We tried again in 2015 to recruit a sales rep that would be ‘in the field’ every day, bringing in new, lucrative business for us. They came on board in April, having spent the past ten years working for the three largest companies within our market sector and with a good track record of sales. As usual, it ended in tears four months later with minimal sales and lots of excuses. Our mistake this time was not realising that we had recruited an average account manager. What we actually wanted was a hunter gatherer.
Speaking to somebody recently, they made a bold statement that got the Mole thinking a bit deeper about the subject: “The traditional sales rep is dead”.
With a lot of us trying to avoid the ‘selling on price’ conundrum, we are all looking at other ways to sell our services, and this is where the traditional print sales rep would probably struggle. We are not looking for a straightforward order taker anymore. We’re looking for a completely different beast altogether. Somebody who can add value to the sales process, that fully understands the needs of the client, can offer creative and visual solutions and provide an organised, consultative approach. What is agreed with the client has to be achievable in real terms and within budget. Finally, they need to be able to communicate clearly with their own production team to ensure that the end project is delivered correctly, first time around and to budget.
Like me, you’re probably thinking that finding this kind of person is going to be no easy task. Over the year’s I’ve struggled to find a good ‘bog standard’ order taking sales rep, let alone a consultative, creative, project and account managing one. However, now that I’ve identified the kind of person I do need, the challenge is there waiting for me – where do I find that person? Probably not from our side of the fence. If we employ somebody good at selling print, then all they will do is sell print, not solutions.
We need to look elsewhere. Maybe the client side, where there are lots of people that have real knowledge of how our target market works and thinks. Want to break into top retailers and sell them your services? Then employ somebody who has real knowledge of that market from the retailer’s perspective, not the print provider’s.
I’m just off to write that job description…..
