Channel Elite Express Webinar Series August, 2008

1. Channel Elite Express Webinar Series August, 2008 “Recruiting, Hiring and Retaining Top Sales and Technical Talent”

2. From CMP to… Everything Channel • Channel Consulting, Education and Market Intelligence • Over 50 years of collective experience in the channel • Thousands of partner profiles in every geography • More than 90,000 interviews with Channel Partners and their customers annually 2

3. Agenda Challenges to Growth Recruiting is a Process Staffing Insights Hiring and Retention Best Practices

4. Challenges to Solution Provider Growth

5. What is your Growth Plan? Revenue Number of customers Number of employees Do you have a formal strategy in place for finding, recruiting, hiring, and retaining high quality people? Recruiting plan Director of human resources / hiring professional What is the quality/impact of your hiring decisions? Few hires who have stayed for a long time Many hires that have stayed and grown the company Many hires that have stayed briefly and must be replaced Staffing Strategy Health Checkup

6. Recruiting Demands Attention HARD SCIENCE (What Solution Providers are “Usually” Good At) Engineering Systems Design Technology Integration Process Execution Troubleshooting Performance Monitoring SOFT SCIENCE (What It Takes to be Good At Recruiting Humans) Culture Management Interpersonal Skills Vision Motivation Conflict Resolution Human Performance

7. Typical Solution Provider Profile Revenue: Less than $2 Million Annually Employees: Less than 20 Growth Rate: Less than 5% Annually Understanding Capacity Dynamics People + Process + Tools = Production Capacity While automation can improve productivity, it can’t acquire customers, manage relationships, communicate with decision makers, manage a business, etc. The Role of Humans in Managed Services MYTH: Unlimited scalability based on tools and automation REALITY: You can scale the business faster than you can scale your headcount, but staffing is a critical success factor. The Reality About Growth

8. Capacity Growth Options Hire Additional Employees Headcount Same, Increase Productivity Outsource Not Planning to Grow Capacity Get Acquired/Merge Acquire a Company Challenge: Remains biggest Obstacle to Growth, but Highest Strategic Priority Sales Technical

9. Agenda Challenges to Growth Recruiting is a Process Staffing Insights Hiring and Retention Best Practices

10. Who’s Doing the Recruiting? Office Manager 7% Best Practice: Other 6% Sr Management has primary responsibility for recruitment Bright Spot: SPs understand importance of hiring the right people CEO/President 33% HR Director 24% Sr. Management 29%

11. Staffing Needs to Be a Strategic Priority 1. Business Strategy • Senior Management Responsibility • Consistent Implementation & Continuous Improvement • Core Competency and Element of Competitive Advantage • Repeatable, Scalable and Teachable 2. Growth Objectives 3. Employee Retention Integrated Recruiting Methodology 4. Roles & Responsibilities 5. Profile Characteristics 6. Networking & Awareness 7. Advertising & Active Recruiting

12. Effective Recruiting is a Business Process 1. Business Strategy 2. Growth Objectives 3. Employee Retention 4. Roles & Responsibilities 5. Profile Characteristics 6. Networking & Awareness 7. Advertising & Active Recruiting

13. Agenda Challenges to Growth Recruiting is a Process Staffing Insights Hiring and Retention Best Practices

14. Recruitment Strategies Only Per Open Position Continual Basis Quarterly Annual Trend: Reactive Behavior 75% of the time SPs are Hiring Only in Sales is Continuous Recruiting Occurring (and only at 10% of the time) Sales Technical

15. Sales/Technical Employee Turnover Drivers Personal Reasons Competitor: Title/Pay Work/Life Balance Layoff: Reorg Competitor: Ownership Stake Layoff: M&A Equity & M&A surprisingly less of a factor in movement Sales Technical

16. Retention Challenges Compensation Lack of Qualified Sales Applicants Company Culture Fit Competition from Other SPs and/or Vendors Lack of Time: Hiring/Retaining Organizational Structure Bandwith Lack of IT Skills Set Challenge: Match Making Becomes Key to Hiring and Holding onto Right People Sales Technical

