Written by Ben Firman, The Dean Group
In December 2007 I relocated from the UK to the Waterloo region, having spent 7 years as a professional search consultant in the highly competitive UK recruitment sector. During that time I was a share holder and Senior Consultant with the UK's leading specialist 'IT Sales' recruitment provider. I have conducted searches for organization's of all sizes and have a successful track record of recruiting Sales Professionals at VP level through to young 'sales guns' at the start of their career.
During the last 6 months I have had the pleasure of meeting many business leaders in the 'Tech Triangle' and have actively listened to business owners and senior sales people speaking at networking events such as the Communitech 'Peer 2 Peer' Sales Groups. A common frustration that I hear is the difficulty in finding and attracting good sales people to our region. I have heard many prospective employers lament the loss of the best sales people to the GTA.
It goes without saying that the task of attracting, recruiting and retaining quality sales professionals is vital to the success of an organization. A great sales person, or team of them, will be instrumental in the growth of any organization. Without sales, any 'for profit' organization will quickly expire. Even the greatest and most innovative solution will not sell itself.
Throughout my career as a 'Sales Recruiter' or 'Head Hunter', I have witnessed businesses experience dramatic positive changes in fortune as the result of recruiting the right sales people. Conversely, the ramifications of recruiting the wrong sales people can have a seemingly disproportionate negative effect on the development of a business. When you consider the cost of fixed salaries, training, initial 'ramp up' time, the loss of potential sales, compromised process and employee morale issues in the appointment of the wrong candidate, you begin to see the true cost to a business. It is not just about losing the fixed salary paid during the tenure of employment. It is estimated that the cost of a poor hire runs to 3 - 7 times that of the employee's salary.
The Communitech 'Tech Report 2008' revealed that we now have more than 500 tech companies headquartered and operating in our Tech Triangle, compared to 327 just three years ago. Many of these businesses are relatively small, have a turnover of under $1 million per annum and are therefore at a crucial stage of their development. I would argue that the potential gains and losses associated with a 'sales hire' are more acute for these businesses than they are for the large established players. Although the 'Tips & Tricks' listed in this article are applicable to any organization looking to recruit a sales person, I feel that they may be of particular relevance to those members of our business community who are looking to hire their first sales person or add to a small existing sales team.
Although most of these points may appear to be obvious, during my career and indeed during the last 6 months I have met with business owners and sales people who have fallen foul of a recruitment process that has not taken all these points into consideration. These are my 'Tips and Tricks':
· Is your business ready to hire a sales person? Do not engage in the cost of hiring a sales person if the product or 'solution offering' is not 100% defined and ready to take to market. If you cannot deliver your product or solution now, your sales hire will not be able to deliver a return on your investment in them.
· Do not commence a recruitment search or engage candidates in an interview process unless you are in a position to extend a firm written offer to them. Often the temptation is to start interviewing people in order to see what kind of candidates are available before you actually have the budgetary 'sign off' for the hire. However, if you find a good sales person, like anyone they will become increasingly disillusioned and frustrated by a process that rolls on for weeks. Good sales people expect to qualify and close deals. Ambiguous and exhaustive recruitment processes will turn them off and could possibly damage your reputation.
· Review or research what will be a realistic 'sales cycle' for your product or service. Consider this and the ramifications it could have on your operating costs. When hiring, confirm that your expectations with regards to realistic 'sales cycles' are the same as those of your prospective 'sales hire'. If there is any disparity in these expectation levels then the relationship is unlikely to be successful and you could be faced with a costly 'mis-hire'.
· Formulate a clear job description and focus on what you expect and need this sales person to deliver in terms of revenue and activity. There should be clearly defined targets and objectives. For example, if it is imperative from a budgetary perspective that your new sales recruit delivers $250,000 revenue in the first 6 months, ensure that they are aware of this and agree that this is realistic. Another example would be to ensure that you share the same expectations in terms of work schedule and location. I recently met a client that had terminated a sales person's employment because they were not happy working from the office 5 days a week. The sales employee favored working from a home office. This mis-hire could have been avoided if everyone's expectations were explored thoroughly in the hiring process.
