Sales Recruitment In The Supply Chain Profession

An important part of the supply chain for most companies in the United Kingdom is a strong sales team. While many people associate the supply chain with elaborate flow charts and planning the best method of shipment for products, sales people are vital to an efficient supply chain. After all, products finish their lives in the supply chain on show room floors and retail storefronts. Sales people in these retail outlets help complete the cycle for corporations, though there is a need for exceptional people who understand that the cycle is continuous instead of a one time event. Retail outlets are not the only place where sales recruitment can improve the supply chain.

Corporations need skilled sales people in their headquarters to assist with the sale of products to wholesalers, corporations, and government agencies. These sales people are vital in moving large amounts of inventory, with the ultimate goal retaining a number of clients to ensure a smooth moving supply chain. Corporate sales people are integral in the supply chain and their recruitment is an important part of the overall success of a business. Sales recruitment in the supply chain profession is vital to the success of a company for many reasons.

Companies need to recruit young sales professionals, typically recent graduates of UK universities, in order to ensure that the personnel chain is parallel to the supply chain. In other words, there is a need for an efficient accounting of personnel needs in the present and the future. A company that has too many veteran sales people or too many graduate trainees is in as much trouble as if they had their products stacked in a distribution centre instead of a storefront. Companies and sales people interested in the supply chain field also need to realise their symbiotic need for recruitment.

The best companies in the UK need to look at a great sales staff as an investment in a free flowing supply chain. Sales people need to view corporate recruitment as an opportunity to prove their ability to improve the functioning of the supply chain. Sales professionals interested in the supply chain need to consider their role in helping their company create an efficient supply process.

Retail sales people can view each sale as an opportunity to put more products on the shelves. Corporate sales people can see their large sales to a government agency as an opportunity to clear out space in the distribution centre for the latest line of products.

Mark Doherty is a Director of Alexander Chapel Associates. A specialist sales recruitment company with a focus in IT sales jobs, logistics jobs and supply chain recruitment.