Recruiting Inspires Transformation
By Larry Kesslin Evolving any company is a challenge, but the transformation that the average transactional channel partner is going through is even harder. It seems evident that over the next few years more and more clients will be moving their IT and communications technology to a virtual environment. This transformation will cause some upset to the “box pushers” and “circuit slingers” that cant adapt. The biggest change will be for the executives and employees who cant reposition their thinking to meet the new customer demand.
In the hardware/software channels, thousands of industry salespeople who are used to selling gear or software dont understand the shift to recurring revenue and selling business solutions that are operationalized, not capitalized, might not make it through this wave of change. Selling large capital projects is much different than selling recurring contracts. First of all, the commission structure is much different and the drivers for success are much different.
On the network side, there are equal numbers of agents that are used to being order takers for ever-greater bandwidth or selling voice and data plans at an ever-widening discount. Selling complex solutions like UC or cloud that supplant existing business productivity tools is a very different exercise.
In either case, the conversation with the buyer turns from a technical conversation about a point product or service to a business conversation about solving a problem or need. Many current salespeople are not ready for that transformation. The employee of the future needs to be bilingual” fluent in both techie and business speak.
Before you put up the want ads, work with your existing teams and help them see the future of the marketplace and your company’s desired role in that future. However, if your existing team does not see the future, you might need to drag them there. One way to do that is to recruit people who do see this future and plant them within your organization to inspire others.
It is hard enough to recruit and integrate new employees into your current environment, so trying to recruit the employee of the future” will be that much harder. For greater success, you’ll need to:
- Define your new business model
- Identify the key skills and attributes that your new culture will require
- Develop a solid recruiting strategy
The first step is to define the future you see for your business. What is your product/service set moving forward? How will clients purchase your products and services?
The second step is to figure out what type of person your company needs to sell and service those solutions.
Most hardware-focused companies today hire high-end engineers to design and implement highly technical solutions. As their client bases transition to a virtual delivery solution, the need for those resources decreases and they need lower level technical resources to maintain systems, not build them. This shift is challenging for the solution provider and the engineers.
Most telecom agents hire sales people with a basic understanding of carrier bandwidth speeds and feeds. The shift of complex IT technologies to a service-delivery model requires them to develop a greater technical understanding of the systems and functions that are being managed or migrated to the cloud and over the connections they are selling already. The knowledge required no longer ends at the carrier demarc, but extends to the desktop. While, an engineering degree may not be required, becoming familiar and conversant with years of legacy premises-based technology deployments and their virtual equivalents is recommended.
In addition to identifying skill sets needed, you also should consider the type of person you will want to help your company make what is likely to be an uncomfortable journey.
Finally, make sure that recruiting is a process in your business and not just a one-time activity. Define procedures for hiring that that include the following elements:
- Create a solid candidate pool (do not recruit from a pool of one!)
- Develop a company presentation that impacts a potential candidate and gets them excited about coming to work for your company
- Learn to interview really well
- Involve others, including potential peers and direct report, in the recruiting process
- Test candidates during the interview process; dont make it easy
- Use behavioral tools and background checks to screen out poor candidates
- Set realistic expectations with potential hires
- Develop a solid on-boarding process for new recruits
Once you have these pieces in place, execute and prepare your company for the future.
Larry Kesslin is the president of 4-Profit, an advisory services company working exclusively within the IT and telecom channel. Over the past 20 years, Kesslin has worked with solutions providers as well as numerous vendors and distributors. An excerpt of his latest book, Break Points Where Businesses Get Stuck,” is available in the White Paper section of the Channel Partners Resource Center.
