Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • April 1, 2019 • Hartford Business Journal 21 BUSINESS STRATEGY How small biz find talent in a tight labor market By Ed Marchetti and Joe Gianni O ver the past year, small business owners have expressed record confidence in their local economies and, as a result, many are attempting to expand their business or increase hiring. However, this growth has been somewhat tempered by one of the tightest labor markets in half-a- century. With Connecticut's unemployment rate sitting at 3.8 percent, it is un- likely that we will see the market loosen anytime soon. Therefore, entrepreneurs must look for ways to stand out from the crowd when competing for talent. According to our most recent Bank of America Small Business Owner Report, 67 percent of business owners plan to expand in 2019, and 27 percent are look- ing to hire. At the same time, 58 percent say it is difficult to find qualified talent, with many saying their inability to find new employees is having a direct impact on business growth. Our report also found business owners have embraced the following tactics, to attract top talent amid a tight labor market: 1. Shifting to a more flexible culture Small businesses are often heralded for having less bureaucracy and offer- ing more creative freedom versus large corporations. Business owners should embrace that reputation and can even look to expand it further by offering a more flexible workplace culture. This can mean anything from offering the option for employees to work remotely or set their own hours, to switching to casual dress everyday rather than just on Fridays and holidays. In fact, our study found 57 percent of entrepreneurs already say they are offering flexible hours to attract talent, and 33 percent are offering flexible work locations. 2. Using social media more actively Posting updates and photos on social channels is also a good way to market yourself, not only to poten- tial customers, but to prospective employees. Through platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter, you can share content that highlights your company's culture and allows prospective employees to get a sense of what working with your company might be like. Many business owners report that they are using social media to reach out to new talent. From various job networking and listing sites like LinkedIn to more gen- eralized social channels like Facebook, social media provides a cost-effective method for reaching a wide audience of potential new hires. In addition, social media allows for people to easily share your job post- ing among their own networks. 3. Offering higher salaries At the end of the day, we all know that compensation — be it salary, benefits or a combination of the two — is often the determining factor in choosing a new job. Therefore, it is no surprise that 17 percent of busi- ness owners say they are offering higher salaries to attract prospective employees. When the job market is this tight, businesses need to be able to compete on salary to attract and retain workers. Before making an offer to a job can- didate, try to get a sense of what your competitors are offering and make sure that your package is competitive. Job hunters value company culture and workplace environment, but if you aren't offering at least comparable benefits, you may find it challenging to secure the top talent that can help your business thrive. Small business owners are planning for 2019 to be a year of growth, and to meet their goals they will need to make sure they have strong teams support- ing them. Today's successful entrepre- neurs are taking a holistic and compet- itive approach to hiring, considering their culture and social presence as well as salary to ensure they are poised to standout in the current crowded labor market. Ed Marchetti is vice president, small business banker at Bank of America in Hartford; Joe Gianni is B of A's market president for Greater Hartford. Ed Marchetti Joe Gianni EXPERTS CORNER How to mess up a company's sales By John Graham T housands of salespeople work in conditions that are stacked against their success. Even though it's 2019, the belief persists that "nothing happens until someone sells something." Repeated so often, no one challenges them. Yet, those six words help explain why salespeople are given "special treat- ment" by management and barely "tol- erated" by others. Salespeople are frequently viewed both as separate and more than equal. When co- workers complain about the sales department, someone says, "Hey, they bring us the business, so suck it up and smile." This dismal view has long passed its expiration date. Even so, it's disturbing since so much depends on the success- ful performance of the salesforce. Closely related is another problem and that's marketing. Unfortunately, it's still viewed as the handmaiden of sales in many companies, even though it long ago ran out of gas. In this view, marketing does what it's told to do. When this happens, marketing is rud- derless, all tactics and no strategy. Unfortunately, marketing's unique mission is often misunderstood or disre- garded. Its critical task of creating cus- tomers, those who want to do business with a brand, gets ignored. Or, as Seth Godin, the author of "This is Marketing," says, "Marketers don't use consumers to solve their company's problems; they use marketing to solve other people's problems." Unfortunately, marketers don't have a chance to do it. Here are three principles that can help anyone in marketing and sales do a better job and be more successful: 1. Get over the idea that "nothing happens until somebody sells something." Forty years ago, those in sales had a point. Salespeople were the link between companies and their custom- ers. Looking back, it's no exaggeration to say customers were their captives. They depended on a salesperson for product or services information, troubleshooting and support. The salesperson had a dual role, educating customers and closing sales. This may help explain why custom- ers were often far more welcoming to salespeople than they are today. Today, the sales role has been up- ended. When it comes to accurate sales information, customers are often better informed before they ever see a salesper- son. Sales are now so transaction-driven the salesperson's role continues to erode. On top of this, the task of identifying and accessing prospects is so frustrating, it borders on the impossible. All this points to a marketing-driven environment quite different from times past. It's one in which nothing happens until someone decides they want to do business with a company or a brand. Then, the salesperson may arrive to close the deal. 2. Have a clear understanding of why customers should do business with you. What separates you from the com- petition that makes a difference to your customers? What is your value statement? Unless your brand makes sense to customers, there's no sale. Jeff Short, the vice president of sales for K&W Tire, the Cooper Tire distribu- tor, tells of a meeting with a Connecticut tire dealer. Included in the meeting was a counter salesperson who asked Short, "What does Cooper Tire stand for?" Somewhat caught off guard, he replied. "Tier one quality at a tier two price; more tread patterns and designs than any other manufacturer; an American-owned company." Knowing that she liked sell- ing Nokian tires, Short asked her what Nokian stood for. She said, "Safety. They are the safest tires you can put on a car." As Short tells it, "Right then I knew I was done. She won that round hands down. She was more perceptive than all the other dealers I'd run into on this important point." And then he adds, "Someone needs to wake up as to what resonates with customers. I'm so sick of hearing about rebates, road hazard warranties and price." Short isn't alone. He has lots of friends. We call them customers. 3. Make a commitment to execute perfectly. "We've got to get this out tomorrow." "They need it now." "I know, but it's a rush." Such words do more damage to sales than just about anything else. "Just get it done" is a mindset, an attitude that permeates too many companies. The No. 1 enemy in all this is cutting corners. It sabotages best practices and best intentions and gives someone else a competitive advantage. John Graham is a marketing and sales strategy consultant. John Graham

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