How to Improve Sales Job Offer Acceptance Rates

As a sales leader, you’ve probably felt the pain of open sales positions, the vacuum of uncovered accounts, and ignored opportunities. Open jobs and bad hires are your worst problem, and the great resignation suggests the battle for sales talent is becoming much more extreme.

Our recent State of Sales Hiring Survey exposes that filling three positions will call for about 100 applicants. From those 100 candidates, you can expect to make five offers. Usually, it takes five months to fill and onboard a new rep and then another six months to ramp them to total performance. Factor in some PTO and vacations; we’re talking almost a year!

So, suppose you could get four or even all 5 of your offers to accept your job offer? A straightforward adjustment could be life-altering.

How do you improve your offer acceptance rate (OAR)?

An Offer Acceptance Rate is simply the number of accepted offers divided by the number of offers. To boost your offer acceptance rate (OAR), ask candidates why they rejected your job offers through a candidate experience survey. Their comments will undoubtedly assist you in reshaping your job offers and boosting your OAR. Here are a few ideas to address typical issues:

• Ensure your job offers are competitive. Understand benefits and salaries through websites like Glassdoor and also PayScale.com to ensure your offers are on the same level as industry standards.
• Communicate with candidates effectively. Your OAR could be reduced since you aren’t attracting the most appropriate prospects. Ask prospects about their wage assumptions and inspiration in making an application for the job early over a screening call.
• Discuss any problems throughout the interview. Prospects may encounter different troubles that prevent them from accepting a job (e.g., long commute, stringent hours.) Address those problems during the interview by communicating any plans on flexible hours, remote work, or relocation opportunities.
• Be clear and consistent regarding the job. For example, if you discuss the job at the company’s headquarters in the job ad, the final offer shouldn’t be for a position at a business branch. 
• Mind your candidate experience. Good prospect experience is the first step toward persuading the best prospects to accept your job offer. It shows you are a considerate employer that values staff members.
• Introduce your group to prospects. Possible co-workers matter when considering a job offer, as every person wishes to work with individuals that will certainly make them feel challenged and comfortable. Discuss your team or take your finalist to meet your team members personally.

Some additional suggestions to boost OAR

• Ask candidates to complete an anonymous candidate experience survey. Use open-ended questions to get the most descriptive responses (e.g., What are the two most important factors you reject our job offer?). 
• Focus on components that matter. For example, suppose your new hires’ top reason for accepting your job offer is your benefits package. In that case, you can make use of that to boost your employer brand (e.g., by displaying your benefits plainly on your careers web page) or attract even more qualified candidates (e.g., by mentioning benefits in your job ads.).
• Inform your team’s strategy for closing prospects. Your hiring group sells job openings to the best candidates. Understanding what many candidates’ worth can help them deliver a more engaging pitch.
• Examine your prospects’ interaction with your hiring team. Some candidates might specify a factor for rejecting your job offer in their rejection email or discuss a concern during offer negotiations.
• Track responses on social media sites. Prospects might suggest why they rejected your job offer online. Assemble comments to get workable insight.