From Training to Transformation: The Key to Sustaining Change
If you’re like most staffing leaders, you’re probably planning a skills improvement initiative for later this year, currently running a sales or...
2 min read
Dan Fisher
:
May 26, 2016 8:00:00 AM
In my last post, I wrote about how most IT staffing firms make the major mistake of compensating their sales managers incorrectly, inadvertently encouraging them to focus on their own books of business, rather than developing the skills of their team. But compensation is only part of the problem. Many IT staffing firms are hiring the wrong sales managers in the first place.
I’m not saying the owners of IT staffing firms are careless about their businesses. But for all their experience in IT staffing, they often lack the know-how for hiring good sales leaders.
Without anything else to go on, the owners of most IT staffing companies figure the best sales manager is someone who is really good at sales. And it’s easy to be wowed by smooth-talking salespeople with impressive success records.
But think about it: Even bad salespeople can sell themselves; top salespeople, even more so. But that doesn’t mean they know how to recruit a team, make their successes repeatable, and make a company scalable.
The truth is, great salespeople don’t necessarily make great sales managers. So what should you be looking for in your next sales manager?
Searching for Mr. Scalability
In my popular blog post, “What Type of Sales VP to Hire for Your IT Staffing Firm,” I describe the four types of sales managers you could hire. Different types are a good fit for different firms, but for 80 percent of staffing firms (the same 80 percent that is in the risky position of relying on a single salesperson and a single account for the majority of their revenue), I recommend “Mr. Scalability.”
As I explain in my blog post, Mr. Scalability isn’t just a good salesperson. He “knows how to recruit, hire, and train salespeople” enabling your whole sales team to meet quota, bring in new accounts, and grow your business.
If you’re interviewing candidates for sales manager position, use the checklist below to make sure you’re talking to Mr. Scalability:
What else would you look for in sales manager for your IT staffing firm? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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