by Robin Ashton
Mike Hawkins and I speak often on a variety of topics. Founder of Michael J. Hawkins, the preeminent foodservice E&S market executive search firm, he knows the ins and outs of this business about as well as anyone I know. I often joke I know a lot of things I can’t tell anyone; he knows a lot more.
Mike Hawkins
Employment is his bailiwick, so we’ve been talking often recently about the labor challenges facing foodservice and lots of other sectors coming out of the pandemic. The other day he got up on his soap box—he’s very capable of telling folks what he thinks—and told me what he finds to be key some challenges on the E&S side of foodservice. I think it so worth sharing, I asked him to write it up.
On the E&S side of the business, he believes the problem is not so much a labor shortage, as it is shortage of talent, and a specific kind of talent, in a specific market function: the manufacturer regional sales rep. As he notes below, it’s not the fault of those who currently perform this function. It’s just that the skills needed now are different than they were.
He doesn’t put it in this context, but the change in skills needed now, not just for the “regionals’” function, but for everyone trying to sell stuff on the capital goods side of foodservice, is a result of the maturity of the market. At least in the US market—the most mature in the world—about the only way to grow is by taking share. And that’s really, really hard in a still very fragmented market with way more than a million foodservice kitchens, and where the capital goods needs of the end-users shift constantly.
We often say that the E&S business is a relationship business when it comes to sales at every level. It is, for sure, and will likely remain so. It also requires consultive selling skills.
But I’ll let him speak his piece:
“The lack of sales management talent that can professionally manage, open new business, and provide asset value is really starting to hurt our industry.”
“It is reflected in the amount of time we spend at my company trying to get quantifiable business results on resumes. It is like pulling teeth.”
“First and foremost, our clients are looking for a true business manager who can develop the business strategy for a geographic area, assist with marketing initiatives, including demographics and competitive analysis, while at the same time having an understanding of the latest CRM technology.”
“In the past, “regionals” ( we have placed several hundred of them) have been great people—working hard, travelling constantly, with excellent product knowledge, making sure that they supported their reps and dealers to the best of their ability.
“The new breed of “Business Director”, in addition to managing these activities professionally also needs to be able to orchestrate and lead the charge in the development of new business. A key part of the job description should be taking share from the competitor, and not from arm’s length, but by personal involvement in the hunt for incremental revenues.”
“This “hunter” mentality is beyond the skill set of many of the traditional regionals, and I see countless retirements or departures into the “careers du jour” such as real estate, selling mortgages or even worse, pharma which is basically transporting food into doctors’ offices.”
“Finding exceptional performers is not always best left solely to in-house recruiting efforts, which often do not uncover those hidden superstars that are not searching through job boards or indeed even looking for a new position.”
“Partnership programs with professional recruitment exist to give companies exposure to the entire waterfront of the industry and should be investigated.”
“Throw into the mix the perpetual “elephant in the room” inability of many dealer salespeople to transition into the factory or rep world and one can see why the “time to fill” open positions will continue to lead to industry wide frustration.
“During two recent searches for business development directors, several hundred names surfaced in our industry database, but only a handful could prove they have a track record of being disruptive, consistently taking market share from their competition and opening new business.”
“In this fantastic industry of ours we need to start training our salespeople on how they can become “The Brand” in their own domains, and how they need to run towards their fear of rejection which is a thing that true “hunters” seek out and embrace.”
“Once that is done, they are also going to need to be well compensated for their growth as this and ego is what drives them.”
Because Hawkins works with companies across the E&S OEM and channel spectrum, he needs to be circumspect. I can be a bit more direct: The “elephant in the room” he refers to above is the practice of punishing a company that recruits away a talented employee. This particularly happens when a manufacturer, rep or even chain operator recruits a person from the dealer community.
But it is by no means exclusively dealers that are guilty. Let’s be fair: Another part of the problem is few at any level are consistently committed to spending money and time on training. And manufacturers, reps and chains have often depended on the dealer community to “break in” new entrants to the E&S labor market.
This is even more fraught in the age of Millennials and Gen-Zers, who expect an employer to provide such training, but without expecting to make a long-term commitment to the employer. After all, they have seen very little long-term commitment from employers through the Great Recession and now the pandemic. And those events just sped up a disconnect that has been developing since the late 1970s. Gig economy, anyone?
I, and Hawkins, could go on a long time about the challenges the market faces in recruiting and retaining talented people, especially younger people, and making sure they have the skills required for the evolving industry. It’s not like NAFEM, MAFSI, FEDA, FCSI and CFESA haven’t recognized these issues for years and tried. But like everything else, the pandemic has both clarified and accelerated the rate of change in a market that is already challenged.
Be well and do good.
*published with the permission of both Robin Ashton and Mike Hawkins
