In October of 2021 I was contacted by an electric sign company where I had previously served as a partner during the 1990’s. They had lost one salesperson to COVID and another was returning home to the east coast. They also had lost their sales manager to another health issue. They needed help with replacing some of these folks if not all.
The company had a couple of ads running on Indeed and asked if maybe I could screen those. I agreed to do so and we also discussed me providing sales training to whoever we might hire. This would include implementing Nimble CRM.
I began work in earnest. Let’s just say that the job market had changed since the last time I had hired a salesperson. As I went through the applicants, most were not qualified for sales let alone management and the few who might be did not even respond. I would guess that I interviewed less than 10% of those who I invited.
I literally ended up with one, ONE, applicant who I was comfortable recommending for hire. He did not have a B2B sales background (he was a banker), no electric sign experience, and he was new to Boise so he had few connections. But he did have one thing … the right attitude.
He followed up with me consistently during the interviewing process and convinced me that he would do whatever I asked him to do. I also ran a DISC profile on him in order to uncover any red, or green, flags. You can pretty much always expect observed behaviors during interviews to carry over to the job. While he had management experience, he would need to start in sales.
We brought him on in November and I worked with him in person and online for the next two to three months. This included putting him on Nimble CRM and teaching him how to leverage that platform to increase his sales. I also went on some calls with him including some significant opportunities and I placed him in a leads group.
As he had promised me, if I asked him or suggested that he do something, he did so gladly. I taught him about the business and every aspect of sign sales. He also turned out to be an acute listener and I swear that he might have a photographic memory. Bonus points. He worked his CRM religiously. Results?
It’s always about results. His first full year of sales (calendar year 2022) were in excess of $1,000,000. This was without the aid of a sales manager although he did get any needed assistance and support from management and other team members. I stayed involved, but only in the background. He earned every dollar!
His quantity of valid opportunities was quite good. He did hit on a couple of high dollar value deals. The overall deal value mix was good. His closing ratio was above 70% and I know that he was not cherry picking projects. All good numbers!
Now, I can’t speak for your industry but in my 45 years of doing this … for someone to book over a million dollars in sales in their first year is nothing less than extraordinary! I’ve never seen anything close. It is so unusual, perhaps it should come with a disclaimer … “These results are not typical and your results may vary.” 🙂
I then followed this up by placing another seasoned sales rep with the company. I had helped hire and train this gal back in 2007. Her qualities were similar. While she had no background in sign sales, she was willing and anxious to learn. As a result, she has been highly successful throughout her entire sign sales career.
Maybe I can do the same for you? Please book a free 30-minute Zoom consultation with me if you would like to find out more.
Craig M. Jamieson
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