Learning the ropes: a successful installed sales program starts with hiring and training the right employees

Prosales, August, 2003 by Katy Tomasulo

When it comes time to roll out your new installed sales program to the ranks, no matter how much planning you put into the business blueprint or how much you invest in software or consulting, it's unlikely to get off the ground without the support of knowledgeable, trained people. Whether you're a single-location dealer with one or two employees in your installed sales program or you operate as a segment of a nationwide operation, the people you hire and the subcontractors you utilize often will be the deciding factor in how efficient the program runs, how successful it becomes, and how well the products are installed.

The ideal hierarchical structure of employees within an installed sales program depends largely on the size of the company and the installed sales program itself, hut in commenting on the most important human resources and hiring issues in this arena, the dealers and expert consultants PROSALES tapped herein drew many common conclusions on the best ways to address staffing and personnel issues. Here's a summary of what they had to sag

For Hire

While larger companies may utilize an installed sales manager, several project managers, and a number of crews, and a smaller company with fewer employees may overlap tasks, the role of installed sales manager, or an equivalent position, is the most important for ensuring that any size program runs well. Unfortunately, it also can be one of the hardest positions to fill because it requires an employee who has the right mix of construction experience along with excellent managerial skills.

First and foremost, installed sales managers must be able to multi-task and handle a variety of management functions, often Including scheduling, hiring and firing, and working with salespeople, just to name a few. Ideally, the installed sales manager has a background in several construction trades, but also can manage people, represent the company and sell the concept, and demonstrate attention to detail, success with directing, budgeting, and planning, and a willingness to learn. In return, it's imperative that dealers be willing to pay well enough to compete with comparable trade positions.

"They're a one-man show" explains Ric Colbear, president of Compu-Skren, a retail recruiting company based in Toronto. "So not only do they have to be out there selling and promoting and all the rest, they've got to be really well organized and have a high degree of attention to detail."

"We're finding that the installed sales managers that are ex-contractors but have some sales and business expertise as opposed to just purely good craftsmanship are turning out to be very good as managers," says Murray Cutler, lumber and building materials and Installed sales marketing manager for St. Jacobs, Ontario-based Home Hardware Stores. Cutler helped develop and utilizes Compu-Skren's services for hiring Installed sales managers and other positions (see "Big Screen? right).

That also is the case at Nisbet Brower in Loveland, Ohio. Senior vice president Brian Critchell utilizes a labor coordinator in place of an installed sales manager to coordinate framing installations and an in-house administrative scheduler to organize installations of countertops, cabinets, and doors. For the labor coordinator position, "We want a guy with some experience. We want a guy to be able to look at a plan and be able to read it. We want him to be able to understand he has to be able to get the respect of the carpenter contractors. He has to know what he's doing and know how to manage and [move] a job."

Usually, dealers should consider hiring from outside the company for installed sales managers, as it may be easier to teach an employee with a construction background the dealer side of the business than the other way around. "We really are builders at this point and we really need to begin to think Like a builder," says Jim Enter, president of Performance Achievement Group, a consulting firm and roundtable facilitator based in Murells Inlet, S.C. "We need to hire someone from the construction community. We need to hire a project manager that has sales skills. And then we need to bring them into our business vs. trying to take a lumber salesman and take him into that side of the business."

Project managers traveling between sites, managing work flows, and supervising installations, also should have a background hi the construction trades.

Sub Role

For many dealers, the decision to use in-house installers or to sub out the work often comes down to which product categories are being installed, says Enter. Typically, for specialty work like framing and roofing, subs are most common, while for smaller jobs like shower doors, countertops, and locksets it may be more economical mid efficient to use in-house workers. For windows, some dealers feel that using in-house installers provides more control over installation quality.

If you choose to use subs, it's important to supervise them as much as you would an in-house installer, if not more, and screen and pre-qualify them as you would with new employees.