The Benefits ofPrecision Sales Hiring

Transform your sales organization with data-driven hiring that puts the right salespeople in the right roles—every time.

Learn More See How It Works
84%of sales reps missed quota in 2024
$820K+total first-year value per precision sales hire
55%of sales reps shouldn't be selling

Why Precision Matters

The Cost of a Bad Hire

$250K

A single mis-hire in sales can cost companies up to $250K in lost revenue, training expenses, and team disruption.

Time to Productivity

3-4 Months

Traditional recruiting takes 6-9 months for full productivity. Precision hiring cuts this to 3-4 months.

Cultural Alignment

84%

84% of sales teams report better retention when hires match company culture from day one.

The Quota Attainment Problem

Most sales reps are struggling to hit their numbers. The data tells a stark story about the state of sales hiring.

The Reality

The Numbers Don't Lie

84%

of sales reps missed quota in 2024

Salesforce State of Sales 2024

43%

hit quota in Q3 2023

RepVue

91%

of companies fail to achieve 80% quota attainment

QuotaPath

47%

average quota attainment for B2B sales orgs

Forrester Research

55%

of sales reps should not be selling

More than half of salespeople lack the fundamental traits needed for success in sales roles. The wrong hire does not just miss quota—they cost you time, money, and team morale.

Of the remaining 45%, half should be selling something different—a different product, to different customers, with a different approach.

The Sales Management Association

Only 40% of Sales Reps Consistently Hit Their Numbers

This is not just a performance problem—it is a hiring problem. The right people in the right roles make all the difference.

See Our Solution

The Precision Hiring Process

A data-driven approach to sales hiring that ensures the right fit, every time.

How We Work

The Talnted Process

1

Discovery

Profile the 5 elements of the open role(s) to understand the seller profile that will be most successful in your selling environment

↓
2

Select Sourcing

Using Artificial Intelligence, source candidate leads that match the hard skills and experience required for success.

↓
3

Rigorous Assessment

Using human intelligence, define a candidate's seller profile and interpret 4 key historical sales metrics.

↓
4

Strategic Presentation

Based on AI sourcing and human assessment, present candidates that match the experience, hard skills, and seller style with your selling environment.

↓
5

Interview and Offer Support

Broker the interview process and facilitate the CTS Seller Profile Assessment to confirm the profile match.

*The CTS Sales Profile was developed by Sales Manage Solutions and scientifically validates personality profiles to make more predictive hiring decisions.

Traditional Recruiting vs. Precision Hiring

Traditional Recruiting

  • ✗ Resume-based screening
  • ✗ Generic job descriptions
  • ✗ Gut-feel hiring decisions
  • ✗ 6-9 month ramp time
  • ✗ 40-50% first-year turnover

Precision Hiring

  • ✓ Data-driven candidate matching
  • ✓ 5-element seller profiling
  • ✓ Scientific assessment process
  • ✓ 3-4 month ramp time
  • ✓ 15-20% first-year turnover

Measurable Impact

Calculating Your ROI

Sales Rep Quota

$1.5M

×

Performance Improvement

47%

=

Additional Revenue

$705K

+

Cost Avoidance

Reduced Turnover & Onboarding

$115K

=

Total First-Year Value Per Rep

$820K+

Based on industry benchmarks and client data

Calculate Your ROI

Understanding Seller Profiles

The science behind matching the right salesperson to the right role.

Five essential elements define a seller's profile.

1

Category

What type of selling environment?

B2BB2CProductServiceSaaS
2

Lead Generation

How do they find opportunities?

Cold-callingAccount-basedEducationReferral
3

Type

What's their selling approach?

TransactionalSolutionConsultativeProvocative
4

Style

What's their natural selling DNA?

Hard-workerRelationship BuilderLone WolfChallengerProblem Solver
5

Drive

What compensation motivates them?

90/10 high base50/50 balanced10/90 high commission

"Style" comes from The Challenger Sale, published in 2011 and written by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson of the Corporate Executive Board (now Gartner).

Why Profile Matching Matters

The Problem

Misalignment between a salesperson's natural profile and their role requirements leads to:

Poor Performance — Working against natural strengths

Job Dissatisfaction — Daily frustration and burnout

High Turnover — Costly hiring cycles repeat

Our Solution

We assess all five elements to ensure candidates thrive in their roles:

✓ Match Natural Strengths — Align skills with role requirements

✓ Predict Success — Identify top performers before hiring

✓ Drive Retention — Happy salespeople stay and excel

Get Your Profile Assessment

Leadership

Meet the experts behind Talnted's precision sales hiring methodology.

Brad Hawley

Brad Hawley

President & Head of Client Engagement

bhawley@talnted.co

Brad Hawley brings 20+ years of sales and recruiting experience to Talnted. He started in pharmaceutical sales at Eli Lilly, then spent five years in account management at CPA Global followed by sales leadership at CEB (now Gartner). He later served as Senior Vice President & Head of IT Practice at Pangea Two and Vice President of Sales at Beacon Innovation Group.

For the past decade, Brad led business development at OnBoard Legal, progressing from Client Executive to Executive Director to Chief Development Officer. His clients have included large corporates, AmLaw 200 law firms, and growth-stage businesses scaling past $100M.

Brad holds an MBA and a BS in International Business from Auburn University.

Lucy Poole

Lucy Poole

Vice President & Head of Candidate Engagement

lpoole@talnted.co

Lucy Poole brings 10+ years of talent acquisition and leadership consulting experience to Talnted. She spent four years as a Talent Specialist at OnBoard Legal, placing top legal talent nationwide. Prior to that, she served as Director of Search Operations at Wheless Partners, a firm ranked among the top executive search and leadership consulting firms, followed by Recruiting Manager at PangeaTwo.

Lucy began her career at Brasfield & Gorrie in business development and career development roles, and as Operations Lead at Accretive Health.

She holds a BS in Human and Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University and is fluent in Spanish.

Ready to Transform Your Sales Team?

Precision recruiting isn't just about filling positions—it's about building a high-performing sales organization that consistently exceeds targets.

What You Will Receive with Each Candidate Presentation

Complete Sales Profile Match

All 5 elements mapped to your specific role

Historical Performance Data Interpretation

Total revenue, % to quota, and deal metrics

Profile Highlights

Stand out moments that led to their seller profile

Best & Worst Year Analysis

Success drivers and resilience

Start the Conversation

Tell us about your sales hiring needs and we'll be in touch within 24 hours.

Connect with us

LinkedIn