CALENDAR
BINDING
SOLUTIONS
Wire-o
Tinning
Plasticoil
Eyeletting
Perfect Binding *
(on demand – short run)
YORK
BINDERY
T: 416-609-8878
F: 416-609-8904
Toll Free 1-800-720-4718
paresh@yorkbindery.com
BUSINESS FORMS
Sterling Value
Sterling Results
Business Forms
Bond, Carbon & Carbonless
Laser Cut Sheets
Continuous Forms & Snapsets
Cheques & Security Documents
Brochures, Promotional Printing
Graphic Design & Prepress
Tel: 905-839-4657
1-888-257-2570
Fax: 905-839-7598
992 Dillingham Road, Pickering, ON
Ontario’s Business Forms Printer
for over 50 years
printing@sterlinglitho.com
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Cert no. SGS-COC-005843
CA09/55188
We are proud to be FSC Certified and an ISO 9001:2008 Company
SPECIALTY PRINTING
• Foil Stamping
• Embossing • Die Cutting
• Holography • Letterpress
(905) 827-6009
Fax: (905) 827-5228
houseoffoil@bellnet.ca
1428 Speers Road, Units 13 & 14, Oakville, ON L6L 5M1
q Work experience
What sales jobs has he or she had in
the past?
Has the candidate worked within the
graphic industry?
w Education
Does the candidate have a high-school
or university degree?
e Technical skills and specialized
training
Is the candidate familiar with web,
sheetfed and or toner-based printing?
Has the candidate taken any specific
sales courses?
r Achievements
What was the candidate’s sales
volume last year and the year prior?
From their resume, you can quickly determine if the candidate has the ability to
sell printing or if you will need to invest in
training. If you determine that the candidate cannot do the job, meaning that the
candidate lacks the appropriate skills (
selling and/or technical), you must ask yourself the following vital question: Am I
willing to invest the time and money to
train the new salesperson?
Keep in mind that an unwillingness to
train a new salesperson is not an indication
of poor management. It is often a reflection
of reality. It is quite natural in business that
you do not have the time, will, patience, financing, or skills needed to train a new sales
candidate. So if your answer to the above
question is No, a candidate that needs training must be immediately eliminated from
further consideration.
Can-do Jack
Jack has worked as an estimator for the
past five years, for example, and now wants
to get into print sales. Although he has a
very strong print background, he has no
sales experience. During the interview,
however, he shows a strong desire to learn.
In fact, he has registered to take a sales-training course. Should you consider Jack
as a candidate?
I have seen estimators do exceptionally
well in sales, because they truly understand
the dynamics of getting a job on press, but
if you are unwilling to work with Jack to develop his selling skills you must eliminate
him from your candidate list. Do not be influenced by his desire or even the fact that
he has taken a sales course.
For example, would you hire a press operator with no experience, other than the
fact that he or she has taken a 2-hour course
on how to run a press – of course not. Irrespective of how much desire that press operator shows, they would be doomed to fail
unless you were willing to train them. The
same situation holds true for salespeople.
On the other hand, if you are already running weekly sales training sessions and you
are willing to spend a few weeks teaching
the new candidate how to prospect, make a
powerful presentation, handle objection,
handle price and close, then Jack may be the
ideal new salesperson.
C an-do Jill
Jill has a strong sales background. Having
been trained by Xerox, she has spent the
past three years selling office copiers. In fact,
Jill is one of the top income earners in the
company. Although Jill believes that she
could do well selling printing she has no in-
dustry experience. In fact, she doesn’t know
the difference between web and sheetfed
offset printing. Should you hire Jill?
Although Jill has a lot to offer, because
she knows how to sell and has strong business contacts, again, you must eliminate Jill
from further consideration unless you are
willing to train her.
The will-do mentality
Just because someone has the ability to find
and land new accounts (meaning they can
do the job), it does not mean that he or she
will do what is required. You need look no
further than your existing sales staff to
prove this point. We have all become frustrated with talented salespeople that seem
content servicing their existing accounts
and who resist going after new business?
Assuming that prospecting is your primary hiring criteria, the will do factor is the
key to predicting a new sales candidate’s
success. Important hiring insight: A sales
candidate’s previous prospecting activity is
the best and most-accurate indicator of future activity. Which means, if the candidate
did not prospect on a daily basis, at his or
her previous position, it is highly unlikely
that they will engage in this activity should
you bring them on board. And if the candidate is not willing to prospect, they will not
succeed.
Will-do Rick
Rick has been selling printing for just over
six years. During the past three years, his
sales have grown steadily. He is presently
selling about $60,000 a month and believes
that he could do much better. His reason
for leaving his previous job is that he has
outgrown the small printer he is presently
employed by. His reference checks have all
been very positive. Should you hire Rick?
At first glance, Rick is an ideal candidate
and most of us would welcome the opportunity to bring him on board. After all, he
certainly has the – can-do – ability to do the
job. His track record proves it. Just because
Rick is selling $60,000 a month at his present job, however, is not a guarantee that he
will perform equally well when he joins
your company.
Rick will only be successful if he will do
the day-to-day activities that lead to success.
Reflecting back to our primary hiring criteria, you want to know if Rick’s past history indicates that he is willing to perform
the day-to-day tasks that are required to rebuild his client base. In other words, will he
prospect on a daily basis?
For example, if during the interview you
ask “Rick what do you like best about working at your present position? And he said,
“Well they have a great lead generating program that keeps me busy so I never had to
make a cold call.” Would you still be as anxious to hire Rick? Probably not, unless you
have a well-established lead-generating pro-
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