Recruiting in the new sales environment

fltHgnn's A sI-ow. suBrLE shift underway in how building I materials companies are recruiting salespeople. In my recent conversations with distributors, I found it interesting to learn just how surprised they were by this major change, since it goes against years of conventional wisdom.

After three decades of selling to and for LBM distributors and retailers, and training hundreds of sales staff, I am excited about finally being able to help companies navigate through these trying times.

Why are these changes occurring? Selling has undergone a massive shift in the past l0 years. If your salespeople are still selling transactionally-presenting features and benefits-or they are selling only on the strength of their great long-term relationships, then they are having difficulty generating business from new accounts, as well as growing their existing accounts.

Customers are more educated and, in some cases, they know more than the typical salesperson of l0 years ago. Back then, the salesperson educated the customer, who often welcomed the information. Today, customers usually know what they want and are looking for the best value or-worse-the best price. Salespeople are learning that the relationship is not enough to overcome resistance and objections.

Today, a consultative approach that uncovers problems and opportunities and leads to discussions about issues that your customers hadn't considered works best to differentiate your company and move your salespeople away from commodities and prices. They must develop the ability to ask a lot of good, tough, timely questions while using an effective sales process.

Customers must notice your salespeople. They need to