Strangely the economic news seems to have a hard time making it in to the mainstream media. In case you missed it, unemployment is down to 4.6% which is the lowest it has been since July 2001. We have entered our 34th straight month of manufacturing expansion – the longest stretch in almost 20 years. The labor market has tightened dramatically and finding strong candidates is becoming more challenging.
We endorse the approach of looking for talent that will transfer into the needs of your position. When we define a sale, we build a blueprint of the skills, aptitudes, motivations and style that will be the best fit for successfully closing a sale in the position. This approach means that talent supercedes experience.
I will suggest that it is far easier to teach a new salesperson about your “stuff” (product or service) than it is to teach them how to effectively sell. Too often, we see companies looking only towards direct industry experience in their hiring process. With a labor market tightening back up to pre-9/11 levels, companies will be forced to look outside their standard industries for viable sales candidates. Keep this approach in mind next time you wade into the market to hire a salesperson.
If your process is not netting the right salespeople or if you are not sure how strong your present sales candidates are, contact us to see if we can be of assistance.