(by Laurie Kahn) You think your biggest pain or challenge is to find new sellers for your team, but guess what? Other companies are also looking to hire, in media and outside of media, and they are coming after your people! We recently had one client who had a seller on their team get approached by three different companies, in one week, looking to hire in their market. We love the approach and totally embrace it as the future of finding your next hires.
But what are you going to do to keep those that you want on your team?
As we promote in our training, don’t stop selling the candidate when they become an employee. Keep them motivated, challenged, and entertained after they start and remain on your staff. Listen to their concerns, show compassion, and don’t talk down or minimize their issues — sometimes a good ear is all they need. Coach them on how to present solutions to help both their clients and your company win. Share solid examples and support on how they can get ahead. Value their opinion, find out what it really takes to get the order in today’s competitive world — especially those managers who haven’t been on the streets for awhile. Go on calls with them.
Create an office environment where people want to go to work each day. Having a clean, friendly workplace is helpful not only when clients come in, but can also help in recruiting and retaining staff.
Offer free coffee, soft drinks, snacks, or bring pizza in once in awhile. Host some fun events and contests to build teamwork and incentives. Invest in the necessary tools and training to help your team succeed. Don’t assume that because someone has been with you for several years, they are not going to leave you; if they are as good as you think they are, so will other companies and they will come after them. Don’t wait until someone comes in to resign to rework their deal or try to change their mind, because in most cases the damage is already done. You should give them their accolades and advancement without them having to quit.
Keep talking to your staff individually to do “head checks” to make sure they are happy. Forget about management by intimidation, those days are long gone. All companies and all industries are in dire need of strong, talented sellers, so be sure to take care of what you have now.
