Why is it so difficult to find a saleperson to take prequalified calls.

How many job sites do you have the position posted? Careerbuilder, Monster, and Craigslist are generally the most common and with the way the job market is, you should be flooded with resumes.

Maybe be more descriptive or energetic with your position posting and include specifics on how it's an affluent opportunity for them to make money?

Hey I would like to apply.

If I can leave my number here it is 306 242 7253
Ask for Jairalee

I will answer this:
You asked why you find it hard to find a Good Salesman...
They are HARD to find that's why!

Sales is an art.

Better sales people get into the head of the caller.
Worse ones just think people should listen to them!

The Best Salesmen are the highest paid category!
Usually sales people are told what to say, and are not
allowed to figure out how to maximize sales.

This means the salesman will be worse than the owner, who
is usually NOT a salesman. So there are built in problems.

Good sales people usually have jobs.

Even a good salesman would need latitude, and an atmosphere
where they can try things without fear of failure, to succeed.

My 2 cents
Anyone else?
mulesmurf

A few years ago I joined an organization of highly successful business owners. They all had one common refrain, when asked their biggest challenge -- "Finding great sales reps".

I, too, am struggling with the problem but over time have developed some systems to manage things -- at least where we are in the position to pay a salary plus benefits income guarantee. If you have the lead conversion possibilities that you indicate here, you might be able to do that; and if so, you will increase your resume flow tremendously over any efforts to find people on a commission-only basis (which is where I am, frankly, stumped, as we reach beyond our Canadian markets and into the U.S. space.)

For salaried/income guarantee jobs in Canada, we use the "Service Canada Job Bank." Government employment services in Canada are operated by the Feds (with some support from the provinces). In the US you will find these are operated by state agencies. They are generally free, but you'll need to have proper business registration, tax id and other stuff at the state level.

We use an autoresponder to send out a simple four question form, and a personality evaluation test. (A consultant provided the one we use for unlimited use, but we cannot share it externally. We validated it against a service offered by salestestonline.com, which charges about $25 a test -- in bulk -- and both produced what appear to be valid results.)

The next stage in our system is the working test. We pay for a few days' worth of effort -- salespeople have to bring in some results before we hire. Then we check references -- thoroughly.

This model works well for a salary guarantee offer. Of course most people who apply are duds; but we don't waste time on them. Nor do we waste time on people who "interview well" but can't sell.

The system doesn't work for commission-only reps. Here, in exploring the options for potential commission-based reps, I'm running up against plenty of roadblocks. You cannot advertise extensively on Craigslist without bending the rules (except in cities where you pay for the jobs ads, at $25.00 a pop; cheap in comparison to the commercial services, but you will only get a few even remotely potentially useful responses per posting.) State job services may be useful. I purchased a well-written WSO suggesting a commission-only hiring strategy that might work for a local business, but would not be terribly useful if you have a wide coverage area for potential candidates.