Attracting sales talent is difficult. Attracting the right sales talent as a smaller organization on a budget can feel nearly impossible. So what can you do to stand out? How do you get a qualified applicant to read your job posting from beginning to end and then click “apply” when you aren't exactly offering a dream salary?

This post is the beginning of a series on how to create a job description that stands out. However, this post is also about weaving your company story everywhere you have a digital presence.

When you go through the process of creating your story, you’ll find yourself shifting from talking about your organization to talking about your prospect and how they’ll benefit from working for your organization. It’s important to have this mindset when writing job descriptions, posting on LinkedIn, creating your careers page on your website, and networking at hiring events.

What To Include In Your Company Story

I’m not going to get into the plotline of a story or the three-act structure, because the truth is, you’re probably not going to write your story like that. Instead, we’re going to focus on the condensed “hero’s journey” that’s relevant to hiring for sales.

Your company story needs to answer these questions:

• Who is the hero? In this case, you are not the hero, your ideal candidate is. Describe in detail who this ideal sales candidate is, because that’s who you’re going to talk to whenever creating  hiring assets.
• What problem is your hero trying to solve? Try to go beyond, “They need a job,” and really think about the person you just defined. Are they young and hungry? Then yes, they need a job, but they also need a proving ground. Picture your hero and dig deep into what you think they want .
• Who is the guide? This is you. Your organization is the guide. So if you haven’t yet taken the time to define your identity as an organization, now’s the time. Who are you? What makes you special? This is also the time to define your compensation philosophy.
• How does your hero overcome their problem? Define the journey ahead. We’re talking about the sales process, the performance period, opportunities for excellence, and payout timing. Essentially, what does your hero have to do to solve their problem?
• How does your hero advance to the next level? Ideally, your hero has overcome their problem, reached their goal, and returned victorious. But that’s only the end of book one. What about the sequel? In other words, how does your new hire grow and advance in their role with your organization?

You don’t have to write out the story of your prospective hire’s journey, but it would be beneficial to do so. By writing it out, not only are you creating a record to refer to as you move forward with hiring to make sure you’re being consistent in the language you use, but you’re also creating that shift in your own mind on how you think and talk about hiring.

Where to Put Your Story

You’re not going to write out every piece of your story in the job description or in social posts, but you might, in a way, on your company career page. Here are a few places and ways to integrate your story.

Job Descriptions

Most advice will warn you against including too much information at the top of your job description. While it’s important to concisely convey who you are as an organization and what you do, keep in mind that the purpose of everything you write is to help your prospect see themselves as the hero in the role you’re hiring for.

Once again, think about who you’re talking to and share the information that will excite them. If you’re looking for someone with experience in health care because you sell medical devices , make that connection with a statement like: Help your prospect understand what they’ll be doing and why they’ll be doing it as quickly as possible.

Social Posts

When posting about job openings, again, keep it brief, keep it authentic, and keep it relevant to the journey of the hero. Instead of, “You’ll be following up on leads at hospitals and closing sales to achieve company targets,” try instead, “You’ll be the face of the company, helping hospitals better meet the needs of their patients with clearer, more accurate brain data.” Speak to the bigger story behind what your organization does and place your hero at the heart of it.

Career and About Us Page

If your organization doesn’t have one of these, it’s a good idea to create one. Prospects that have a choice tend to do their homework. They’ll stalk your social and scour your website…justifiably. So make sure your story is consistent in all platforms.

On your webpages, you can get into more detail. You may even choose to follow the full hero’s journey structure above. Your goal is for the prospective new hire to finish reading the page and feel that “call to adventure” that kicks off any great story. That’s when they hit apply.

Hiring is a lot like marketing in that the prospect takes center stage and you take a supporting role. In any job market, you want to do your best to attract only the right people. Be too general or logistical with your hiring practices and you’re likely to either be flooded with the wrong types of candidates or the opposite, only receive a few resumés.

In the next post, we’ll talk about marketing tactics for making your job description stand out in the market.