Is craigslist good for hiring salespeople?

13 years ago

You are very likely going to have a tough time finding a good candidate for a salesjob through CL. I ran an agency for a management consultancy firm a few years back. We had to go through three 'rounds' of candidates before getting anyone of note. Most were completely unqualified and gave up in under two hours. This was for a working at home prospecting role. First couple rounds we got stay-at-home moms and psychiatrists who wanted something to do until their regular work bounced back. Not a good fit.

So if you go this route, expect it to take awhile and to sort through the junk. Oh and offering sales training to the hirees made absolutely no difference. Most simply did not show up or stick with it. Make sure you get references, and only hire those with genuine TM experience.

Your best option is to hire someone who seems good for $10/hr and give them 10 hours of work. Try them out for the hundred bucks. You limit your exposure, they feel they're earning a decent wage.

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webwizdevelop

13 years ago

It depends on which area you are living in but before hiring someone from the craiglist you should search for their name and company name on the google and see the reviews if exists there. You should do your own research before hiring them

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serryjw

13 years ago

Let me turn it around..WHAT/WHO are you looking for. I know several people that are looking for a REAL sale jobs.THEY have to go through dozens of ads before they find someone worth talking to. Experienced/Qualified salespeople are worth the investment IF YOUR company/product is real.

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Anthem40

13 years ago

Originally Posted by serryjw

Let me turn it around..WHAT/WHO are you looking for. I know several people that are looking for a REAL sale jobs.THEY have to go through dozens of ads before they find someone worth talking to. Experienced/Qualified salespeople are worth the investment IF YOUR company/product is real.

I have to think that even the average sales person is not going to consider CL as a good source for finding a sales job. Most the ads on there are IM sub contracting roles and look extra skeezy, so you would need to work hard on your positioning if you plan to play there.

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iAmNameLess

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Anthem40

I have to think that even the average sales person is not going to consider CL as a good source for finding a sales job. Most the ads on there are IM sub contracting roles and look extra skeezy, so you would need to work hard on your positioning if you plan to play there.

I would have agreed with you a while back, but many cities Craigslist has added a posting fee. A lot of those sketchy jobs have fallen off the map, at least in cities where they require a fee. You make a great point though, whether a lot of the jobs are bad or not, you have to work on your positioning. Even with the posting fees in my city, you have to sell people to work for you especially if you are a startup company.

CL has been good to me for providing applicants.... the quality though, is not always there. You have people who can't spell, their only jobs being in fast food, and a lot of people who have no potential. Every job posting I put up, I get around 40-60 applicants, and maybe... MAYBE... 5-10 are worth talking to. If you schedule 10 interviews, 5 don't show up. You might get one good sales person for every 100 applicants. Of course.... maybe your interviewing skills are better than mine, and maybe you have a better job ad than I do, so your numbers could be different.

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serryjw

13 years ago

Anthem...I have to disagree. It is cheap for businesses to post, mostly free, so they can reach millions. WHERE else can a business reach that many? Unfortunately there are very few REAL sales jobs with salary and benefits...there is mostly distributors or resellers.

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Anthem40

13 years ago

Originally Posted by serryjw

Anthem...I have to disagree. It is cheap for businesses to post, mostly free, so they can reach millions. WHERE else can a business reach that many? Unfortunately there are very few REAL sales jobs with salary and benefits...there is mostly distributors or resellers.

You don't disagree at all. What good salesperson is going to spend more than 2 minutes on a site without REAL sales jobs?

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tjcreation

13 years ago

I've found good salespeople through Craiglist. It all depends on what you are offering and how many resumes you are willing to read and digest before you interview. I usually send an email to the people I am considering interviewing asking them to call me. If they can't pick up the phone and contact me, I don't bother. If they call, I figure they deserve a shot.

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biggoogle

13 years ago

I found a genuine superstar on CR.

Best of luck.

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laurencewins

13 years ago

What country do you live in? That can affect how you advertise. If it's Australia, I can give you tips but for other countries I don't have that same expertise.

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socialentry

13 years ago

I posted for two months through craigslist but got zero replies.
Way too many bums on it, it looks like they've all been burned by MLM or they found telemarketing too hard or something else.

Maybe I have been ghosted, I don`t know.

In Canada, Kijiji is where its at.

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MartinBuckley

13 years ago

I find and hire all my sales reps for my pizza discount card business from ads I post on Craigslist, so for me it has worked very well.

All the best,

Martin