By Nimsoft Guest Blog 2

MSP talent pool

They include…

1. Know Who You’re Looking For

The only thing that’s worse than not having enough sales talent is not having the right sales talent, so it’s critical start with an understanding of who you need to hire.

Many emerging service providers are trying to transition from a history as a VAR. Making this transition has fundamental implications for the sales organization. Ultimately, it takes a different kind of sales person. A sales person at a VAR can be successful by having a transactional approach: quickly defining specs, selling product, and moving on to the next deal. For a service provider to succeed, a different kind of salesperson is required.

Recently, one our customers put it much better than I could. Noted Kevin Crowe, director of managed services at Long View Systems:

In addition, sales reps need to have the expertise to understand the client’s technical environment, their challenges and opportunities, and knowledgeably guide them toward the optimal systems and services for their business. Successful sales reps need to really listen to the prospective customer, understand their requirements, and be committed to helping them find a solution.

2. Happy Employees: The Best Recruiters

When it comes to attracting and retaining the right employees, happy employees can have a multiplier effect—representing the best way to attract qualified new talent. In this regard, it’s important to view employees like clients: they need to be willing to act as a reference for your business. Whether when out at lunch, on vacation, on the train, etc., they need to be telling positive stories about your business, its culture, and its prospects. With so many MSP employees embracing social networking, this positive, employee-generated buzz can be even more powerful in terms of its reach and impact.

This is cost effective and opportunistic recruiting. It’s also highly targeted recruiting. If you think about the superstars you have inside your organization, they will tend to spend time with people that have the same values, the same work ethic, the same abilities, the same intelligence. When looking to bring on new hires, those are the people you want.

3. Recruit by Engaging in the Community

It is also important to be part of the service provider community. Today, there are blogs, like MSPmentor, forums, groups, conferences, panel discussions, and a host of other arenas in which you can participate in this community, and contribute to its advancement.

By gaining visibility as an expert and a contributor, you and your organization can enjoy a range of benefits, including help with recruiting. This exposure in the community can help boost your visibility and that of your business, and it can help establish a positive reputation among other service providers, many of which may be strong candidates for future openings. Especially with today’s technology-centric, social networking-centric generation, participating in the community can really aid recruiting efforts.

4. Nurture and Recruit from Within

Some of your best managed services talent is inside your company today. Service provider executives need to make employee development a priority.

This is key for two fundamental reasons:

How about you? Are you looking to hire sales folks? How successful have you been? What’s worked and what hasn’t?

Phil LaForge is VP and GM, service providers at Nimsoft. Monthly guest blogs such as this one are part of MSPmentor’s annual platinum sponsorship. Read all of Nimsoft’s guest blogs here.