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KAS Placement's Chicago sales recruiters and Chicago sales headhunters are experts in their field. Our recruiting team has experience working with companies across a wide range of sectors and with businesses both large and small. KAS has recruited publicly for Fortune 500 companies as well as local start ups. In addition to working with a large variety of industries, our Chicago sales headhunters have also worked directly with candidates from all types of backgrounds and levels of experience.

Our Chicago sales recruiters have worked in a wide range of industries across the United States and Canada. Our recruiting experience includes, but is not limited to, finance, software, IT services, media, telecommunications, cosmetics, CAD software, BPO solutions, logistics, manufacturing, construction, engineering, hospitality, food and beverage, healthcare, interior design and more. The KAS Chicago sales headhunters have placed candidates with diverse backgrounds and specialties including expert account managers, new business acquisition managers, channel sales professionals, inside sales representatives, cold calling and prospecting specialists, work from home outside sales representatives as well as sales VPs and business executives. No matter what your sales headhunting needs may be, our Chicago media sales recruiters have the experience and expertise to find the perfect candidate for the position.

Sales in the Windy City

The KAS Chicago sales headhunters are distinguished from its competitors by its highly specialized and in depth search process. KAS's highly developed recruitment process ensures that we are equipped to deal with any recruitment request. Our headhunters believe that our in-house training methods and specialized process allows us to work on a more personal level with our clients, thereby better serving their needs and recruiting more successfully for their business.

Recruiting Chicago Sales Experts

Making successful placements that benefit both the client and the candidate can be time consuming and challenging, but our recruiters are dedicated to making it their priority. No matter how many resumes and applications we have to sift through, KAS Placement's Chicago sales recruiters will work until we find the candidate that not only meets the basic requirements of the position, but has the talent and ability to go above and beyond in helping to make our client's company a success. After an initial interview with the client to assess his or her company's needs, our recruiters begin searching our databases for suitable candidates. Unlike many other staffing agencies, our Chicago sales headhunters engage directly with each candidate, conducting several interviews over the phone and assigning them a few simple tasks to asses their level of commitment, ability to talk intelligently about their field, sales experience and industry trends. Our Chicago sales recruiters will only send a candidate to our client if they are convinced that the applicant is truly capable of doing the job well and could help the company grow and succeed.

Throughout the sales recruitment process, our Chicago sales recruiters must keep in mind that any sales representative's main purpose is to generate revenue within their company. While a consultative, listening based selling approach can be useful in terms of turning leads into capital, every sales person also needs to know how to gather new leads through more aggressive techniques such as cold-calling, sending out email blasts and prospecting.

While our Chicago sales recruiters look for strong communication and sales skills in every candidate they interview, our headhunters also believe that being a good listener is the most important trait any salesperson can have. Without being able to listen to a customer, a salesperson will never be able to accurately assess what kind of services or products they need, and therefore risk missing the mark with their sales pitch. Therefore, our Chicago sales headhunters make sure that each candidate they screen is able to balance aggressive sales techniques with a more consultative approach.

To learn more about what our sales headhunters seek out in a business development pro, click here

To learn more about recruiting social media sales employees, click here

To learn more about recruiting technology sales recruiters, click here

To learn more about staffing sales management professionals, click here

To learn more about staffing advertising sales recruiters, click here

Motivation | Selling | Continually Raising the Bar | Positive, Growing Revenue

When a sales manager is promoted from a regular sales role, our Chicago sales recruiters will sometimes see sales representatives continue their sales role as if no promotion happened. Some of the best sales people whom our staffing agencies place are married to their accounts and feel that giving them up is a form of professional divorce. Therefore, the members of our Chicago sales staffing agencies recommend that, upon promotion, a sales manager make the initial introductions between the sales representative and buyer, then give these accounts away. When clients of our Chicago sales headhunters promote from within, they must carve out a clear role for the sales manager and whether or not the position will be a hybrid of sales and management or just management. It is exceedingly important that sales managers need to keep their eye on the business development subordinates, not their former accounts.

