RJM has accumulated years of experience interviewing candidates in the third-party logistics and supply chain spaces. Below is a brief summary of the types of commercial candidates and roles that can be assigned to enhance commercial performances for hiring companies. In addition, pros , cons and support systems required to enable candidates to thrive in such roles has been mentioned. Admittedly , these descriptions do not apply to every candidate in the market so can be considered as a generalisation
The Sales hunter
Activities associated include cold calling , lots of phone work, attending networking events and pumping out emails. This type of candidate is normally for a high energy person who can handle rejection. Many commercial professionals start their career here and therefore lack experience or a track record which can be easily sensed by their target audience. Often due to the lack of experience such individuals may be good at opening doors but lack the expertise to write projects and close them so need good operational support in the background. Often as a result such candidates become door knockers and burn out so the their roles can be short lived before wishing to move onto to a new role or company. Hiring companies need to be inventive and design the candidates career path if they are to retain their services .
The Business Development pro
Such a candidate will have been in the industry for longer than a fresh sales hunter so have a track record and larger contact base. Therefore they have the luxury of calling upon warm contacts and have a respectable success rate with referral based business. Such an individual will work smart and be excellent at developing and maintaining long term relationships with customers. They will still need back office support after bringing potential customers to the table for discussions so can work well with an accomplished operations and customer services department and will have had experience building internal relationships across multiple departments.
The Key Account Specialist
If you are a business with a broad customer base performing at low volume capacity and have the required supply chain competency and facilities a key account manager is the way forward. A seasoned professional can work wonders in ensuring a business client portfolio and its customers are in alignment. This type of candidate can join the dotes up, take lower level accounts to enterprise status over time. Don’t rush them for results , they need time to think and plan and sow the seeds. Such candidates are worth their weight in gold as they build , develop and maintain customer relationships and present appealing logistics solutions. They are not sales hunters but well connected and have a nice hybrid of commercial and operational expertise. Such a candidate is not the right choice for a business start up or young company, they are perfect for a company that already has a presence and need facilities and systems in place to take the business to the next level
The Seasoned Commercial Director
The seasoned professional is all of the above. The bullseye but very few candidates want these types of hands on commercial roles for a number of reasons. These candidates are rare as they have the skillsets , they can and will sales hunt, they have warm contacts to call upon, they have managed small and large customer accounts and have excellent soft skills. They are tried and proven at opening AND closing deals and are masters at keeping customers (new and existing) onside and managing their expectations. What makes such candidates rare is they still have the hunger and the energy to engage in such a hands on role , ivory tower doesn’t come into the equation for them. Lastly, these professionals are well respected and know how to interact with different internal departments and work towards the same goals.
But if a hiring company is fortunate enough to come across such a candidate they are best advised to make the hire and yes, such candidates do not come cheap. Don’t try and buy a gold plated Rolls Royce if you are only committed to investing in a BMW. Play the long game. Ensure the candidate is throughly interviewed, its OK to ask them for a business plan towards the end of the interview process and do the due diligence of the hire to ensure you have as much information to suggest the candidate is committed to the long haul and sincere. Reference checks conducted with high level referees is advised. If a hiring company is in such a position don’t ruin it by low balling this senior professional with a crummy offer. If a hiring company is going to go in cheap or set silly and unrealistic targets such as the candidate must cover the amount invested in them inside 6 months, don’t bother wasting time as the hire wont happen after investing a considerable amount of time and leave a hiring companies reputation in tatters.
And finally the worst ….
Hiring an inexperienced candidate to operate alone and in isolation. Need I say more, such roles are a heavy investment as although total compensation is likely to be modest , its a sure bet that not much will come back in terms ion revenue. RJM has interviewed candidates over the years that are tasked with inflated sales targets by their employer. In addition, they are isolated from operation, customer service and other departments operating as there is a lack of collaboration between departments which ensures the task of the candidate is impossibly uphill and without the support they need. Such hires reflect poorly on a hiring companies culture and employment brands as young candidates are hired for roles they are not qualified for. While they may add new contacts to the database
Don’t try and put square pegs into round holes , know which of the above four you are dealing with and hire candidates into the right role or create it
Interested in a confidential chat about what’s on going on with 3 PL and supply chain talent, happy to help over a complimentary consultation and answer any equations you may have
Comments