· Consider carefully the personalities involved. It would be unwise to hire a sales person because they have a great track record of success if they are potentially going to upset the dynamics of an existing sales team that currently works well together. An aggressive, hard hitting 'super star' may not always be the most suitable recruit if they are going to unsettle a team of sales people that is more consultative in approach. If you are the hiring manager, it would be wise to consider what kind of manager you really are and what your expectations are. Do you tend to 'micro manage' or are you more comfortable hiring people who prefer to work autonomously, with limited supervision? Be honest and realistic about this when meeting prospective employees. I have met with countless sales professionals who have left their last position because they could not cope with their employer's management style and the reporting structure in place. An organization's sales culture defines the experience that a sales employee has and it is vital that a prospective employee is genuinely going to fit into your culture. Excessive micro management is a classic complaint. Experienced and successful sales people are often extroverted by nature and highly driven. They rarely respond well to constant micro management.
· Think carefully about the skills and experiences that you are looking to hire. Compiling an ideal 'wish list' is an important part of this process, but even more important is the process of defining the requirements that are essential. The perfect or ideal candidate may not be available and you may not be able to afford them, so be prepared to be realistic and flexible. Recruiting and managing sales people is very different to recruiting and managing a team of software developers. Although nice to have and sometimes essential, product and market awareness is by no means the most important thing when choosing the right sales person. Personality, work ethic, motivation, appearance, presentation skills, charisma, listening skills and a basic natural affinity for sales are usually far more important. A sales person with these attributes can often learn a new product or industry relatively quickly but they can't acquire and learn all these other vital attributes easily.
· Decide the maximum amount that you are prepared to pay in terms of salary and commissions. If your maximum falls below a candidate's minimum, do not commence an interview process with them. It is very common for a future employer and employee to go through an entire recruitment process, only to find that neither can satisfy the others requirements with regards to remuneration. Often both parties have convinced themselves that they have the upper hand in the negotiating process and that the other will meet their requirements and negotiate accordingly. This problem is amplified when two successful sales personalities are involved and much vital time can be wasted.
· Make sure that the salary you are offering is competitive. If it falls below the industry average then you will have to lower your expectations in terms of your 'candidate' requirements.
· Determine your value proposition. Why should someone join you as opposed to your competitor or another employer? What makes you unique as an employer and as provider to your customers? Other than salary, what other benefits can you offer? Career progression and training are key factors. Although good sales people are usually driven by a desire to increase their earnings, they will also seriously consider factors such as training, career progression and business culture. I have met few sales candidates that are genuinely only motivated by money.
· Once you are ready to commence a search, consider the fact that only 20% of the workforce is actively looking to change jobs and searching internet 'job boards' and other media looking for that next position. If you advertise your vacancy and expect the best candidates to come to you, it is likely that you will be disappointed. By doing so you are seriously restricting the pool of candidates to choose from. My experience as a head hunter specializing in sales recruitment, is that the best candidates are usually currently working and being very successful. These are the people that you ideally want to attract. A search consultant or a head hunter can help you with this or you can utilize professional networks that you may have.
· If you find a candidate that you like, ensure that they are committed to your opportunity and do not extend an offer unless you are confident that they are going to accept. Question if they are interviewing elsewhere and qualify where they are in that process. You do not want to extend an offer and find that your candidate is going to sit on it for two weeks while they continue to go through someone else's hiring process, or worse still, use your offer as leverage to get a better offer elsewhere or an increase in salary with their existing employer. When making a salary offer, do not assume that the candidate will accept a certain amount if you haven't qualified this at some point, ideally at the final interview stage. When a candidate is committed to leaving their current employer and in the process of choosing their future employer, just one or two thousand dollars can make all the difference and you don't want to lose a great candidate to a competitor because you inadvertently pitched an offer that fell just below the candidate's expectation. This process of qualification is obviously more difficult if you are not engaging a head hunter to assist you but nevertheless you can still make a reasoned judgment if you have discussed your expectations throughout the process and considered the responses.
If you wish to explore these issues further, or wish to explore the services that I can offer, please contact Ben Firman at The Dean Group on 519 568 7778 (office) or 519 277 0095 (cell).
