Why, lately, have ATM executives started asking, "Where can I recruit better ATM salespeople?"
Like in many industries, everything in the ATM business starts with a sale, which makes the people who make up your sales force that much more critical. The key to effectively recruiting the right ATM salespeople is to start by developing an ideal candidate profile. We all would like a self-starting, money-motivated, results-orientated salesperson. But every ATM company is managed and run differently, each with its own personality.
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You should always be recruiting, even when your staff is full.
ATM companies should have an overall strategy to recruit salespeople all the time. It should be a never-ending process and part of the company policy that every day is "Recruitment Day." Everyone in the organization, from the administrator to the manager to the service technician and existing salesperson, should have incentives to constantly recruit new sales talent.
You may not be hiring but you should always be recruiting. You don't want to make the common mistake of waiting until you need a new salesperson before you begin recruiting. Hiring or contracting great salespeople in the ATM business is a process, not an event. Where to recruit?
There are 12 great places where ATM companies can successfully recruit new ATM sales candidates. Here are six of them. 1. Your sales team. The first place you should look is within your existing sales force. Many ATM salespeople work for more than one ATM company. Ask your salespeople about all of their ATM businesses. 2. Promote your business. Have an open house and invite your competitors' salespeople, your customers, your contractors and other businesses to meet your staff and see the office. It's much easier to recruit someone who's been warmly invited to your business and has met the team. If your business has a good reputation, then your competitor's salespeople will beat a fast path to your door during an open house. Recruiting from within the ATM business will dramatically reduce the cost and time of training new hires, as well. 3. Ask your bank. Many ATM companies are trying to build relationships with banks and credit unions to increase business, sell more equipment and co-brand. The easiest way to do this is to really understand the banking industry culture. Who understands that culture better than bankers? No one. Because of the economy, many of yesterday's successful bankers are today's unemployed bankers. So, recruit these former bankers to consult (or sell) for your business. You should use their knowledge of contacts in the banking industry to help your company build relationships. 4. Get online. Does your Web site have a current salesperson job listing? Have you tried online sales recruiting sites like www.RepHunter.com or www.SalesJobHunter.com? These sites and many others like them recruit commission-only sales professionals for many industries like ours. 5. Ask your customers. Your customers have a limited understanding of the ATM business, and if they have a good relationship with your company, they would be happy to suggest someone whom they deem qualified. Also, many of us have customers from Korea, India, Pakistan and other countries. Recruiting salespeople from existing customers of different cultures will help your business sell more effectively into those cultures. Finally, ask your customers about the other salespeople that approach them. Your customers may know good salespeople that may not be happy with their current products or employers. 6. Host career events. Have short, 30- to 45-minute career events geared toward salespeople in similar industries. This has been a great recruitment tool in other sales and service industries. Do this weekly, and each week change the business that you are recruiting from. Advertise in local online magazines and industry trade publications for a part-time salesperson who already is selling ATMs. This is an easy and fast way to fill your office with motivated, part-time, experienced salespeople. You could advertise to a dozen different industries that have successful direct salespeople.
By the way, most of those salespeople do not receive any residual income, and if they knew the secret of our business model, they would love to be in the ATM business full-time. Using these ideas should help your ATM business have a constantly replenishing funnel of potential ATM sales candidates.
Damien Fitzgerald owns DTD Marketing, a small marketing and consulting firm that focuses on the ATM field and other industries. To submit a comment, please e-mail the editor, Tracy Kitten.
