As I’ve mentioned before, job offers and their accompanying employment perks and benefit packages need to be tailored to the candidate you really want to hire if you want to build a successful sales force. Ute Gass makes this point in her Recruiter Training Blog:

“Every individual has unique needs and wants and recruiters should gain insights into every candidates "sweet spot" to make the offer appealing to the prospective candidate.”

An effective sales recruiter needs to know the candidate, and the sales job opportunity being offered, inside and out. Too often, recruiters and employers try to fit an available candidate to a job, instead of a job to a qualified and desirable candidate. A much wiser strategy is to make the position available match the skills and personality of the candidate you want to work for you.

To do this, a sales recruiter needs to gain a clear understanding of the people they interview and what they are looking for. Two questions immediately get at their career motivations:

          Why are you looking to leave your current company? 

          What would you do if your company made you a counteroffer?

Your interviewees' answers to these questions will tell you what they are looking to get out of the sales job opportunity you are offering, and what it will take to make an offer they will accept. Learn to ask questions like these, then really listen and interpret the answers—your success rate is sure to rise.