Moreover, from what our Chicago sales headhunters have seen over time, the most important aspect of a sales manager's job is hiring, maintaining and, occasionally firing employees. A good sales manager will understand basic profit and loss, and will be in constant contact with the accounting department in order to gauge whether or not their sales force is meeting the needs of the company. If they are, KAS's Chicago sales recruiters recommend that a sales manager begin increasing their quota as the best managers want to push forward and are rarely "content." If these goals look like they are not being met, a sales manager should figure out where the broken links are in the chain. However, effective sales managers will not get ahead of themselves and begin firing employees as there are many variables our Chicago media sales recruiters have seen which are out of a sales representative's hands. To give a good example, what if that representative was covering the Southeast during 2008 and 2009?

When it comes to maintaining employee happiness, a good sales manager will know who their best sales professionals are and will make sure keep them happy. Maintaining revenue generating employees is too important to stress. One of the biggest reasons our Chicago media sales recruiters and other divisions see employees leaving is that they do not feel appreciated. By far, this is one of the biggest mistakes which sales managers make. Sometimes showing appreciation towards sales people under you is a simple thank you and a showing of mutual respect. The sales recruitment professionals in the KAS Chicago office will also see pay raises and awards given to the individual. A sales management professional, on occasion, goes to bat for his sales employees to upper management. Our Chicago sales recruiters understand that this is a must and shows leadership skills. Essentially, an effective sales management professional will do whatever it takes to keep their best account executives.

Marketing Professionals: the Not-So-Secret Weapon

Our Chicago sales recruiters also specialize in making placements within the marketing industry. Although the company started out recruiting exclusively for sales positions, after launching our own marketing campaign, our recruiters have become experts in the field. In the current age of information and mass communication, online marketing has become more prevalent and important that ever before. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an incredibly important part of understanding the current online marketing trends. SEO is a technique based on generating relevant content in order to achieve a higher page rank on internet search engines such as Google or Bing. The process of writing SEO can be long and time consuming because of the vast amount of content writing it involves, however, when done correctly, it not will not only generate new business but will bolster your business's reputation and make you an internet authority in your field.

Any good sales headhunters will tell you that writing good SEO begins with writing good content. Using keywords that relate to your business or product as a base for your articles is a good technique for receiving search engine generated traffic. By using tools like the Google Keyword Tool and a little common sense, it is relatively easy to figure out what kind of phrases potential customers or clients may search for when looking for a business or product such as yours. Getting outside links to your site is also a major part of achieving a high rank on any search engine. This may be the most difficult part of SEO because unless you are willing to pay multiple sites to advertise for you, it simply takes time to build up an online reputation and have other sites reference or link to the articles you write. Ultimately however, SEO is all about writing good content. The more interesting and well written your online media content is, the more people are going to read it, making your site appear higher on an internet search page.

Due to our rapidly expanding website and ambitious SEO campaign, our recruiters have taken on the responsibility of writing new articles for our website, blogging on relevant topics and increasing our presence on social media sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn. Through working on the campaign, our recruiters have become experts in the online marketing field and have thus become more involved in the industry as a whole. After several conversations with some of the specialists we work with, our Chicago sales headhunters and our Chicago media recruiters decided to expand our recruiting efforts to cover marketing as well as sales.

When recruiting for marketing positions, our Chicago sales headhunters look for creativity, a sales oriented mentality and a strong knowledge of social media. Because of the popularity of online and social media our media sales recruiters are consistently kept busy. With the fierce competition that exists on the internet, marketing candidates need to be creative and innovative in their approach to online promotion techniques in order to distinguish themselves from the competition. When it comes to successful marketing, our Chicago software sales recruiters have found that they are able to apply their sales knowledge and expertise to advance their marketing plans. Like sales, marketing involves a certain amount of skill at cold calling, email blasts and an ability to identify each customer's unique set of needs and pitch the product or service in such a way that is appealing and desirable. Any marketing professional can benefit from sales experience and vice versa. Good marketing is all about knowing what sells, and good selling is all about knowing how to market your product or service effectively.

Account Management Advice - Keeping Your Clients Happy
Internet Reviews are a Poor Account Manager's Biggest Nemesis

Account management is one of the most important facets of sales as, if you don't keep your current clients happy, you are not only bound to have them leave, but also your firm can begin to get a sour reputation. Missing a few accounts here and there ten years ago was, to a certain extent (ethics aside) was not extremely harmful to your company's reputation. However, with the internet, it's a whole new ballgame. Begin to lose track of your client base and your firm is bound to begin showing up on various blogs and industry related chat web pages. Just about each Chicago sales recruiter at KAS Placement has seen it before and, believe it or not some of these web pages rank very highly in Google searches, thus giving your firm a disadvantage right off the bat. Each Chicago sales recruiter at our sales headhunting organization strongly suggests that a company not only keep track of their online reputation, but keep track of which business development employees are properly servicing their clients. Most of this can be accomplished via the click of a mouse.

