt Founder, CEO - Hirewell

COMING SOON

The 10 Minute Talent Rant, Episode 93 "The Fallacy of the Current Employer’s Market"

We humans love to oversimplify things into binary choices. Dogs vs cats. Drake vs Kendrick. Democrats vs Republicans.

And an “Employer’s Market” vs a “Job Seeker’s Market.”

In reality, we’re never fully in one or the other. Prevailing sentiment might lead you to believe employer’s have the upper hand right now…except unemployment is 4.1% and counter offers are on the rise.

James Hornick and Jeff Smith sound off on how employment markets are more complex than on/off switched in episode 93 of The 10 Minute Talent Rant, "The Fallacy of the Current Employer’s Market”

Date and Time: Wednesday, July 31st at 11 am CT

Add to your calendar here.

View LIVE via:

LinkedIn Live (follow James Hornick for the notification)

Hirewell's YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter accounts.

Replays will be available via Hirewell Talent Insights.

THE RECAP

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Recruiting Reality, Ep 43 "All Things Hirewell: RPO Offering"

In this episode of Recruiting Reality, Liz and Shania continue their ‘All Things Hirewell’ series by delving into Hirewell’s RPO Offering! They’ve invited Jeff Smith, a Partner at Hirewell, to share insights into the practice and how Hirewell can partner with you to handle your Talent needs.