Quality candidates are out there, but why would they want to work for you?
A good salesperson shouldn’t be all that difficult to find. However, finding a good salesperson looking for a first-time or new opportunity in the office technology dealer channel is more challenging, particularly in the current environment.
The current environment is extremely competitive, not just internally, with acquisitions and other changes occurring within the channel, but also externally because unemployment across the industry is nearly 0%. Adding to the challenge is that other industries—particularly cybersecurity and IT—are poaching office technology sales reps and service techs. Some of those other industries are willing to compensate candidates more than what they are making now. “It is an extremely transferable set of skills,” added Paul Schwartz, president of Copier Careers®, a recruiting firm for the office technology dealer channel. “If you can sell, you can sell.”
So, what strategies can make a difference when recruiting? Copier Careers’ recruiters identified seven.
Strategy #1: A Good Comp Plan
As the recruiters at Copier Careers point out, there’s not a lot of consistency in comp plans across dealerships. “If we ask the 400-plus companies that we work with, each comp plan will be slightly different,” observed Jessica Crowley, senior vice president. Candidates are usually looking for a combination of a competitive base salary, a ramp-up or a guarantee, a non-recoverable draw, and a book of business.
“I’m not saying you have to give them a full-on territory, but something to incentivize them to move from where they’re currently at is really the only way that you’re going to attract someone from our channel or outside the channel,” emphasized Crowley.
When asked about trends related to base salaries, Jenna Humbert, senior regional recruiter, responded, “They need to go up.” She acknowledged that base salaries have risen slightly since the pandemic, but in some markets, they’re still considerably low, which makes it difficult for those dealers to attract candidates.
If you want to attract new people to your organization, the comp plan must be explainable, especially around commissions. “We sometimes get some really nuanced comp plans where you have to create an Excel spreadsheet to explain the plan,” said Schwartz. “Those are challenging for people to wrap their heads around.”
Crowley recently spoke with a client’s service manager and asked why the dealership has a high turnover of sales reps. His reply: “No one understands the comp plan.”
Strategy #2: Good Communication
Sometimes, the most effective strategies are the simplest to implement. We emphasized this point in a previous Copier Careers® Insights® column, but keeping the candidate engaged is critical during the interviewing process, which means the employer must be responsive. “I was talking to a candidate the other day who absolutely wouldn’t consider an offer because the client had gone silent for about six weeks,” revealed Humbert.
Strategy #3: Central Perks
PTO (personal time off) has become an increasingly important perk, with more candidates concerned about work-life balance. They want to know if the employer is flexible and realizes the candidate has a life outside of work that’s important to them. “That’s usually one of the first questions we’re asked when we tell candidates about a company,” observed Crowley.
Related to PTO and work-life balance, candidates also want the autonomy to work freely. “If they are hitting their numbers, why do you want to put such limits on the individual?” asked Schwartz. “It’s only going to do the company and the person a disservice by putting limits on them. If they are given the ability to be successful, like they have been in other environments, then it’s only going to benefit the company.”
Strategy #4: Reputation Matters
You may have the attitude of rock singer Joan Jett, not caring about your reputation, but candidates certainly do care about their prospective employer’s reputation. It’s not unusual for candidates to ask Humbert about this or share concerns about negative stories they’ve heard about the client. “If a company has a reputation for treating their employees badly, or if the candidate knows somebody that worked there and had a bad experience, they don’t want to talk to them,” observed Humbert.
How does Humbert respond when a candidate expresses this concern?
“I usually say you need to form your opinion. Don’t go based on somebody else’s experience.” Once the candidate speaks with the client, 90% of the time, Humbert finds that it’s not what the candidate expected, realizing that, yes, it is better to form their own opinion.
Strategy #5: Think About a Balance of Youth and Experience
More Copier Careers’ clients want to hire younger people with two to three years of B2B sales experience but no more than five years. “That’s wrong because you should have a mixture of new and old,” suggested Humbert, who describes this as Copier Careers’ recruiters’ No. 1 challenge because attitudes like that are driving more people away from the industry. “The old learns from the new because they bring a new mentality to the table, but the old teaches the copier way because our industry is not going anywhere,” she emphasized.
When someone tells Humbert they don’t want anybody with more than three years of experience, she tells them that they might be missing out on someone who still loves to hunt and find new business. “Maybe they don’t want to be in leadership, but they can still mold and mentor younger reps,” said Humbert.
As she told one client, “What if that person is exactly what you need to build this territory and make the reps fall in love with the industry and stay in it?”
Strategy #6: Have Realistic Expectations about Net New Territories
Nine times out of 10, when a client asks Copier Careers to find them a sales rep, it’s for building a net new territory, which Crowley says is by far the most difficult to build. “And they want someone at 150% of their quota, but they don’t want to compensate them based on selling 150% of their quota.”
If the client expects the experienced rep to build a net new territory, there has to be a realistic ramp-up in the quota expectations and compensation. “Why would they leave a six-figure position to start over with a minimal base? What’s the incentive?” asked Crowley. “Unless something happened with their current employer and they’re out of a job or their commission is cut significantly, or there was a management change, and they can’t take it, there’s no reason for them to make a move.”
It’s rare for clients to come to Copier Careers looking for someone to sell in an existing territory because the client can typically fill it internally. “When we have a territory with a decent book of business, we are hardcore going after those candidates and that typically is an easier position to fill,” said Schwartz.
Strategy #7: A Willingness to Meet in the Middle
It’s extremely rare for a candidate to check all the boxes the client is looking for and a client to check all the boxes for a candidate. “If a client gives us a list of 10 checklist items that they must have on a candidate, our chance of finding all 10 is practically zero,” acknowledged Schwartz. A realistic expectation is six or seven of those items.
However, both parties must be realistic. “But that’s our job, to bring them together. And that’s why we’re so important to this channel because they would just keep flying past each other without us,” concluded Schwartz.
Be Prepared to Train Even Experienced Candidates
According to Humbert, the office technology industry can be difficult to understand even if the candidate has been in it for two to three years. That means the employer must be willing to train less seasoned and even experienced candidates about the industry and how the dealership operates. “They need an overview of how you do things, what they’re expected to sell, and how they’re expected to sell it,” said Humbert. “Employers can’t just assume that because the candidate has three years of experience, they will just walk in the door and take off. They still need help.”
Copier Careers has a client who was filling positions with candidates right out of school. When presented with a candidate from outside the industry with nearly 20 years of B2B experience, the response was, “I don’t know how to train him.”
Crowley’s response: “You don’t need to train him to sell because he’s proven he can. So, why not train him in what you want and how you want it, and he can advise you on what has worked for him in the past? If the person is motivated by money, it doesn’t matter how old they are or how long they’ve been in the industry or not been in the industry.”
Humbert added, “You can always teach people what to sell. You can’t teach people how to sell.”
