How to Hire A-Players: Finding the Top People for ... - GIT home page

Don’t Just Sit There. Reach Out! 85
to sell their products. Another company in the sales incentive industry
tried mightily to recruit salespeople from their competitors
because they thought industry experience was so crucial. Yet their
top two salespeople had no industry experience before coming to
the company. The lesson: Find great salespeople no matter their
background. They will pay off for you.
A-Player Principle: Typically you can teach a great salesperson
the technical aspects of your industry. Never drop
great salespeople from your farm team just because they
don’t have experience in your industry.
Stay until the Quesadillas Are Scorched
Professional associations, industry conferences, networking
events—you are likely already attending such groups. You don’t
have to engage in much more networking than you already are to
find A-players, but you do have to make the networking you’re doing
pay off. Some people are natural networkers who thrive on
meeting new people. I recently went to my wife’s twentieth high
school reunion. Among the people I met that night was a friend of
hers named Matthew who works in business development for an
advertising firm in New York City. At about 11 p.m., I glanced
around the room, and there was Matthew, laughing and talking with
a bunch of people at the bar not associated with our group. He was
standing in a room full of old friends and was having a great time
making new friends as well. To people like Matthew, a stranger is
just a friend they haven’t met yet. They can’t get enough of networking
events, and they typically know how to get results out of them.
While I’ve developed into a strong networker, I’m no Matthew—I
have to work at it. If you’re like I am, use my number-one principle
for making the networking you are already doing pay off: stay until
the quesadillas are scorching. At networking events, the appetizers
are usually set out in silver chafing dishes with little cans of Sterno