Got Sales?

“My largest issue here at McCalls, is personnel,” says Andrew Parker, sales manager at T. Frank McCalls Inc., Chester, Pa . “Finding good people that you can trust, that are self-motivated, organized and proactive is just so hard.”

The recruitment — and retention — of high-performing salespeople has been cited as one of the jan/san distribution industry’s biggest challenges. There may be many reasons for this, including a retiring bunch of baby boomers who take away a hardy work ethic and years upon years of knowledge, and the fact that janitorial sales — while extremely important — is not the most glamorous of fields.

Rick Grandfield, director of janitorial sales, Dade Paper, Miami, says he has difficulty finding quality salespeople, especially when searching within a branch location’s trading area.

“Most experienced [distributor sales representatives] have a non-compete contract from their past employer,” he states.

However, Dade Paper doesn’t let this fact inhibit its ability to recruit the greatest sales talent.

“One option we have is to hire someone with sales experience in another industry and train them on the product lines,” Grandfield explains.

Just as Dade Paper finds an alternative route to recruiting, distributors should not perceive other challenges as a deterrent. In fact, it should serve as a motivator for managers. Adapting and making changes within the organization could ultimately help save a company.

“In the jan/san industry, as a rough rule of thumb, half of the salespeople probably shouldn’t be there,” Dave Kahle, president of DaCo Corp., Comstock Park, Mich., estimates. “That’s because the companies really don’t have standards and they find themselves hiring people to just fill a position and the person does okay so he’s under the radar screen. A lot of the salespeople shouldn’t be there.”

Recruit Through Networking
As any sales manager knows, there are several ways to find the company’s next salesperson. To be a success in sales, a social nature is a very important character attribute, so relationships are able to be formed, making for a strong network and a reliable source for finding a great salesperson.

“Work on the principle that you are probably one contact away from your next salesperson,” says Kahle. “You have to really work your network because you probably already know your next salesperson, or you know the person who knows them.”

This does not mean, however, that you should be looking to steal from the competition. Instead, Kahle suggests you call your customers and ask them for the name of a good salesperson — from the copier paper salesperson to the vending machine person.

“When you think about it, a recommendation from your customers is about the best recommendation you can get,” Kahle says.

Grandfield agrees that this approach is beneficial.

“Recruiting from outside the jan/san industry and training them in house and with our supplier partners has been successful,” Grandfield says. “Route salespeople of any type can become successful jan/san pros with the right training and support from the sales managers and corporate sales team.”

Evaluating Skills
Once you have established a means for finding your next salesperson, it is critical to keep your eyes open for any red flags during the interviewing process, something Grandfield knows too well.

“We see people that look good on paper and even had good references but could not ‘walk the walk’ once they were in the field,” Grandfield says.

Kahle says there are a number of red flags sales managers should keep in mind.

“Number one, in reading a resume and/or talking to someone in an interview, look for what’s missing,” Kahle explains. “If there are six months missing, that’s because a person doesn’t want you to know there’s something negative in that. If there’s no education listed, that’s because there’s something negative.”

Another key practice in the hiring process is to dig one layer deeper into the references provided — ask the reference to refer you to another person at the company, and ask them about the candidate.

“You are not going to get a useful reference from the names that they give you,” says Kahle. “By getting the perspective of someone within the organization not listed as a reference, you will find the negatives that might come back to haunt you.”

While Kahle cautions managers to be aware of red flags, he also feels that a candidate with product knowledge who lacks sales skills is given too much consideration.

“I totally discount product knowledge because it’s just knowledge,” he explains. “Knowledge can be gained. What I look for is a quality of character because you are not going to change the character of an adult. You can teach them products but you cannot instill integrity, high energy level, or the ability and propensity to learn.”

One of the most important things a sales manager can do is to remove his or her opinion of a candidate during the hiring process.

Kahle explains that sales managers are typically former field sales people and carry with them the tendency to look at situations and see it for the potential — an attribute that is necessary otherwise they couldn’t take all the rejection.

“It is a very powerful and necessary personality trait for a salesperson but when they become sales managers, it is a horrible obstacle because they look at all these potential salespeople and don’t see them for the character that they have, they see them for the potential that they could become,” Kahle offers. “Then, they make mistakes and hire the wrong people.”

To avoid letting a “sixth sense” overrule, Kahle says you should develop a specific hiring process — before you even begin to think about hiring.

Developing a plan and laying it out on paper will help managers stay on track during the hiring process.

“If you say you are going to have three interviews, have three interviews,” Kahle enforces. “If you say you are going to use an aptitude assessment, then use one. You sit down and do these things when you’re not under the pressure of having to find someone quickly.”

Selling The Industry
In non-glamorous industries, it may be necessary to sell the company to the talented person.

