Stop Looking for Experienced People. Start Building Them.

Stop Looking for Experienced People. Start Building Them.

For years, our industry has been chasing the same thing: experienced people.

We post job openings asking for years of contract interiors experience. We recruit from competitors. We celebrate when we hire someone who already "knows the industry."

I understand why.

Our business is complex. Customers expect expertise. Products are technical. Pricing can feel like learning another language. Dealers, manufacturers, independent reps, designers, end users, contracts, there is a lot to absorb.

When a new position opens, it's tempting to believe that the fastest path to results is to hire someone who already knows all of that.

After three decades in this industry, and after hiring and leading countless sales professionals, I believe we've been asking the wrong question.

Instead of asking, "How do we find experienced people?" perhaps we should be asking, "How do we become better at developing great people?"

Experience is Valuable. Potential is Scalable.

Throughout my career, I've had to advocate for hiring people without traditional industry experience.

Almost every time, there was resistance. The conversations usually sounded the same.

"We don't have time to train someone."

"We need results immediately."

"Let's find someone who's already done this."

I understood those concerns. Hiring a salesperson is an investment, and every leader wants that investment to produce results quickly.

But I also knew something experience had taught me. The timeline many leaders expect simply isn't realistic.

Even an experienced person changing companies still has to learn new products, systems, customers, processes, and a new culture. And someone entering our industry for the first time has an even steeper learning curve.

The answer isn't to expect them to learn faster. The answer is to become better teachers.

I Could See the Confusion on His Face

One of the most memorable examples came just a few years ago. I hired a salesperson named Josh.

He wasn't completely new to selling furniture. He had experience selling furniture directly to consumers. He understood sales, relationships, and customer service.

What he didn't understand was our side of the industry.

I remember sitting with him as we walked through pricing.

As I explained discounts, contracts, dealer pricing, programs, and everything that goes into how products are sold in our industry, I could literally see the expression on his face.

"This is complicated."

He wasn't saying it out loud, but he didn't have to. His expression said everything.

Many leaders see that moment as a warning sign. I saw it as the beginning of the learning process.

Instead of expecting him to "figure it out," I pulled out the educational materials I had created years earlier and began teaching him the industry one concept at a time.

Over the next several weeks, something remarkable happened. You could almost watch the light bulbs turn on.

One concept connected to another. The ecosystem started making sense. The terminology became familiar. The pricing became understandable. Confidence replaced confusion.

Today, Josh has continued his career in our industry and is thriving as a salesperson at a dealership.

He didn't fail because he lacked experience. He succeeded because someone was willing to invest in helping him understand.

Patience Is a Leadership Skill

If there's one lesson I've learned from developing new people, it's this:

Patience isn't optional. It's a leadership skill.

Our industry is incredibly difficult for someone on the outside to understand.

We throw around acronyms. We assume people know who all the players are. We expect them to understand pricing structures, specifications, contracts, project timelines, dealer relationships, and product categories, often within their first few weeks.

Then we become frustrated when they look overwhelmed.

Of course they're overwhelmed. Most of us were overwhelmed when we started too.

The difference is that many of us had someone willing to answer our questions, explain the "why," and encourage us when we felt lost.

That's what great leaders do. They don't mistake confusion for incompetence. They recognize it as part of learning.

The Real Competitive Advantage

The companies that will win the talent battle over the next decade won't necessarily be the ones that hire the most experienced people.

They'll be the ones that become exceptional at developing people. They'll create onboarding experiences that teach the industry, not just the job.

They'll give new employees the context they need before expecting peak performance. They'll pair high expectations with patience. And they'll build leaders who believe in potential long enough for it to become performance.

That's how you build loyalty. That's how you expand your hiring pool. And that's how you create an organization people want to grow with.

Final Thoughts

The contract interiors industry doesn't have a shortage of capable people. We have a shortage of organizations willing to develop them.

If we want to solve our industry's talent challenge, we can't simply keep searching for experienced people.

We have to become better at creating them.

That's one of the reasons I created CORE Foundations.

Not because new professionals need another training program, but because they deserve a foundation that helps them understand why our industry works the way it does. When people understand the bigger picture, they gain confidence. And when they gain confidence, they contribute faster, stay longer, and build meaningful careers.

Perhaps the next great leader in our industry isn't waiting at your competitor.

Perhaps they're waiting for someone to believe in them.