The UK and European economies are not in good shape having been in recession since 2008 and the need for companies to increase revenues has never been greater. To this end we have a number of clients who are now making positive moves to recruit additional or better salesmen.
Here at Dobson Lyle we assist that recruitment process by profiling shortlisted candidates. Being close to our clients and understanding their corporate culture and specific demands enables us to work very affectively offering a first class prompt service to ensure they recruit the right candidates.
Many of our clients are technology focused and a general consensuses is that sales candidates must be technically focused with a strong persuasive interest. This ensures that they can interact with technical buyers but have total focus and control over the sales process and thoroughly understand the market place, its opportunities and dynamics.
Now, we must remember that most people can sell, but in their own style. So for example, people who are numerically focused would sell by highlighting the numerical advantages of the proposition. Technically focused individuals would highlight how wonderful their solution and technical answers were for the client.
But so often the types of sales men I have just described do not have the understanding of an out and out focused salesman.
We have heard at board meeting when reviewing order intake prospects, “well I have given them the quote”…… yes ?……..and?
“Oh we lost the order, they were talking to somebody else as well”……. Why did we not know this?
In one company chasing a major overseas prospect the answer came back..” well they have not rung me for two or three month”……What?
At Dobson Lyle with our many years of corporate and commercial experience we have helped bring to the conscious mind of boards where they are falling short in term of sales representation, to great affect.
The most common issues we have to overcome are that in a technology environment, salesmen usually have different traits to engineers that make them appear different. Too often a technology lead company will see these traits in an individual as somewhat “strange” and believe that their contribution will be minimal. Or put crudely only they believe only engineers can sell.
Secondly is the role of recruitment agencies who in search of their fees send along ”suitable candidates”. We have just completed one assignment where the quality of candidates was really quite removed from the clients requirements and in fairness to the agencies what is happening here is that social acceptable answers given by the candidates and a truthful statement that “I have been in sales for years” hid the truth that they were far removed from what was required. That is a highly persuasive technical person. We even profiled sales man who should have been accountants and on one occasion one with not persuasive interest what so ever.
We are quite fortunate that all of our clients are progressing in difficult times because they rigorously profile candidate against their requirement to have the aptitude to do the job and all will fit into a established working team.