In the fall of 2008, John Tabor of Tabor Design Build noticed a slowdown in business in the Rockville, Md., area where he works. However, he had a few jobs under construction and needed a helper, so he posted an online classifieds ad on Craig’s List in December and received 500 resumes. Despite the strong response, he eventually decided against hiring the helper and rearranged the construction schedule to finish the jobs with his existing crew.
At the end of January, however, he decided to spend some money on marketing and hire a salesperson to help boost the company’s response to leads. The salesperson had been a financial adviser at Morgan Stanley, owned a remodeling company, and then moved into the boat industry, building galleys on high-end custom fishing boats and yachts. “That wide range of experience has helped him to adapt quickly,” Tabor says.
During the two weeks of training, Tabor paid the salesperson a salary, but changed the pay format to commission. Tabor still handles sales for existing clients. The new salesperson responds to leads from the company’s Internet marketing.
Tabor is so confident in his salesperson's abilities and the upturn in the market during the past few weeks that he will likely hire to fill the helper position that he postponed from December, and might even expand by adding another lead carpenter.