“There are a lot of people who make a lot of money selling things that don’t appear to be all that sexy,” says Johnson. “Selling janitorial supplies may not sound all that glamorous; it might sound a lot more fun to be selling tickets for the Dodgers or radio advertising in Hollywood, but the fact of the matter is, a lot of salespeople make a lot of money in non-glamorous businesses.”

To make sure your talented prospect doesn’t slip away, Steve Johnson, president of The Next Level, El Segundo, Calif., says you have to exhaust every possible option for recruiting that person.

“Maybe the way that they are advertising the position isn’t effective,” Johnson offers. “Maybe the price point at which they are advertising the position isn’t good. Maybe people don’t see a lot of opportunity in the industry. Maybe they’re not offering enough incentives to refer people to them. It could be a combination of things, but they need to be clearly addressed.”

Retaining By Training
Constant training and monitoring of salespeople will keep them performing at a high level, says Parker.

“You need to stay on top of them and find out what they’re doing, how they’re doing it,” Parker offers. “It’s very easy to become complacent. You make ‘X’ amount of dollars and you’re happy.”

Moreover, training needs to be consistent and focus on many aspects of a salesperson’s job — from initial training and product training to sales training and field training.

“When someone wants to begin in a new career, most organizations have some type of a new hire program or orientation on how to sell the products and services,” says Johnson. “Another aspect of training is on-the-job training where their manager or one of their peers goes with them out into the field and mentors them. Finally, there should be training in sales meetings, whether that be weekly or monthly, or even during daily sales huddles.”

In the jan/san industry, Kahle feels the vast majority of salespeople have been trained in products and applications, but little attention has been paid to sales skills training.

“The result is they default to whatever they have figured out on their own,” says Kahle. “If you were to take a poll right now and arbitrarily pick 20 companies in the industry and ask, in the last five years, what formal training in sales skills and the best practices of sales people have they involved their salespeople in? I say you’ll be lucky to see 20 percent.”

It behooves salespeople to receive consistent training, in Kahle’s opinion, as one trait of a talented salesperson’s personality is the continual quest for learning new things.

“I believe that a salesperson in today’s world is going to have to continually grow and learn,” says Kahle. “In many ways he’s going to be expected to do things two years from now that we don’t even know exist today. So, the ability and propensity to learn is crucial.”

Grandfield says Dade Paper uses training to ensure a good salesperson stays good, and transform a low-performing salesperson into a high performer.

“We train and mentor the sales reps that are having challenges,” Grandfield says. “We work with them, counsel them, motivate them and give them every tool they need to improve. We do not cut people loose. We want every one of our reps to succeed and enjoy a rewarding career. Fortunately, we have a good success rate in developing our people into excellent performers.”

Motivating Factor
While training will keep salespeople fulfilled and performing at a high level, they also need incentive. Outside of a good salary and benefits, sales managers need to serve as a “cheerleader” for their sales staff.

“I think the more important part of motivation is intrinsic motivation,” says Tom Reilly, president and founder of Tom Reilly Training, St. Louis. “There are many aspects about selling that are intrinsically satisfying: the freedom, the feeling of a job well done, the creativity we get to input, and the decisions we get to make.”

Reilly explains that managers who feel constrained by the amount of money they are able to allocate to salary and compensation plans, can benefit by finding ways to make the job more rewarding for salespeople.

Salespeople live by a “work-hard, play-hard” point of view. They strive to win, and generally have a healthy ego that needs to be stoked to keep them satisfied.

According to Bob Nelson, author of “1,001 Ways to Reward Employees,” and president of Nelson Motivation, San Diego, managers have to be a little over the top in rewarding salespeople.

“You’re basically trying to create a buzz and it’s more important for that group than in most,” says Nelson. “An extreme reward would be sending sales winners to Road Atlanta to race professional race cars for a weekend. It’s stuff that, for most people, wouldn’t be on their list, but for salespeople, it is the bragging rights so they can tell their neighbors.”

Another method of motivation for salespeople is to give them more status within the organization. Nelson feels it is important for salespeople to be able to recognize the staff that supports them in their day-to-day work.

“Instead of incentivizing the salesperson for their own personal actions, I think it’s much more powerful and innovative to help them to be able to recognize others, the people on the team that help them,” Nelson says. “Sales managers need to show them and give them the wherewithal to thank everyone on the team. That will help them improve their relationships and their links with others.”

Sales managers in the jan/san industry have a unique opportunity to use motivation as a way to keep talented people on staff. Because of the “unglamorous” nature of the industry, Nelson says managers have to offer more of an experience for their staff.

“Because the intrinsic job has maybe less excitement, you have to work harder to create a buzz becomes the focus of attention,” Nelson explains. “It’s not how much toilet paper a person sold, it’s, ‘You did it again! You made your monthly numbers. I’m so proud of this team and what it’s done.’ It’s that buzz and excitement that has a huge carryover impact on motivation.”