Hiring and Training the Strongest Originators Presenters: Brad Harmon, CLP – First Star Capital Scott A. Wheeler, CLP – Wheeler Business Consulting 1

Recruiting, Hiring & Training (RHT) Quality Talent All size organizations, all markets, all segments of the industry are faced w/ the challenge Organizations must have an executable RHT plan in place to succeed in the market The Number #1 Challenge 2

How Do You Find Eagles … Eagles: strong originators that will take your organization to the next level When all applicants (and even some of the current staff) are Turkeys? Turkeys: originators that never fly, makes lots of noise, and are being prepared to be eaten (by the competition) Metaphor is compliment of: Mel Kleiman of Humetrics 3

Positives May bring a portion of their business to your company Less ramp-up time Less training required Provide new expertise to the organization Immediate returns Negative Usually higher up-font cost (salary, head hunter, commissions) The % of book of business transferred is usually smaller than hoped. May disturb internal culture Company’s products don’t truly align with originator’s marketing Often hard to train old veterans You may hire someone else’s TURKEY Hiring Experience (with a book of business) 4

Positives Usually less up-front cost (salary, head-hunter, commissions) Can mold into the culture of organization Train to the company’s capabilities The ramp-up time is back to a manageable period (6-12 months) Have potential to become long- term, great employees Negatives Difficult to hire correctly Requires up-front and cont. training Significant investment of time, money and internal resources Typical high turnover rate (ongoing process) After you train, these employees become attractive candidates for your competitors Companies with poor RHT processes continue to develop internal TURKEYS Hiring New Entries 5

Is a continuous process Best hires are when you aren’t looking Referrals from existing employees are optimal Companies have a well defined profile of attributes necessary to succeed (They don’t make exceptions) Hiring is a two way street (both employee and employer must be enthusiastic – no surprises) Hiring is one of the most important responsibilities of a strong manager (owner) If you hire “Right” - managing, training and retaining is EASY Successful Hiring 6

Large lessor hires 16 seasoned sales reps. around the country. All have 10+ years of experience in the specific sectors and markets that the lessor hires them for. 15 months later - only 3 of the 16 are fully meeting or exceeding company’s desired goals (not a good ROI). 75% of the Company’s other sales professionals are meeting their goals. What is the Solution? 1)Hiring process needs to be revamped. Great professionals may be mismatched. 2)Additional up-front testing for alignment of employee/employer’s capabilities, products, value proposition and culture. 3)Even experienced professionals need initial direction and training. 4)Goals, expectations need to be detailed and a plan derived up-front. Extreme Situation 7

Always be looking for your next superstar. View the interview process as a test and don’t hire anyone that doesn’t ace your test. Require any candidate to spend time observing your operations. Then ask what they liked, didn’t like and what did they learn. Highly recommend personality testing. They work and people don’t change. Know what personalities work within your operation. (There are most likely many different ones.) Right when a candidate is ready to accept the job – tell them the toughest part of the position. If you can talk them out of the job at this point - then they are the wrong hire. Don’t ever hire a warm body. Always be excited about the potential that the candidate will offer your company. Always strive to hire people smarter, more experienced and better than you are. They will be your eagles. A Few Hiring Tips 8

Tell me what your primary responsibilities were in your last position when you started? And what are your responsibilities currently (or when you left)? Successful professionals attract (create) additional responsibility over time. (Turkeys continue to do the same thing day in and day out.) The ability to increase responsibilities reflects self-starter professional who delivers results. A Favorite Interviewing Question 9

Best performing companies offer an environment to grow and succeed Best employees embrace personal development both internally and externally If individuals aren’t growing professionally then they and their companies are becoming less effective Why Do Companies Provide Ongoing Training? 10

11 Five Attributes to be a Well Positioned Sales Professional Total customer knowledge Broad and complete understanding of structures and pricing Equipment knowledge Financial analysis and credit knowledge Ability to consistently prospect and market to the “Right” vendors and end-users 11 Rank each of your existing sales professionals on a scale of 1-5 The process will quickly indentify strengths and weaknesses Train in each category to improve individual and group performance

Training includes: Initial training for professionals new to the business. This training should be highly structured and last weeks - not days or hours. Daily coaching and encouragement. Some professionals need more coaching than others. Not all professionals are the same - great coaching is individualized. Routine specific training to address new challenges, new products, new niches, new equipment and industry types. Training and coaching should be facilitated by internal and external sources that support one another. Annual planning and expectation meetings. 12

Training for New Hires to the Industry Most successful companies have a well defined training regiment - that includes all aspects of the internal process New hires should work in different departments: Credit, Documentation, Funding, and Sales - with actual hands-on tasks & responsibilities Sales professionals should have daily engagement with customers from day one It’s important that new hires understand the industry - and where their company fits It is always best to hire groups of professionals ( 2 to 3) to encourage group learning, competition and support 13

Training for Industry Veterans In 2014 many veteran sales professionals are in need of executive coaching to help them move to the next level of production. Marketing and sales requirements have been significantly changed in past few years, especially related to automation and efficiencies. Some veterans, who were highly successful in the past, are falling behind. Individual attention need to be provided to these professionals. Their Personal Value Propositions need to be updated. 14

Example: Training for a small ticket co. - young sales staff Marketing Staff - all with less than 3 years experience Current introductions weren’t working (begging for business) Changed introduction to a Value Proposition Trained as a group and individually to sell PVP Developed a specific program to encourage up-selling on every transaction – Company provided daily encouragement to effectively sell program Training & Results re-energized entire staff Company used internal and external training to support efforts Daily applications nearly doubled in less than 90 days Application size has increased significantly in 120 days 15

Example: Training for a large ticket co. - veteran sales staff Marketing Staff - all with 10+ years experience Ineffective in developing NEW LARGER RELATIONSHIPS Trained to create self- directed campaigns to penetrate specific accounts and 30/60/90 day accountability plans 2/3 of staff submitted detailed 30/60/90 day campaigns with specific accountability benchmarks 90 days into the program - Company is seeing real results Best feedback is that campaigns have encouraged better penetration into existing accounts and Team can point to specific new transactions as a result of the attitude change 16

The potential in the commercial equipment leasing industry is growing for those companies that are well positioned in the industry. Industry leaders are constantly RECRUITING top talent. Industry leaders are HIRING the very best professionals with the “right” attributes. Industry leaders are “properly ” TRAINING all of their sales professionals. 17

18