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Education
StreetSmarts SM
Hiring for success
By Tom Waters and Ben Abel do it. If this is done correctly, your team will contribute to
Bank Associates Merchant Services your company's development without your intervention.
Editor's note: While the current Street Smarts authors, Tom Waters The characteristics of a successful hire have evolved as
SM
and Ben Able, are working as a team; occasionally, one of them will pen our company has continued to mature. Many factors have
a solo article reflecting his unique experiences. This article is by Tom affected our needs analysis; we are constantly refining
Waters. our recruiting methods. Where we once sought agents
to facilitate our sales process, we now seek those to
hen Bank Associates Merchant Services was influence it. The gear has been shifted from finding doers
in its early growth stages, I handpicked our to cultivating leaders.
sales team from start to finish. Once our
W first true sales process had been fashioned Humble beginnings
and proven to be effective among a limited sales force, it
was time to expand its application to others deemed wor- Armed with a handful of commission-only reps and
thy enough to brandish our business cards. a shoestring budget, I set out to engage the general
public and source the very best recruits, at a discount.
The first step was to create the channels and processes With a carefully crafted job description and a registered
that would screen candidates eligible for our training account at Craigslist, I learned my first hard lessons in
program. I had to "build the funnel." The original recipe agent recruiting: time is valuable; do all you can to avoid
of our hiring process was carefully crafted, intensely wasting it.
pursued and 90 percent wrong. I soon learned there is no
magic bullet to winning quality recruits. Even if a candidate has a perfect resume, the person's
eligibility could evaporate within the first three seconds
The hiring process never truly has a finish line. When of a prescreening call. A phone sales position requires
salespeople stop growing, they immediately begin to a specific phone presence. At first, I felt terrible when
surrender their hard work to the encroaching lines of I could sense right away the candidate was not a good
competing forces. An innovative hiring process must fit. I would often delicately phrase my rejection with an
be translated into a dependable training program. The essence of optimism.
predominant qualities of a new hire must include the
ability to absorb your training methods and apply them After about 20 sympathetic rejections, I began to cut the
effectively – easier said than done. conversations much shorter. At 100, I learned five magical
words: "The position has been filled." Short, blameless and
But once a reliable team takes hold of the company's resolute, those simple utterings helped avoid the awkward
ambition, it is truly a beautiful sight to witness. The thread rebuttals to "I don't think you have the right experience"
of your core values begins to interweave through your or "This isn't a customer support position."
staff and create the seeds to a genuine corporate culture.
It is that cohesion that allows you to break away from With a tactful dismissal process enacted, it was time
teaching what to do and realign your focus toward how to to adjust the prescreening questionnaire to weed out
unqualified candidates more efficiently.
44
StreetSmarts SM
Hiring for success
By Tom Waters and Ben Abel do it. If this is done correctly, your team will contribute to
Bank Associates Merchant Services your company's development without your intervention.
Editor's note: While the current Street Smarts authors, Tom Waters The characteristics of a successful hire have evolved as
SM
and Ben Able, are working as a team; occasionally, one of them will pen our company has continued to mature. Many factors have
a solo article reflecting his unique experiences. This article is by Tom affected our needs analysis; we are constantly refining
Waters. our recruiting methods. Where we once sought agents
to facilitate our sales process, we now seek those to
hen Bank Associates Merchant Services was influence it. The gear has been shifted from finding doers
in its early growth stages, I handpicked our to cultivating leaders.
sales team from start to finish. Once our
W first true sales process had been fashioned Humble beginnings
and proven to be effective among a limited sales force, it
was time to expand its application to others deemed wor- Armed with a handful of commission-only reps and
thy enough to brandish our business cards. a shoestring budget, I set out to engage the general
public and source the very best recruits, at a discount.
The first step was to create the channels and processes With a carefully crafted job description and a registered
that would screen candidates eligible for our training account at Craigslist, I learned my first hard lessons in
program. I had to "build the funnel." The original recipe agent recruiting: time is valuable; do all you can to avoid
of our hiring process was carefully crafted, intensely wasting it.
pursued and 90 percent wrong. I soon learned there is no
magic bullet to winning quality recruits. Even if a candidate has a perfect resume, the person's
eligibility could evaporate within the first three seconds
The hiring process never truly has a finish line. When of a prescreening call. A phone sales position requires
salespeople stop growing, they immediately begin to a specific phone presence. At first, I felt terrible when
surrender their hard work to the encroaching lines of I could sense right away the candidate was not a good
competing forces. An innovative hiring process must fit. I would often delicately phrase my rejection with an
be translated into a dependable training program. The essence of optimism.
predominant qualities of a new hire must include the
ability to absorb your training methods and apply them After about 20 sympathetic rejections, I began to cut the
effectively – easier said than done. conversations much shorter. At 100, I learned five magical
words: "The position has been filled." Short, blameless and
But once a reliable team takes hold of the company's resolute, those simple utterings helped avoid the awkward
ambition, it is truly a beautiful sight to witness. The thread rebuttals to "I don't think you have the right experience"
of your core values begins to interweave through your or "This isn't a customer support position."
staff and create the seeds to a genuine corporate culture.
It is that cohesion that allows you to break away from With a tactful dismissal process enacted, it was time
teaching what to do and realign your focus toward how to to adjust the prescreening questionnaire to weed out
unqualified candidates more efficiently.
44
