How to Handle Counteroffers When Hiring Sales Talent

In recruitment, a counteroffer is when a top candidate receives a competitive employment offer from a different company. This is a tricky situation for employers because finding top sales talent takes a huge amount of time and effort. That’s why it’s important to know how to handle counteroffers.

Recruiting talent with high-level sales rep skills is considered a key success factor for building a winning team.

Here, we have tips on how to handle counteroffers when hiring in sales.

How to Handle Counteroffers

Be a Top Employer

Being a top employer doesn’t necessarily mean being the biggest company or the highest paying. This means being a great place to work, and a company that’s active in career development opportunities.

One powerful factor when handling sales employment counteroffers is having a great company reputation and employer brand. It shows both customers and candidates that the lived experience of working for you matches what you are communicating to candidates in the interview process. Whilst a sales candidate may be dazzled momentarily by a higher monetary offer, their risk assessment is strongest at the final stages of accepting an offer. Having a great library of employer brand assets, including content and reviews from existing employees can go a long way to minimising risk perception for the candidate.

If you don’t have this in place currently, connecting the candidate with a peer in your organisation for a casual coffee may potentially help in getting some of this positive employee experience across.

Handle Counteroffers with Sales Quota Insight

Top sales talent rely heavily on commissions as part of their remuneration package. Be aware of how your team has performed against their target and therefore how much commission the existing team is making. A common question sales reps will ask is ‘how many of your reps are making quota?’. A counter offer from a company that offers a higher base salary but doesn’t have a great track record in getting their reps to quota might seem appealing at first glance but can quickly go down the pecking order.

Ask Follow-up Questions

How to handle counteroffers tip #2: ask follow-up questions. Over the phone, or if you can, meet them for a coffee. The key is to revisit the candidate’s sales career goals and see if anything has changed throughout the process.

Understand how they prioritise the pros and cons of each opportunity and take the time to address any concerns they might have. Remind them of the discussions you have had that align your opportunity to their sales career goals.

Handle a Counteroffer With a Better Counter

55% of employees will accept a counteroffer. So, make sure to offer a better counter. You can only do this once you understand what the sales candidate is looking for. Reflect on their answers to your follow-up questions, then see if it’s possible to offer a better deal to counter the counteroffer. This doesn’t have to be limited to a higher salary and could also include options such as increased benefits, RSU’s, a 6-month salary review, etc. Other benefits could be more centred around career development, such as training or further education, mentoring opportunities, or sales leadership development programs.

Another hot topic for job seekers right now is work style. Is your candidate highly interested in a hybrid working schedule? Perhaps they prefer to be fully remote (this can be particularly important for working parents)? Aim to understand your candidates’ productivity style, then see what you can align in terms of the working environment on offer.

Find out more about the three main work environments.

More Than Just Completing a Team Roster

Knowing how to handle counteroffers is a big part of the sales recruitment process. You need the right people and to also ensure they will thrive in your environment. Understand the needs of your candidates so you can help them grow in their careers as they help you grow your business.

Looking for a SaaS recruitment agency, specialising in Sales? Hire the best sales talent for your SaaS sales team here at Salient Group.