Page 41 - The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million - PDFDrive.com

with that subject?

Second, the email is appropriately brief. At the point of the introduction, I do not
need to overwhelm prospective candidates with all of the great things about our
product, our culture, or our team. In as few words as possible, I want to
encourage these candidates, who are likely not in the job market, to wonder if
they are missing out on a life-changing opportunity. Fortunately for me as the
author, I believe they are.

Third, the “ask” is not guilt-inducing. I am not going in for the kill. I am asking
for a referral. Obviously, I am interested in them for a role at my company, but
I'm not going to ask for it outright. By avoiding the hard ask, my approach is
perceived as far less confrontational. The recipient feels less “dirty” about
responding or helping me. Furthermore, it is genuine. Yes, I am interested in
John, but I am equally interested in his friend who has similar successes and is
looking for a job.

After sending the email, if I do not hear back, I follow up with a phone call the
next day. Two nice things about cold-sourcing salespeople: they all have phones
(unlike engineers) and they usually pick up inbound calls. It is not
extraordinarily hard to get a connection.

“Searches on LinkedIn and the ‘forced referral’ are great sources for quality
passive sales talent.”

Find Quality Passive Sales Candidates through
Your Team: The “Forced Referral”

The “forced referral” is a specific tactic used within the context of sourcing
LinkedIn candidates, in which a hiring manager leverages the existing network
of his team. It was by far the best technique we used to find talent. It is tougher
to do when you have only one or two salespeople on staff and you are not
growing quickly. Once you start scaling, it works beautifully.

Here is how the forced referral works: I would connect via LinkedIn with all of
my salespeople, including my recent hires. About one to two months into the
job, once they were comfortable with their new home, I would ask these new
hires for referrals. Now, that approach is nothing new. However, it is this specific
tactic that worked great. Instead of just saying, “We offer $2,500 for new hire