If you’ve recently started up a B2B company, you’re going to need employees. And not just any employees. The most successful B2B organisations have teams who are motivated, skilled and engaged enough to radiate that engagement onto the customers themselves.
Any B2B company leader will know how important existing customers are when it comes to their prospects. They are likely to spend far more on products, keeping the retention rates strong, and their lifetime value will increase with every consecutive year that they are loyal to a business.
Your employees, then, are going to be the difference when it comes to forging that relationship. They are the ones who will be liaising with the clients, keeping them engaged and building your revenue stream.
With this in mind, here are five things you should be looking for when reading a prospective employee’s CV:
Their Communication Skills
The first – and perhaps most important – attribute is the employee’s communication skills. There are many B2B marketing channels – click here for a look at the most popular – but one of the most effective is in-person events.
This is a way to communicate directly with clients and really build upon that relationship. In this way, any employee will need to be personable, happy to communicate and have experience in dealing with customers one-on-one.
Their Sales Skills
Of course, this is still a selling job, so your employees will need to be well-versed in that area and have the skills to nail a sale. In B2B, every customer is different and will present their own challenges. Your employees need to know how to switch their tactics between clients and have previous experience in achieving this.
Their Critical-Thinking Skills
As mentioned before, every customer is different, and each will have their own needs and views about where the company can go. Your employee, therefore, must have experience in critical thinking and be able to judge each client separately – and then turn that judgement into a strategy to make the sale and keep the customer loyal.
Their Knowledge Of The Area
B2B can often be area-specific. When you’re working out where to locate a business, you are not choosing a place based on its aesthetics or low rent. If, for instance, you have chosen to base your company in Cornwall, then it means a large portion of your customer base will reside in Cornwall. The employee, then, needs to have an acute knowledge of the area and what prospective customers are looking for.
Their Success Stories
Lastly, it’s important to note any success stories the employee has. A CV is not just a way for your employees to demonstrate qualifications but to effectively boast about achievements and put themselves in a good position to get the job.
With a B2B company, you want your employees to be engaged and motivated, with a constant aim to reach their next goal and essentially outdo themselves. Reading the success stories will give you a good idea of their aspirations and their personality – in other words, whether they are driven. This will then inform your decision about whether they are the right person to drive your company forward.
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