Episode Summary
Hiring new people has become one of the most challenging tasks for a company. Given how incredibly competitive compensation plans have become, it’s hard to chase talent as they’re ready to turn down any offer that doesn’t meet their needs.
However, should compensation be the determining factor for a candidate? Even if compensation plans aren’t as convenient as expected, candidates should look at the opportunities available at the company and how they can use them to gain valuable experience in the field, whether it’s sales or something else.
In this episode of Taking the Lead, Christina Brady welcomes Amber Smith, the VP of Small Business & Mid-Market Sales at InsideView (a Demandbase company). They get into the challenges of hiring talent, how compensation plans impact the candidate’s decision while choosing a company, the importance of chasing opportunities, and other ideas concerning hiring and paying employees today.
Guest Profile
- Name: Amber Smith
- What she does: Amber is the VP of Small Business & Mid-Market Sales at InsideView (a Demandbase company).
- Company: InsideView
- Noteworthy: Amber dreamed about becoming a teacher when she was little. Although she doesn't work at a school, teaching is a prominent part of her role and her ability to coach and educate future employees.
Key Insights
- Be open to an opportunity that presents itself. Amber thinks that no one can go wrong with chasing the actual opportunities that present themselves while working at a company. "At the end of the day, you have to be open to any opportunity that presents itself. So, the best thing that you can do with the organization that you're at is to make connections with others outside the company. If you're in sales and want to explore, start making those connections. [...] The worst thing that you can do is wait for an opportunity to present itself and then try to go after it."
- Salespeople want to be with an organization that helps them grow. According to Amber, employees — especially salespeople — want to be a part of an organization that fosters development and growth. And that's another factor that impacts their decision, in addition to compensation plans. "You work for comp plans, [...] but you also work for a company that you are excited about, and want to grow with. When you hire salespeople, they want to be with an organization where they can grow and develop, they're challenged and respected, everything is fair, and there's little politics. In the recruitment part of the organization, if you can compete in educating the people there, you have a plan to help them grow."
- Keep compensation plans as consistent as possible. Amber believes in consistent compensation plans that don't change too often. Otherwise, employees might be confused and unaware of their actual earnings, which affects the company's recruiting and hiring process. "You won’t be able to keep a sales team that can't figure out how to calculate their comp because it's changing so much. You need to keep it somewhat consistent. [...] If they're spending half of their time figuring out their comp plans because it switches so often, that's not good."
Episode Highlights
People Choose Companies That Help Them Grow and Develop
“People want to invest in a company they believe in, and a manager or a leader that they can work with, that inspires them, and motivates them to grow. And if you can make that connection in the interview process and have some of the people on your team make that connection, […] that is really inspiring. It’s like, ‘Let’s talk about your future. Let’s talk about what you want.’ And there’s evidence with your current team to show that this isn’t lip service, but you’re actually helping people grow their careers and develop, and they’ve interacted with those people in the interview process. People will take less pay to be at a company and be with a leader that wants to put their career first and help them develop.”
As a Recruiter, You Have to Be Quick
“You have to be quick. You can’t sit on a candidate for weeks or months. If you have the interview process lined out ahead of time, I understand what else is going on with that person and that candidate. Make sure that you’re on the same page, […] move through the process, and see if it makes sense, especially if it’s a candidate that you’re really excited about. You do not want to lose [them], and they’re probably interviewing with someone else who feels the same way.
Time is also your greatest asset as a leader. And one thing that you don’t want to do for yourself or your team is put them down the path of chasing a candidate that you have no opportunity to win because their expectations are too high. So, why spend 10 hours or 20 hours interviewing a leader, a manager, or an individual contributor when you can’t win?”
You Can Tell If a Candidate Is Serious About Your Company or Not
“At the end of the day, you can tell if a candidate is serious about your company based on their research and their knowledge about your organization and your process. If they’re asking intelligent questions, if they’re curious about how the company is going to be, what the company’s growth plans are, or your plans for the next 2 to 5 or 10 years, those conversations lead to knowing that a candidate is more serious about us, versus if someone’s going through the motions, and asking some very high-level questions, but not digging in as if they want to be a long-term fit.”
Invest in a Person Who is Coachable
“Sales is one of those positions where they need to get deeper into the role so that you can see them early in the process. And until you get them going, it is hard to identify if they’re going to be a good fit or a bad fit. […] So, have your managers coach [them]. If they can coach this person and this person is coachable, then invest. Because getting a person on your team who’s coachable and acts on that, is hard to come by. So, don’t just say, ‘This person’s not working,’ and throw them out. Give them an exercise. See if they’re coachable. If they are, take them in and invest; make sure that they’re implementing the coaching you or your team have provided. […] But if they are not coachable, sometimes it’s better to say, ‘Hey, this isn’t working,’ out of respect.”
Are Comp Plans for Sales Too Volatile?
“Try to keep it [comp plans] simple and don’t switch it up so often. Going back to the hiring and comp plans where people are like, ‘Okay, we have to hire this person. So, we have to throw them $50,000 or $20,000 extra to get them to come on board.’ That’s a slippery slope, too, because you go back to your current employees where their comp plan looks like this. And all of a sudden, they have the same quota that this new person has, but the latter is making $50,000 more. Now you have a retention issue because sales people talk. So, how do you pair comp plans and recruiting and hiring? I think that those two go hand-in-hand. You can’t roll out new comp plans all the time without thinking about how it impacts your hiring and recruiting.”