First Steps in Hiring Great Salespeople
With an expanding economy and rising optimism, many printing companies are adding new salespeople. Hiring a strong salesperson can be done by avoiding the common mistake of inadequate planning.
With an expanding economy and rising optimism, many printing companies are adding new salespeople. There is no greater frustration for printing company owners and sales managers than to hire a new salesperson, only to see them quickly fail.
Since most printing companies have limited time and resources to manage the hiring process, there is little room for mistakes. Even with a robust web presence, e-commerce capabilities and a sophisticated digital marketing program, complex printing solutions do require direct salespeople.
Planning Must Come First
We find most hiring mistakes are caused by inadequate planning. Both small and large companies should begin the hiring process by completing the following steps:
- What exactly is the job being offered
Since there is no “one size fits all” salesperson, it is very important to determine the type of salesperson required and what specific role they will take.
Create a job description with as much detail as possible. Here are some questions that will help create a tailored job description:
o Exactly what products and services will the salesperson be selling and who will they be calling on?
o Will the salesperson be responsible for new accounts, existing accounts, or generating leads through prospecting?
o Does the candidate need printing industry experience?
o How will the candidate be managed? What is expected on a day-to-day basis? Will they work under close supervision or be expected to work independently?
o How will the salesperson report their activities to management?
o Will the salesperson be involved with estimating, proposal development, pricing, project management, and customer service?
o How much new business and total revenue will be expected in the first three, six and twelve months?
- Build the perfect salesperson prototype
Listing the important skills, knowledge, attributes and traits of an ideal salesperson may be time-consuming, but will save time and energy when the recruiting process begins. List these attributes on a spreadsheet in four categories.
- General Industry Knowledge. Record the product, industry, customer and technical knowledge necessary to do the job. For instance, does the salesperson need printing foundational knowledge of file formats, applications, and substrates? Does the salesperson need to be knowledgeable about specific markets or customers?
- Sales Skills Needed. Has the candidate been successful managing large and complex accounts? What prospecting or presenting skills are required? Does the salesperson need to write complex proposals?
- Personal Attributes. Often overlooked, in the end, this may be the most important. Some key attributes to consider are honesty, work ethic, timeliness, creativity, confidence, follow-up and attention to detail.
- Other Attributes That Will be Important. These could include willingness to travel, social media literacy, education level, valid driver license and web researching skills.
- Rank the attributes needed to be a high performer
With the four job categories listed, rank each one as; essential, important or helpful. If the candidate does not have a specific essential skill, knowledge or personal attribute, is the company willing to provide the training or mentoring required? Too often employers settle, or discount essential or important job dimensions required, and make a bad hire.
- Determine how the required attributes will be measured
Perhaps the most difficult part of the process is determining and gaining agreement among those interviewing that the candidate does actually possess the required attributes. This is when candidates are asked probing questions by the interviewer(s) to determine if and how well they possess the required attributes. Using examples from their education or work history, candidates will need to skillfully and convincingly demonstrate that they possess the required skills and behaviors needed to be successful in the position.
Taking the time to execute these specific steps will help minimize the pain and expense of a poor hiring decision, save time since the employer will know exactly what they are looking for, and make the interview process more productive. Every company, whether large or small, can move to a path of higher sales goals by managing these hiring steps successfully.
Joe Rickard is the founder of Intellective Solutions, (www.intellectives.com), a printing industry consulting and training company. They work with digital printing organizations to improve their sales, marketing and operational effectiveness. Contact Joe at (845) 753-6156.