Selling to CEOs

1. According to our Chicago senior sales recruiters, the first thing you should lay out in your approach is to make it evident that you understand that the CEO "obviously knows more about this business than you, therefore you are speaking to the best of your ability and knowledge of his or her company and industry." The absolute last thing you want to do when selling to a CEO of a large corporation is to come across as know-it-all who is going to tell the CEO what exactly their business needs to be successful, how they should properly structure their marketing and PR divisions, what product they need to make their company great, etc. Always remember that a CEO of a multi-million dollar company did not get to where he or she is by being unsavvy or aloof to their industry needs and the overall direction in which to take their company. By saying these simple words, and staying humble in your approach, you will be able to speak in a more open and consultative way and gives you leeway to be wrong about a particular assumption and not look foolish.

2. Always make it clear about who from the company introduced you and ask whether it is best that you contact the CEO directly or continue direct communication with your original contact. By assuming that one long conversation with the CEO makes him or her your main contact person is simply a poor professional choice for two main reasons: First, it will alienate your strong, original contact within the company, thus preventing you from getting the inside information you might not get from someone in a higher up position. Second, you are making the assumption that the CEO has the time to answer all of your emails directly (in which you run a high risk of becoming an annoyance rather than a solution maker). Therefore, unless you are directly told by the CEO to directly deal with them personally from there on in, assume that your original contact who introduced you, remains your go-to.

3. As a vendor, our Chicago senior sales recruiters say that you should make the conversation 70% listening and 30% talking. Listening is the best form of communication and talking too much can only get you into trouble. Imagine yourself in the position of the person you are selling to. If they started to tell you all about how to do your job and what you needed to do it and talked non-stop without asking if you were even interested, you would be pretty put off. Choose your words wisely and think about exactly what you want to say to avoid rambling and being redundant. Before the conversation, have a set agenda of topics to cover. When you feel that it is a good time to ask the pre-thought out questions, simply ask them. This way, you can get everything you need out of the conversation no matter which form it takes.

4. Finally, speak to this person as you would speak to anyone professionally. There is no reason to overly show agreement with everything they say or treat them as a superior. Show basic respect, never use profanity and thank them for their time. Always follow-up with an email to the CEO (and any other people who were on the conference). In this correspondence by no means should you elevate the CEO above any other members within the organization. For example, if you spoke with four people, address the email with their names alphabetically.

Follow these rules and your conversation or interview with a mid to large size firm's CEO, and the conversation should be a breeze.

What Makes a Good Employee

Our Chicago sales recruiters are often asked the question of what makes a good employee. Since our headhunters interview job applicants for a living, they have become experts on. When recruiting for a new sales or marketing professional, we look for several key factors that determine if the employment candidate would be a good fit.

Good employees work as if they owned equity within the company. Solid marketing and sales employees work toward their own professional and compensation goals, however always keep the company's goals in mind. Regardless of the size of the organization, when a company hires a new employee, they do so for internal reasons - launching a new product, replacing an employee, etc.

Good employees set goals and work hard to achieve them. The employees whom our sales recruiters staff are ambitious and eager to join the particular organization in which they are interviewing with. Our headhunters don't look for individuals who are just seeking a job. Instead, we actively recruit sales and marketing professionals who want a career and who want to succeed in that career. You can have all the intelligence in the world, but without ambition, it will end up wasted talent.

The more senior and executive level job applicants who our Chicago sales recruiters deal with formulate a game plan before even starting the position. This means that the sales or marketing applicant has a specific reason for taking up employment with our client and is going to achieve his or her personal and professional goals via working for the organization.

Good employees don't work for hours; they work for results. The best employees whom we staff don’t think about the hours they are going to have to work. Since our recruiting agency primarily deals with senior and executive level professionals, this is usually not an issue. However, if our headhunters are asked this question by an applicant, our headhunters take it as a warning sign and we typically will not present the job seeker to our client.

