The Sales Head Office; Selling and Sales Management

I am in the process of hiring 4 more sales people for a new market we are entering in Western Canada. Our organization is in growth mode (good) and we do not have the resources to have HR pre-screen candidates (bad).

This puts me in a position where I am responsible for the full hiring process - from reviewing incoming applications right through to the eventual offer. I currently manage 12 sales people so I have to make sure that the time I dedicate to recruiting is efficient.

Each resume I look at gets a 60 second run through. If it catches my attention I’ll spend a few minutes with it and if the candidate looks promising I’ll fire off an email to book a telephone interview.

Below are some sales resume tips for sales people that are looking to make a career change:

When I first started with FedEx Kinko’s in 2001 we were a young sales organization. I was one of the first Account Managers they hired in Canada. We had a new to the industry Director of Sales and, with a few exceptions, all of the sales people we hired came from outside the print industry. As a group, our print industry experience was limited.

Our task was to penetrate corporate accounts and bring commercial print business to our local Kinko’s locations.

The team did a great job selling our products - and we grew the commercial portfolio substantially - but it was an uphill struggle.

Looking back our biggest challenge was understanding where we fit in the market. We tried to be everything to every client. We took mixed messages to the market. Depending on which rep you spoke to, we offered best in class quality, process, pricing, customer service and turn around!

This focus on being a complete full service provider was a mistake. Our reps sold jobs that our production team - or technology - couldn’t support. This created friction between our sales and operations teams. It also created collisions with clients; we over promised and under delivered. Our clients, frustrated, found other providers - an easy task in the print industry

Frustrated with our inability to deliver - sometimes on product’s that we had no right promising in the first place - our sales reps left in droves, and turnover rates were high.

The good news? We redefined where we fit in the market place, simplified our message, and targeted clients that fit our model.

We focused on the one value add that no competitor could match - quick turn times due to our 24 hour, and multiple production, facilities. Our turn around times were best in class, no one else could deliver a print job quicker than my team.

This is the message we took to market. We targeted companies that required quick turns; convention and corporate training groups. In my last year at Kinko’s we had lots of growth and - restructure aside - zero turnover!

I’m going through this process with my current team. We are defining were we fit in the market and crafting a clear message to our prospects.

What I’ve learned is my oganisation doesn’t have to be all things to all prospects and finding your niche is a beautiful, an profitable, thing!

I’m watching my Habs play right now, and although they’re winning tonight, the team has terrible chemistry. They play for themselves and don’t back each other up. Watching the Habs play got me thinking about team chemistry and the impact it has on a sales group.

A team with great chemistry is a lot of fun to manage. The reps support, motivate and coach each other. Discussions on your team calls are dynamic and there are emails going out daily from the team with success stories and market intelligence. Morale is high, everyone wants to win together and see their colleagues over achieve. And for a manager, turn over is low.

On the flip side a team with bad chemistry can be a nightmare. There is no energy as a group and individual is often viewed with cynicism. Best practices, and inter-territory leads, are kept close to the chest. The culture sucks, turn over is high and there is a big spread between your top and bottom performers.

Here are a few tips to build team chemistry in your sales group:

Sales teams with good chemistry are high performing teams. As a sales manager you own the culture of your sales team, make sure your reps are working as a unit and your team numbers will improve!

I like to keep my sales interviews with potential candidate loose. A sales interview is not much different from a sales call. Like a sales call I want the conversation to flow and to transition from one topic to the next.

I hate canned interviews with a set question list. I’ve been on the other side of them, for some pretty decent opportunities, and I couldn’t get my head around what the manager was trying to accomplish with a rigid set of questions. The interviews end up being choppy and awkward. The candidates prepares for a list of 35 standard interview questions and I don’t believe the manager gets a good assessment of the candidate.

Sales interviewing should be a fluid process. To support this I use what I call my scribble matrix.

I take an 8.5 x 11 and write the candidates name in the middle of the sheet. Prior to the interview I identify 5 or 6 areas that I want to drill down on; activity levels, closing techniques, communication, teamwork, time management, etc. I use these 5 or 6 points to guide the interview and drill down from there.

My experience using this framework has been great. I find the candidates aren’t expecting an open format like this and you get a great snapshot of how they perform in sales calls.

I also find the candidate will let down their guard and tell you valuable - in some cases damning - information.

One that sticks in mind is a candidate that interviewed well but felt so comfortable that at the end of the call he let me know how hard a time he has getting out of bed in the morning! Next!