7-26-2012
You did your homework, you posted, interviewed, reviewed, re-interviewed, checked references, made the offer and now after four months of searching, it is time for the new seller to start.
What are the next steps you take?:
-- Show them their desk and the phone with a pat on the back wishing them good luck
-- Turn them over to their department head and hope for the best
-- Put them in a conference room to train themselves
-- Check in after 30 days to see how they are doing
I can assure you, that if you are doing any of the above, your hard work in finding and hiring them will probably be wasted as they will not be effective and may not stay with you for long. With the investment of time and money, your turnover costs will remain high. That is good money that can be spent on training to make sure your managers are hiring the right person and getting them ramped up to start earning sooner rather than later.
As we encourage hiring managers to take their time to build the right recruitment tools such as descriptive job profiles, strategic interviews, and probing references, we often see that they don't follow up with some key steps: training the manager in how to handle orientation, formal training for the new hire, and monitoring them to ensure they are moving in the right direction.
Having a strategic plan in place to expose the new seller to the team, the processes, the actual selling of radio, how to position your station(s), how to prospect and overcome objections, these key essentials of success are not things that are learned immediately, even for a seasoned seller. Commit your plan to paper and share it with all team leaders so that all of your managers are on the same page. By all means, spend time regularly with the new hire to ascertain where there are before it is too late. Consider having a daily recap at the end of the day for the first few weeks and as they progress, move it to once or twice a week. Remember, to learn new skills repetition and support are crucial.
Laurie Kahn is Founder and President of Media Staffing Network and can be reached at 480-306-8930 or via e-mail at laurie@mediastaffingnetwork.com. Visit the Media Staffing Website www.mediastaffingnetwork.com
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