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

Would You Know an A-Player if You Met One? 23
As a result, the A-Player Profile for inside sales at Supplies
Network is an assertive, people-oriented individual who can
prospect and also deliver consistent customer service. Early in
the company’s growth, this led to an innovative advertising
strategy. Supplies Network ran ads for customer service representatives
despite the fact that it was filling sales positions.
Knowing its A-Player Profile enabled the organization to expand
its pool of candidates from people with proven inside sales
experience to anyone with customer service experience. Next,
it used assessment tools to identify the most assertive and outgoing
of these candidates. This cut the pool down to customer
service people with a sales profile. Finally, company managers
interviewed the candidates to assess their sales skills and customer
orientation.
A-Player Principle: Find a large pool of people who have
the basic skills you are looking for, interview a lot of them,
and hire the best. That is a simple formula for consistently
hiring A-players.
Supplies Network used classified advertising successfully early
on, and it has grown from revenue of $70 million in 1999 to approximately
$400 million today. To find the right people to support and
fuel this progress, the company’s recruiting strategies have developed
as well. Today, the company relies more on referrals and less
on advertising, but it still knows exactly what kind of person it’s
looking to hire. Senior Vice President of Sales and Operations
Barney Kister, introduced in Chapter 1, starts from the premise that
although there are a lot of good people out there, you have to work
to find them. He tells us, ‘‘If you want an organization of top-notch
people, you have to invest time in building it. It’s just like getting
into top physical shape. You don’t work out one day per week; you