No one likes to waste time.
It’s easy to not worry about recruitment when you don’t have a job opening. You have budgets to hit, expenses to cut, people to coach, reports to complete. Spending time interviewing for a job that doesn’t exist feels like a serious waste of time. I get it.
But it’s not.
You will eventually need to make a hire. It may be far into the future, but it will happen, and when it does, you need to be ready.
Here’s why you need to build a Talent Bank to come out on top:
- You’ll avoid the downtime of an empty desk and not have to worry about covering lists while you start your search to fill your open position.
- You’ll hire the best person rather than just a person since you’ve already figured out who is out there and what they bring to the table.
- Rather than paying for padded resumes, you will hire people who have the potential for greatness.
- And you’ll spend less money because you will not be negotiating from a position of desperation.
- You will have fewer misfires and enjoy lower turnover because of your more thoughtful approach. Putting the right people in the right seats makes everyone happier and more productive.
- Your current salespeople will feel a greater sense of pride in the caliber of the team.
- You will never be handcuffed to mediocre.
- Your customers will receive better service as a result of the increased talent overall and the consistency of the care they receive.
I challenge you to start a talent bank today if you have not done that already and add at least one person in the next week.
How do you do this?
If you are a client of The Center for Sales Strategy, we’ve made it easy for you. Just log in to our website, go to your Talent Dashboard, and click on Talent Bank. We will walk you through from there.
If you are not a client, you can go old-school and still get great results! All you need is a notebook, a file folder, or a word document. Whatever works best for you.
- Capture the name and contact information for an individual that you believe may have promise.
- Make a note about their level of experience: Is the candidate a rookie? Do they have some sales experience but not in your industry? Are they an industry veteran?
- Jot down any additional notes that you might find helpful. Who referred them? Have you spoken in person? Over the phone?
- Focus on Talent, completing a validated talent assessment so you know just what you are working with.
The best out there come up with a plan and work it consistently. Build that plan today by answering these two questions:
- How many people can you commit to adding to your Talent Bank each month? One manager I spoke with today strives to add one person a week. Others may add one person a month. What is right for you?
- How often can you commit to nurturing your Talent Bank, either emailing or calling, or meeting with the people you have added? One person a month? More? Less?
The first step is to make the commitment to do this, and then you can adjust your plan as you go.
Do the work now so when the need arises you will be ready!
