Finding and Retaining the Right Salespeople

“PI® has been a real success for us. We now have an effective hiring and management strategy for each role in the company.” Chuck Cohen President

Founded in 1930 by Benjamin Cohen, Benco Dental sells supplies, equipment, and practice consulting to dentists throughout the U.S. Benco has 850 employees in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, as well as in New England, the South, and the Midwest.

The Challenge:
To meet Benco’s aggressive sales growth goals, George Rable, Director of Human Resources, needed to find and retain the right people for the company’s four types of sales positions. He recognized that, depending on the product and the prospective customer, the different jobs require individuals with varying combinations of assertiveness, people skills, pace, and detail-orientation. “For instance, relationship building is more important for some of our sales jobs than for others,” he said.

The Process:
Rable discovered that the Predictive Index (PI) could help. With his PI Consultant, he designed behavioral job profiles for each of the four selling positions. He discovered that PI could show him the traits linked to success in each position and the management strategies that would result in better retention.

For an equipment salesperson called in by dentists for major purchases, Benco needs an individual with technical orientation, analytical skills, and a direct communication style. Territory representatives, expected to increase new accounts and create volume, need persuasiveness and assertiveness, especially if working in a new territory. Benco practice development consultants must be operationally oriented with attention to detail and good relationship building skills. For customer service representatives who primarily handle inbound sales and maintenance of existing accounts, patience and a methodical, diligent approach result in top performance.

The Results:
“Over the last couple of years, our turnover rates have declined by 18%, saving the company over a half million dollars in the costs of hiring, wages, and productivity. PI has certainly been a contributing factor in that,” Rable said.

Benco President Chuck Cohen agrees, “PI has been a real success for us. We now have an effective hiring and management strategy for each role in the company.”