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Recruitment of a BDM

How we recruited a Business Development Manager for a textile importer

Our client

Our client is at the forefront of international design and distribution, exporting interior upholstery and window covering textiles to over 50 countries around the world.

Location - Perth, WA
Industry - textiles
Size - 100 employees

We applied our three-phase service delivery model for this recruitment drive.

How we recruit superstars

Video job advertisement

Social media algorithms favour videos over still content, so we create video advertisements for all vacancies to help source our candidates.

We take full advantage of this unique and highly effective form of candidate sourcing in order to reach the right candidate at the right time.

We post our videos on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. They are posted on these platforms 10-20 times, based on relevance. Our videos typically receive over 1,000 views within the first 24 hours.

Job advertisement

We constantly refresh, rewrite and reformat our job advertisements to optimise the quality of applications received. Our approach is aggressive - we post around 20 advertisements for every permanent job. Advertisements are posted on:

Job boards - Seek, Adzuna, Glassdoor, Indeed and Jora
Social media - LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter
11 Recruitment's website

On average, our advertisements receive over 100 applications and perform well above the market benchmark for Seek, shown in this graph.

Business Development Manager

Autonomous role, working with a vast product range
Use your creativity and passion for design

The role

The duties for this role will include:

Making on-the-road B2B product sales
Developing current customer relationships by educating clients, presenting new releases and highlighting proven performers
Understanding the decision-making process to identify and sell to key stakeholders
Territory account management - including an effective call cycle however, there are strong expectations of business development which includes driving business; qualify, lead and pursue new business opportunities
Explore the needs of clients and propose solutions
Providing first-class service
Managing all phases of the client experience including post-delivery
Managing sampling expenses whilst keeping within budget and removing discontinued ranges
Managing stock of running lines and large orders
Reviewing back orders and placing forward orders where necessary.
Successfully reaching sales and GP targets

About you

The successful candidate will need:

3 or more years' experience in a B2B environment
Experience maintaining a constant call cycle
The ability to promptly interpret and address customer needs
Strong problem solving skills - able to quickly identify and overcome obstacles
Sound organisational skills, time management and attention to detail
Motivation, and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team
Professional presentation
A valid drivers licence with a good driving record

Experience in the textile or home furnishings industry, or a qualification in a relevant field would also be advantageous.

About our client

Envision combining your creativity and passion for design and style in an autonomous position by representing high quality products. With a vast product range to offer, this is a role for an outgoing sales person with a passion in creating space, design and colour solutions. The successful applicant will be servicing existing clients whilst driving new opportunities to grow sales.

This position is for their Commercial sector, which is contact and relationship driven.

Assessment Matrix design

Our in-house designed, custom made software generates an Assessment Matrix, which is our blueprint for the recruitment process. Our process consists of screening, interviews, document verification, skills testing, personality profiling and reference checks.

Ticks indicate the point at which each criteria is addressed. More importance criteria are checked multiple times throughout the recruitment process.

Selection criteria	Screen	Interview	Docs.	Skill test	Profiling	Refs.
Education
Bachelor's degree - desirable	✓		✓
Experience
On-the-road B2B sales	✓	✓				✓
Account management	✓	✓				✓
Call cycle development / maintenance	✓	✓				✓
Reaching sales and GP targets	✓	✓				✓
On-the-road sampling and demos	✓	✓				✓
Fabric / curtains / design / furniture	✓	✓				✓
Proven lead generation strategies	✓	✓				✓
Long lead-time sales generation	✓	✓				✓
Other
Microsoft Word - advanced	✓			✓
Microsoft Excel - advanced	✓			✓
Microsoft PowerPoint - advanced	✓			✓
Spelling and grammar - excellent	✓			✓
Passion for colour and design	✓	✓			✓	✓
Organisation and time management	✓
Customer complaint handling	✓	✓				✓
Immaculate presentation		✓				✓
Verify LinkedIn vs CV	✓	✓				✓
Accept expected salary $150k	✓	✓				✓
Previous warning of termination?	✓	✓				✓
Will you pass a drug test?	✓	✓				✓
Behaviour
Dominance - 50%		✓			✓
Influence - 55%		✓			✓
Steadiness - 27%		✓			✓
Compliance - 57%		✓			✓
Forms signed
Health / police check			✓
Signed document - tell the truth			✓
Docs verified
Driver’s licence	✓		✓
Citizen AU / NZ or PR	✓		✓

DISC profiling

Similar to people, jobs have their own behavioural profile that is based on duties, environment and communication. We create a profile for every job vacancy, enabling us to match an applicant's behaviour against that of a specific role.

We use DISC, which examines the following attributes:

Dominance - accomplishing results, the bottom line, confidence
Influence - persuading others, openness, dependability
Steadiness - cooperation, sincerity, dependability
Compliance - quality, accuracy, expertise

DISC profile - Business Development Manager

As well as being driven, this role also call for someone with charisma; an individual who is a good communicator, able to persuade others to their point of view as well as get their message across without appearing pushy or over-bearing.

The sort of person suited for the role enjoys the company of other people and the challenge of negotiation. But by the same token is not overly sensitive as to what people think of their decisions. That is not to say they do not want people to like them and see them in a positive light but where it comes to closing the sale for example, the person in this role needs to feel comfortable asking for the order without fear of offending.

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This role requires an individual who is comfortable with a dynamic work environment and is able to adapt as required. Furthermore the role will require a person who is goal focused and motivated to achieve the desired outcomes, without significant management intervention or the guidance of rules and procedures.

The person would need to have a resilient character such that they can cope with the challenging aspects of the role, which would require strength of character and skill to adapt to possibly changing circumstances to do the job.

The position requires an individual who will be comfortable with responding quickly to work demands and who will be adaptable and comfortable with change. There will be times when deadlines need to be met with little warning and the individual will need to be able to adapt to meeting tight deadlines.

This job will suit someone who is enthusiastic, energetic and confident with adapting to the changing environment, and not reliant on rigidly following a process or procedure.

Another characteristic of this role is that it will require a person who is self confident and unlikely to experience doubt as to their decisions. The ability to act on instinct rather than following the procedure or process is an aspect of the role. The role requires someone who is likely to be confident, goal oriented and determined to get the job done to their liking.

A significant requirement will be for a person who is optimistic and enjoys socialising and meeting new people, a person who likes people and who is a good communicator and negotiator. This person would be happy to venture where others are more cautious.

This role requires someone who is able to work independently and act on their own initiative whilst seeing the big picture, but at the same time recognising the need for conforming to certain rules or procedures in order to get the job done.

BDM

Shortlisted candidates

Candidate A

Candidate B

Candidate C

Behavioural adaptation by candidates to match the job profile:

Candidate A

Candidate B

Candidate C

Results

Our aim is to produce a strong shortlist by sourcing widely. We measure every stage in our recruitment process to ensure we meet this key objective.

Our service comes with an extended 18-month replacement guarantee. This guarantee means our interests are mutually aligned - to recruit high achievers who will excel and stay.

Video views

1,054

Applications received

Interviewed by 11 Recruitment

Shortlisted

Interviewed by client

Hired

Feedback

"I was a little bit suspicious using any recruitment agencies after being burnt so many times.

One day I got an email from Christian Madsen with some tips explaining how to recruit better. I decided to go ahead with their service and was pleasantly surprised by their professional approach and attention to the process.

They offered 18 months guarantee as well as an offer to perform a profile test for the chosen one.

Overall, I wouldn't hesitate recommending 11Recruitment. Very happy."

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