The Coming Labor SHORTAGE

September's IndustryWeek magazine mentions some interesting facts. While the common wisdom is that manufacturing jobs are no longer available in the U.S, some 14 MILLION people remain in the U.S. manufactufing work force. While many jobs have gone overseas, the biggest concern growing now is that there is a gap between the numbers of jobs that will be available the the QUALITY of the potential future employees.

I recently met with the CEO of a technology provider about adding to his sales force. His concern was being able to find good, quality talent for the coming year. He had recently let a sales person go after about 4 months. After tallying up the salary paid, the benefits, the recruiting costs and the management time it added up to nearly $100,000. That doesn't even count the sales that didn't happen during that time!

After some analysis and cogitation I told him that the key to successfully scaling his sales force is to develop a VALIDATED and well-developed SALES ROAD MAP. What I mean is a deliberate, written analysis of HOW CUSTOMERS BUY, verified discussions with potential customers to fully understand the pains the customers are experiencing and TRUE ALIGNMENT of your product/service offerings and the customer's pains. Sounds pretty basic, but it's not often done.

With plans to add 6-8 sales reps I asked him if he can afford to make a $800,000 mistake? The answer is obvious. Can you? Do you spend as much time at CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT as you do PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT? It's time worth taking.

GMS