Good employees are in it for the long run. The best candidates whom our Chicago sales recruiters interact with are the candidate who are selective about the companies with whom they interview. A lot of applicants whom we come across, no matter how good their credentials may be, have bounced from job to job. This is not always a deal breaker, however, our sales and marketing recruiters must be confident that our client is the company which they want to build a career with in the years to come.

Working for a Forward Thinking and Innovative Company

Innovation has nothing to do with a company's size. Innovation is all about the employee's creativity and never being wholly satisfied. Rather than sitting back and letting things run their course, truly innovative individuals are constantly working towards improvements and implementing new ideas.

Due to the changing landscape of the ways in which to generate revenue, our sales and marketing recruiters have seen many companies begin to fall behind. In the past year or so, our sales recruiters have many companies stop hiring inbound cold callers, and instead starting hiring online marketing professionals. These days, to stay competitive, a company has to have good positing within their marketplace, forward thinking employees who are creative and a quick ability to adapt to a changing market. The recent popularity of social and online media has left companies turning their heads and wondering what to do to keep up with their competition. However, the most successful firms our Chicago sales recruiters have seen are those that are willing to take chances and continually think outside of the box when hiring and penetrating new markets.

For example, let's compare Apple and Microsoft. Apple is always one step ahead of the game by coming out with products that are above and beyond everyday conventions. Because they have this kind of forward thinking, Apple attracts the best and brightest employees. Within a month, Apple broke all types of records with their iPad. This is only a few years after the iPhone became a phenomenon. On the flip side, Microsoft has no direction and hasn't had a hit product for years. Instead of thinking outside of the box like Apple did with their Iphone and Ipad, Microsoft has continued to produce the same types of products they have had on the market for years. Our Chicago sales recruiters would venture to guess that the corporate culture at these two firms is very different.

Why Sales Should be Taught in Schools

In business school, it is inevitable that you will have to take some classes that you will never have to think about again once you have started your professional career. For instance, I remember taking classes such as supply chain management and managerial accounting that are now of little use to me since the majority of businesses no longer use these methods. I also took a course in business management that I don't remember anything about and a human resources class which dealt with working abroad. You would think at least that class would have been helpful to the owner of a sales recruitment firm, however each Chicago sales recruiter at KAS Placement does not take make international placments. What has proven to be extremely useful to me, however, are sales skills. From recruiting individuals whom you want to work in your organization to negotiating with vendors and dealing with important clients, knowing the basics of being a good sales person has proven to be invaluable to the success of my business. There is an ongoing debate, however, on whether or not sales can be taught. In the opinion of our Chicago sales headhunters, it is about 50 percent born talent and 50 percent learned skill. Our recruiters believe, however, that learning sales skills will only benefit you as a professional, no matter what field or business you may be in.

About the City of Chicago

As a world class city, Chicago is full of lucrative business opportunities. Since the Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century, Chicago has played a major role in the nation's economy. Chicago's major industries include finance and banking, transportation, manufacturing, entertainment, and health care. Often, our Chicago sales recruiters will find ourselves staffing sales, marketing, media and advertising professionals for these verticals. In addition to the revenue it generates from its many successful industries, Chicago sees a great deal of tourism each year. Attracted by the gorgeous architecture, beautiful surrounding, prime lakeside location and wide variety of entertainment the city has to offer, Chicago attracts visitors from all around the nation and globe.

Contact our Chicago Sales Recruiters
In addition to our Chicago media sales recruiters, KAS has sales and marketing agencies across the nation with the ability to recruit from coast to coast as well as internationally. KAS offers premium Chicago sales recruiting services and promises to make our clients partners in our search process. Whatever your sales recruiting needs may be, our executive recruiters are ready and able to find you the best candidates available. Please contact one of our recruiting offices today by calling a representative at 312-238-9175 or emailing your inquiry to info@kasplacement.com.

Additionally, you can contact our other Midwest headhunters by reaching out to our Minneapolis staffing professionals or if you would like to call our main New York City recruiters or our Manhattan recruiting office.

310 492 5166 - Click here to learn more about our Los Angeles recruiters

310 492 5166 - Click here to learn more about our Los Angeles recruiters
212 348 7670 - Click here to learn more about our New York recruiters
Click here to learn more about our San Francisco recruiters
Click here to learn more about our San Diego recruiters
Click here to learn more about our Boston recruiters