As a VP of Sales or Sales Manager of a copier dealership, the number one driver of your success is recruiting a great sales team. If you don’t have great players, you’re going to struggle. A sales team is similar to a college football team. If the team recruits great players they are set up to have a good season. If they fail to recruit great players they are in a lot of trouble. (With condolences to my friends who are Arkansas, Tennessee, or Nebraska fans this season!)
What can we learn from college football to help us recruit better reps? Here are a few ideas.
You Need to Build a Winning Environment
Why do schools invest in the latest practice facilities and expanded stadiums? They know that top players are evaluating the environment when choosing a school. Great facilities communicate a sense of success demonstrating that the organization is willing to invest in the team.
What does your dealership look like to a prospective recruit? You don’t necessarily need to have offices like Apple or Google. However, does your sales office look like you care about your business? Or is it thrown together?
You Need to Build a Great Brand
Some universities have created a brand that attracts players. Alabama, Ohio State, and Clemson have created a brand of winning. Other schools like Notre Dame have created iconic brands that many people want to associate with. Then there is the University of Oregon with their weekly uniform changes and Boise State with their blue field. All of this branding helps attract players.
What about your dealership? What kind of brand image are you projecting? These days, your brand image goes beyond your physical facility to your online presence. Does your website present your company as a cool, tech-savvy organization? Or does it look like you cobbled together a template website sometime back in 2008? A poor website is like a college team with bleacher seating trying to compete for players with other schools that have stadiums with 70,000 seats.
What about your dealership’s social presence? If you’re going to attract millennial sales reps, you better have a solid social presence that showcases the culture of your company.
You Need Great Equipment
College football players want to see the workout facilities of a prospective university. Similarly, your sales reps want to know what kind of equipment you’re going to provide them.
Does your dealership provide the latest technology to your sales reps? Do you have a CRM that pulls useful information from your ERP system? Do you have sales automation software to help your sales reps automate prospecting to get more appointments? Do you provide social selling tools?
You Need a Great Support Staff
A winning college team has a deep team of coaches. What about your sales reps? What kind of support do they get? Are you handing them a box of business cards and wishing them good luck? Or, do you provide the training they need? Do you have an inside sales team that can help provide appointments?
If you want great people on your team you need to be able to compete for the best talent. Smart investments can yield big results, helping you win more sales, maximize your income, and reduce turnover.
