It's January 2, 2008 - Where is Your Sales Talent?

With reports of workers losing faith in the economy and employers forecasting flat or reduced hiring in the New Year, it is that time of year when we ask the question..."What is the economic forecast for the Staffing industry next year"?

Considering the Staffing industry market is near to $90B, I ask..."Isn't it really about how we approach the marketplace"? When an industry is growing it is easy to increase your business, just jump on the economic escalator and focus on delivery. When the market is retreating it is not so easy, but with a multi-billion market at hand, it should be with the right strategy and tactics.

Many staffing firms leveraged the "escalator effect" to boost profits by leaving revenue-generating field positions open for extended periods or not investing in sales talent in all territories to reduce the cost base against market-driven revenue increases. This works in the economy that is now in our rear view mirror; however, in 2008 the pleasant escalator ride will fast become more like an unpleasant battleground for the firms caught with gaping revenue-generating vacancies.

The battle will be over market "share" and the strategy for 2008 will center on influencing hiring managers, human resources and procurement to change providers - in other words, the growth leaders of 2008 will take away business from their competitors.

The tactics are simple, yet difficult for most companies to execute. To win, the participants must have on the field a well-trained, prepared, and talented sales force before their competitors. To do so, companies must step back from cost management at the expense of deploying a business development workforce. With demand declining, cost containment on the personnel expense line will neither offset the revenue downturns, nor spur increases that have vaporized in the changing economy.

Investment in revenue-generating people is risky in an organization where headcount management, productivity per headcount metrics, compliance and delivery solutions has dominated profit-making strategies. But, as I will explore further in the New Year, there are some leverage points to mitigating the risk of playing to win in 2008:

Reduce "time to hire" for open revenue-generating positions- If you measure the total number of days selling branch management and/or sales representative, executive recruiting, blended-desk positions remained unfilled in 2007, you will likely be quite shocked. Count the markets that you have poor, limited or no sales representation and you will likely become frightened at your prospects for the New Year.

Consider additional sales representation in hot segments/markets- Deployment does not have to be uniform, focusing resources in "hot spots" proves to be cost-effective. You can plan for hiring sales talent in waves to spread out costs against results, but don’t wait too long—the economy changes quickly for the leading-edge Staffing industry—you are already “behind the 8-Ball” so to speak.

Make people the metric- Start holding field managers accountable for filling revenue-generating positions with a sense of urgency by measuring days open, averaging-in open slots with current productivity measures to detect lost opportunities, and recognize the tactical leaders who field a team in play early on in 2008.

Reduce on-boarding time- Revamp your hiring process in terms of steps and priority to cut by half the time it takes to recruit, assess background/fit and make an offer. Use internal, corporate and external resources to grab up talent before your competitors acquire the best of a limited pool of top-performers.

Accelerate training time- Compress training for revenue-generating roles to a boot-camp, immersion-style of delivery to reduce by two-thirds the time it takes to make a new hire ready and competent to face customers persuasively.

Create networks for sales talent- Promote a sales culture with newsletters, chat rooms, blogs, meetings, conference calls, webinars, contests, rankings, and recognitions to bring together the sales team for motivation, further development and peer mentoring.

The greatest challenge to overcome in a retreating economy is not whether a company can grow against prior-year economic-driven benchmarks (which it can). The greater challenge is can industry leaders operationally turnaround their laissez-faire attitude regarding fielding sales talent and make the necessary shifts to strengthen their company’s sales culture, sales-support platform and scope of sales “coverage” across their market footprint before it is too late for cost reductions to protect earnings and shareholder value.