17. Incentives for the “New Breed” Professional Sales Training Cross Skills Training: Sales/Engineering Non Financial Incentives Tuition Reimbursement Technical Cert Training Comp Rewards: Certification Differentiator: Cross Training to Create “Hybrids” Sales Technical

18. Agenda Challenges to Growth A Systematic Approach to Recruiting Staffing Insights Hiring and Retention Best Practices

19. Level of Difficulty: Hiring v Retaining Hiring RANK Retaining 1 2 3 4 Technical/Engineers (48%) Management Employees (36%) Sales (34%) Marketing Specialists (25%) Technical/Engineers (22%) Marketing Specialists (11%) Management Employees (10%) Sales (6%) • Technical Staff: 50% More Difficult to Hire vsSales • Sales Reps: 5-6x More Difficult to Hire Than They are to Retain

20. INTERVIEWING … A two-way conversation that helps you understand the nature of this particular human + helps them understand the job, culture, goals, expectations. PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES … Always ask for them; always check them (job performance and personal character) MAKE THE OFFER … Formal; written; include compensation plans and benefits and job description ONBOARDING METHODOLOGY … A consistent, systematic process that defines the first quarter with written responsibilities and performance objectives SCHEDULED PERFORMANCE REVIEWS…Inspect what you expect. Keys to Effective Candidate Engagement

21. Always Be Recruiting … Whether you have an open position or not, always be searching for the highest caliber sales people to upgrade your business development capacity Catch the Proven Players … Don’t just recruit the competition, focus on the reps who win consistently and have proven they can execute in a managed services environment Be Specific About the Opportunity … Carefully define opportunities and expectations – and don’t be afraid to make a lucrative offer to a high-powered rep (design the comp plan right) Show Your Commitment to Resources … Don’t just send your reps to the wolves, support them with people, tools, etc. Proven Best Practices: Sales Reps

22. Build a "Consulting" Culture … Not just a place where technical people work, but a business that’s designed to maximize the opportunity for true consultants Invest in Development / Career Path … No matter how good they are today, they’ll need to know you are committed to helping them get better – and then rewarding them for that growth Attitude Matters … No matter how talented a technician is, a bad attitude will corrupt your culture internally and externally – remember, you can teach skills, but not personality Selling and Provisioning is a “Team Sport”…create a collaborative and team-oriented culture that will foster quality work and delivery Clarify Expectations … Right up front, be clear about exactly what you’ll want your techs to do, whether it’s popular or not Proven Best Practices: Technicians

23. Blocking & Tackling: Do What You Said You Would Do Expect – And Reward – Innovation … Raise your expectations and people will rise to meet them (if they believe they’ll be rewarded or recognized). Pay Attention to Work / Life Balance … Be respect the limits of reality and actually encourage your people to have a life beyond the office Plan for Advancement and Succession… Understand your people’s career aspirations; reward performance; manage your staffing plan to include re-assignments and promotions Talk About the Elephant … Seek to understand the issues on your peoples’ minds and make time to address them (as groups or individuals) Be Deliberate & Realistic …Professionals want to be respected and trusted. Let them in on your business strategies, planning and making decisions Create and Maintain a Culture of Excellence…Lead by example; communicate your purpose, standards, goals; recognize achievements. Proven Best Practices: Retention

24. Leadership in Theory Set the Direction for the Business Own and Actively Administer the Culture Inspire and Motivate through Vision and Action Have a Plan, Work the Plan, Demonstrate Accountability Leadership in Practice Participate in the Interviewing Process Schedule and Deliver Regular Progress Reviews / Reports Track, Measure, and Publish Effectiveness Do Something About Performance / Lack Thereof Always Be Recruiting Actively Seek Input … And then Be Open to It In the End… “It’s management’s role and responsibility to lead and empower their people to achieve superior results.”