The primary face of this difference / added value / superior service / etc. is, of course, the sales staff (I will once again admit that I'm a wee bit biased, because these are my people, after all). But in reality, these are the folks who you work with most closely at Sweetwater, from initial consultation to final shipment of your order.

When I first arrived, we had a relatively small sales staff numbering less than 20 Sales Engineers. However, we already had a great reputation for knowledge and service and a strong training ethic. In the nearly four years since I joined the company, we've grown dramatically. We should have more than three times the sales volume this year and we have also grown as a sales staff during this time frame. To say the least, this has been a very challenging task for us, in that we are looking for the cream of the crop in the entire industry. In previous issues I've described the kind of person a Sales Engineer here is and the expectations that we (and you, our valued customers) have for them in terms of business professionalism and product knowledge.

Most of you have seen our employment ads and probably understand that the majority of Sales Engineers are "imports" (there are only so many audio/MIDI experts available for us to hire in Fort Wayne). Some of our competitors have even tried to start rumors about us having a high turnover rate because of all the employment ads we run. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Unlike many of our competitors - some of whom have stated in public documents that they have 200% turnover - we enjoy one of the lowest turnover rates for salespeople in the industry. Why is this?

It's because, first and foremost, we are very selective in hiring Sales Engineers. Of the thousands of resumes, e-mail inquiries and phone calls we receive, only a handful make it through the several "cuts" to become Sweetwater employees. Here's how the process works: First, we review the resumes for depth of experience and employment potential in this environment (what kind of gear the potential employee is familiar with, employment history, written communication skills, educational background, etc.). Next, if the prospective employee looks good on paper, we schedule a phone interview. Kristine Haas, our Director of Human Resources (or, as we call her inside the company, the "Director of Bringing in Really Cool People") calls them and takes them through a brief phone interview. At this time, she also answers any questions they might have about the job and the hiring process overall. This initial phone interview gives us a better feel for how well the prospect can handle himself or herself verbally over the phone (this is critical since the vast majority of our business is done over the phone).

If all goes well here and Kristine sees real potential, we schedule a face-to-face interview and bring the prospective Sales Engineer to our facility in Fort Wayne (to the best of my knowledge, we are the only music retailer that will fly Sales Engineer candidates to our location for an interview). Here, they interview with Kristine and me and are given an inside view as to how the company works, including core philosophies, selling methods, expectations, etc. The fact is that it's important for us to be very open with how we operate so that our interviewee can make an informed decision.

We also give the prospect several aptitude tests including a technical exam to gauge real product and application knowledge. It's important to note that this isn't a "pass/fail" kind of test - it simply validates real knowledge and lets us know where additional training is needed before we can roll the individual out as a Sales Engineer. Finally, we make sure our interviewee has the opportunity to observe our Sales Engineers in action so he/she can get an even better feel for what the job is like.

Throughout the interview process, we encourage the prospective employee to ask questions they might have about the company. The interview is, after all, a two-way process: We're asking folks to uproot families, sell houses, move away from friends and other family members and start a very demanding job. I take it as my personal responsibility to make sure that it is the right decision for both parties. I would never want to disrupt somebody's life and throw them into a sink or swim situation. By the time I get to the point of making an offer for employment, I am very confident that we have a good match and that the prospective employee has the tools to succeed in our environment.

When a new Sales Engineer arrives, we invest a lot of time and effort training them before turning them loose on our customers. They will go through a very thorough two-week training session with our Technical Training Coordinator (who also plans the curriculum for Sweetwater University) learning all about our systems and how to best use the tools they have at hand here to better serve our customers.

What can a Sales Engineer anticipate here at Sweetwater? Put simply, high expectations. I personally believe that we have the best trained, most knowledgeable and most professional sales staff in the entire industry. In my previous positions with manufacturers (most recently, as the Director of Sales for the United States and Mexico for AKG Acoustics, Inc.), I had the opportunity to work with all of the major retail players in our industry. Based on this experience, I made the move to Sweetwater because I believe it's the most customer oriented and forward-thinking company in our industry and has a sales staff without peer (wow, I am so biased . . . but I warned you!).

Our Sales Engineers are the best in the business, but they work hard for this recognition and success. Each of them has passed a Technical Exam and gone through extensive training before even being allowed to work with customers as a Sales Engineer. They've spent at least three months working with and learning from our senior people. During this period, they are paid a "guarantee" that is commensurate with their experience and allows them to focus on learning how to do the job right instead of trying to sell gear so they can put food on the table. We want professionals here, not desperate, overly aggressive and slick salespeople. Our reputation and success if built on a foundation of repeat business and long-term customer relationships.

I won't pull any punches: Being a Sales Engineer at Sweetwater is hard and demanding work. We don't want the warm bodies other retailers hire. No clerks need apply. We want quality, goal oriented people who understand that we are offering them the opportunity for a career, not just a job or a "day gig." They have to be able to think quickly on their feet and be passionate about customer service. They have to be able to work in an extremely fast paced environment and bring a positive attitude and high level of enthusiasm to work every day. They have to be gear-heads and technology geeks.

You might wonder why I've made this my subject in this issue's column. It's because a majority of our Sales Engineers were once customers (me too). They came here because they really understood what we're all about and wanted to join a winning team where they could do work they were proud of every day. If you've ever considered a job change and want to be well compensated for your integrity, work ethic, and product knowledge, we'd love to hear from you.

I could write for pages about the Sweetwater environment. I've never been around such an extraordinary group of people. I marvel every day at all of the talented and motivated folks who work here. It's a gas for me to work with so many like-minded, yet diverse people. The crew here hangs out together outside work, as well. We play volleyball on the sand court behind our facility every Saturday in the summer. We play basketball on the court in our parking lot every Wednesday night. There are lots of bands and recording projects going on at any given time (imagine a company with over 200 employees, most of whom play one or more instruments really well and own all kinds of gear!).

I've also never worked in a company that does so much for its employees. A quick example is a company trip we're taking to Cedar Point (a major amusement park in Ohio). We are taking employees and their families to the park, paying the entrance fees and having lunch there. It's a great opportunity for all of us to spend some time together and get to know each other's families while further strengthening our team orientation.

Finally, our Sales Staff is arguably the best compensated in the industry. Sadly, in our industry, the typical salesperson makes high teens to maybe just under $30,000 for their work, regardless of how smart and good they are. This is why the quality of the typical music store salesperson is so poor; it's hard to make a living just selling gear in most places. I've learned that in life you generally get exactly what you pay for.

We bring in really good people and give them the best tools. If you give good people the tools they need to succeed and allow them to do their job without gobs of rules and restrictions, amazing things can happen. Again, our expectations for them are very high and they work very hard every day. Success doesn't come without effort and dedication.

If you are a talented and motivated individual with exceptional people skills, have a great work ethic and think you have what it takes to be a Sales Engineer at this level, we'd love to hear from you! The opportunities here are amazing. Do you want to work in an environment where excellence is the standard? Do you actually want to have fun at work instead of dreading the everyday grind? Do you want to make a great living, buy a house, drive a nice car, and own cool gear? Do you want to work with a group of people who share the same passion for the people, the process and the technology involved in making music? If so, Sweetwater could be exactly the place you've been searching for your whole life! I've found that doing work you love and believe in is the key to success and happiness.

Please call Kristine Haas at (800) 222-4700, ext. 1050. Tell her you're calling because of the article in Sweet Notes. I hope to see some of you become part of the Sweetwater Difference and join our team soon! Rock and Roll!