Using LinkedIn and Sales Aptitude Assessments to Make a New Hire Successful

In the realm of sales and business in general, there is simply no denying it: we are living in an age defined by social media. Originally a tool used to connect friends and family, there are now countless business applications that use a social media interface and are competing for our collective attention. For anyone following online trends, it would seem obvious the site to do this most effectively has been LinkedIn.

The large majority of modern business professionals have a robust presence on the site and use it routinely to reach out to colleagues, potential employers and to network. However, this is only scratching the surface of how to use LinkedIn in selecting the right new hire and then providing them the best chance at success further down the road. Coupled with data provided through assessment testing, your chances for selecting and growing that sales superstar go through the roof!

Here are some of the ways you can use both assessment testing as well as LinkedIn to make the best new hire decisions.

LinkedIn Recruiter

Even though many of us have a job we are reasonably pleased with, greater opportunity is always right around the corner, and most of us don’t want to miss it.  According to stats compiled by LinkedIn, 70% of the global workforce is made up of what they call ‘passive talent,’ or those who aren’t actively seeking new employment while the other 30% do actively seek work – but about 87% of both the active and passive employees are open to new job opportunities.

It seems like LinkedIn noticed this trend and has created many useful tools and interfaces for recruiters to use to help find prospective new talent. With the premium version, LinkedIn Recruiter makes full profiles available, allows for In Mail capabilities to help make inquiries stand out amongst the din of email inboxes and uses advanced search functions to narrow the pool of talent you are searching for to get better results.

Use the APQ to determine the ideal role

The APQ, or Advanced Personality Questionnaire, is a key tool to choosing the stand-out members in your prospect pool and put them in the best position to advance further and increase your overall sales. Not everyone will be at the same level of skill when it comes to sales, nor does everyone have equal potential when it comes to improving their skill set. Hard numbers back it up — some of the best salespeople are born. The APQ can find them and empower you to utilize them in the best job role to bolster your sales team and reach your goals.

Promote on LinkedIn

Now that you used LinkedIn Recruiter to narrow down the field, and the APQ to select the very best candidates, it’s time to use LinkedIn again to help the new salespeople build a sales pipeline.

Recommended actions for your new salespeople include:

• Upgrade to the Pro version to unlock advanced features, such as In Mail

• Join industry groups to connect with other members

• Publish original posts to establish leadership role

• Curate interesting web content and share it to provide value to connections

• Browse company profiles and employee connections to find potential insiders that can provide an introduction and possibly an appointment

LinkedIn has established itself as the recruiter’s and salesperson’s best friend. In tandem with the APQ, it will help you ensure your next hiring choice will be a smart one and will have a leg up on the competition.