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Staff your company with the best of the best
By Andy Brown
How to Find and Keep Impact Players
The recruitment and retention of top salespeople rewards companies with increased revenue. These impact players exhibit exceptional relationship-building skills and a long track record of successful sales. They might not work in the printing industry, however, so discovering and attracting them takes time.
Jamie Schorr, president of Cezanne Resources LLC., a Beachwood, Ohio-based recruitment agency, draws prospects from the telecom, wireless, pharmaceutical and medical device industries, among others. He advises companies to take recruitment seriously and follow the following steps:
Every successful sales organization has at least one rainmaker. What if each salesperson in that organization performed at equally high levels? That’s a premise that helped James Schorr build Akron, Ohio-based ComDoc Inc.’s revenues from $25 million to $125 million during his tenure. The former vice president of sales prioritized recruitment and retention and, as a result, he attracted the best of the best—often from outside the industry.
ComDoc Inc. is a document management solutions provider and the largest independent dealer of Ricoh copiers in the United States. Schorr acknowledges that attracting salespeople from outside the industry can be challenging, but his experience shows that it’s worth the effort. In fact, Schorr has taken what he’s learned and made it the basis of his own recruitment company, Cezanne Resources LLC, Beachwood, Ohio.
Experience Counts
Historically, Schorr says, the printing and Print Services & Distribution adhere to an ineffective staffing model. Specifically, companies hire too many entry level reps with little or no sales experience. The current business environment demands that printing industry reps offer programs and solutions to end users. “Entry level hires just won’t cut it,” says Schorr. “A 23-year-old telling a client that he’ll re-engineer their accounts payable office just isn’t going to work.”
Manufacturers and distributors also make two other recruitment mistakes. First, the person in charge of recruitment (if there is one) often isn’t a dedicated professional. Sales managers don’t necessarily make great recruiters, says Schorr.
Companies also rely too heavily on classified ads. “The good people are gainfully employed right now by someone else in another industry, so they really need to be recruited, and it’s a very arduous process,” says Schorr. “You’re not going to get good people through ads. They just don’t look at them.”
Whether or not a company hires an outside firm, they should start the recruitment process by defining the attributes and experiences that would add the greatest value to their team, Schorr says. Once those expectations have been established, they should identify companies and job titles where those salespeople currently work. “What I was looking for [while at ComDoc] was a seasoned account executive with B2B experience and a track record,” says Schorr.
Wine and Dine
“If I were the owner of a print dealership, I would almost never hire someone without B2B experience.”
James Schorr, President
Cezanne Resources LLC, Beachwood, Ohio
Schorr begins the actual recruitment by calling potential employees with a message: Your life at this company will be better than the one you have now.
To attract “impact players” from outside the industry, the recruiter has to offer prospective employees reasons to consider leaving their current jobs. The hiring company has to explain why working for them is an exciting opportunity, Schorr says. Two other questions the company has to answer are what specifically the recruit will do and to whom he or she will report.
Recruiting a great salesperson doesn’t necessarily mean offering more money. “The single greatest reason they’re even vulnerable to recruitment is they feel they’re unappreciated,” says Schorr. “They ask, ‘Am I important? Do they listen to my ideas?’ That comes way before financials.”
This means that even struggling companies can improve their bottom lines by attracting the right talent. “I just placed a candidate in a company that’s not doing real well, but he’s excited about how he can help turn the company around,” Schorr says.
After Recruitment
Once an impact player has joined a company, it’s up to management to keep him from leaving. “Retention of your top people is key,” says Schorr. “People dramatically underestimate the impact of turnover.”
As the workforce shrinks, retention is even more critical. According to Schorr, only one person exists in the workforce to replace every 21⁄2 retirees. By 2010, there will be 5 million unfulfilled job postings, he says.
Showing top salespeople they’re important is key to keeping them in the position. “I would literally plan time in your calendar to spend time with top performers and show that you care about their ideas,” says Schorr. “You shouldn’t go a quarter without having a breakfast or a dinner with your best people.”
The problem with most companies is that they wait until the salesperson announces he’s leaving to articulate his value. “The first time these people experience caring is when they resign,” says Schorr. “The same questions you would ask in an exit interview—ask all along.”
Andy Brown is managing editor of Print Solutions magazine. Email comments to abrown@PSDA.org.