The Building industry exhibition season has arrived!

The Autumn/Winter exhibition season is about to begin. Check out our timetable of exhibitions and events and plan your schedule.

Visiting trade shows is often the best way to network. They are also an ideal opportunity to keep informed of the latest products or trends in the industry and within your sector. View our building industry events diary page and make sure you don't miss out on the event that is relevant to your job.

If you are looking for a new building product sales job, please contact us on 01480 405225 or view our website.

Building industry sales recruitment that is wider than UK wide!

Pinnacle Consulting specialises in recruiting high calibre sales, marketing and management professionals for the building and construction market on a UK wide basis. However, UK wide is slightly misleading, it is wider than that!

A common misconception is that we only deal with companies who have their head offices within the UK.  In fact, we also deal with clients who are based throughout the world and are looking to enhance or establish their product within the UK.

This widens the opportunities for the candidates that we handle as we can offer a greater diversity of roles that are the best in the industry.

We have recently placed a new Sales Executive in the UK for the leading German company ‘OBO Betterman’ who provide cable management systems for the building and construction industry. Our placement is already proving a success as confirmed by Claudia Walton at OBO “The team at Pinnacle Consulting provided excellent support in finding a suitable Sales Executive and it was a pleasure working with them. Our new team member is already proving to be a valuable asset to OBO and is very knowledgeable and motivated”

Please contact us on +44 1480 405225 if you are a company looking to develop the UK market or if you are a candidate looking to develop your career and we will keep you informed of the opportunities available. Please look at our website for sales jobs in the building products industry.

How the Olympic Park was built

I am sure many of you have seen this video, but if you haven't it is well worth a look!



Brought to you by Pinnacle Consulting, recruitment for the building product sector

UK Construction industry decline slows down

The construction industry received some encouraging news last week as it was announced that the performance in the period April to June was not as poor as the Office for National Statistics had thought when estimating growth figures earlier in the year.

The ONS had predicted a 5.2% fall in construction output but it has now announced that the decline was only 3.9%. This news coupled is likely to add 0.1% points to growth of GDP. Similar news was also announced on manufacturing.

Although this is only a very small step in the right direction, it is a happy surprise to hear that estimations are 'better than expected' rather than the 'worse than expected' news that we have become accustomed to.

We have seen how the feel good factor can change the mood of the country with London 2012, Pinnacle Consulting hope that a feel good factor can follow for the building and construction industry, especially as everyone should be very proud of the key role our industry played in making the Olympics happen.

Pinnacle Consulting is a leading recruitment agency specialising in UK construction industry sales jobs.

GB and Regional Construction Forecasts by Sector

Pin Board likes to bring to your attention useful research and tools to assist your business planning. We recommend the following report on the construction market.

Leading Edge have produced a 6-monthly forecast on the construction market for over 20 years. Their latest report provides an analysis of the GB construction market by sector from 1996 to 2016 and contains commentary on each construction sector and the UK economy, as well as, forecasts for all regions and selected building materials.

Find out in detail what is included in their latest construction forecast.

How to buy the report
The report can be purchased at a discounted rate at: www.lead-edge.co.uk/downloads-and-reports/construction-output-forecast

There are two options for you to select from:
Construction forecast for GB sectors 2012 - 2016. £150 + VAT
Construction forecast for GB sectors and regions 2012 - 2016. £195 + VAT

For the latest UK wide jobs in the building and construction market, please call us on 01480 405225.
If you are looking to recruit, please take a look at our employer services.


Picture from: FreeFoto.com

Poll: Do you look for industry experience or superior selling skills when appointing a salesperson?

Recruiting a salesperson is a vital decision and should be considered to be a long-term investment. 

Earlier this year we discussed why employers make so many poor decisions when it comes to recruitment and one common mistake we identified was that even if you poach a candidate from a competitor, there is very rarely an ‘off the peg, select and forget” solution. This leads to the question, what is the best route to take in your selection process so that you maximise your return on investment

• Appointing a salesperson with industry specific experience and contacts? 

• Appointing a high calibre sales professional from another industry who can learn about the building product and construction industry and provide your company with even greater skills and rewards?

Please vote in our poll on how you approach this difficult recruitment dilemma.

A salesperson, or any customer-facing professional, is given a huge amount of trust by their employer. To many involved in the purchasing process, they are the company and their opinions on the company can be formed from the professionalism, reliability, approach and knowledge of the individual or team that they deal with. 


Product is naturally of paramount importance too, but the salesperson makes the difference between someone selecting from two products of similar specification. It is no good having a great product solution if the benefits are not explained to the right people in the right way that supports the marketing activity of the company. 


Selecting someone with direct industry experience is often the correct decision, but it can also be the easy option for the employer - the one that, once the appointment has been made, they can just leave the sales person to get on with it, as they assume that they know what they're doing! 
Companies will often lean naturally towards this approach as they think that they will get some easy sales conversions and do not need to invest as much in training. They also feel that it gives confidence to the customer that the sales person knows what they are talking about – this is not always true.

However, the key area that is much more difficult to train someone in is how to actually sell? This is a talent, whereas industry experience is just acquiring knowledge. Skills are transferable and can be used to sell any product to any market. If an employer is looking from outside the industry, they should evaluate the candidate on the following:

• What is the buying process and the motivations of those involved in the products that they have sold? 
• How do they overcome objections from customers? 


• How do they deal with the competition? 
• How do they promote and position the products/services that they have sold and focus on the product and not just price?
• How do they meet and exceed the customers’ expectations? 
• How do they adapt their approach to different customer types and personalities? 
• How do they build trust and confidence with their customers? 
• How can they demonstrate that they are keen to learn and develop their knowledge? 


If the approach that the candidate takes in the above areas can be applied to the product and market that you deal in, then you can confidently think about making an appointment. 
These are also questions that candidates should be asking themselves if they are looking to move from another industry, as selling skill relevance is perhaps the most important factor that can make them stand out from the crowd. 


Of course there are many salespeople with industry-specific experience that have superb sales skills and techniques - they are the candidates that an employer should ideally be looking for. 


Our advice to employers is not to rule out candidates from other industries and cloud the decision-making process just because another candidate has industry experience. Experience can be gained - talent is something that is much more difficult to acquire. 


At Pinnacle Consulting we select candidates from across industries that we believe have the skills to succeed in the building product sector. This is why we will take the time to get to know our candidates and their skills as well as their experience. 
We aim to provide employers with one of the following two candidates:

• Someone that has industry experience combined with excellent sales skills 
• Someone from outside the industry that has excellent sales skills that are appropriate to be applied within the building product sector and that has the ability to use these skills in our industry.

If you are looking to recruit and to gain that competitive edge, then call us to discuss your requirements on 01480 405225. 


We would love to hear from high-calibre sales professionals from any industry. Please call us for an informal chat about your career on 01480 405225 or register with us today.

www.pinnacleconsulting.co.uk 

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Featured Building Product Sales and Marketing Jobs for August

August 2012 - This month we have some fantastic management and field sales opportunities in  CIVILS, COATINGS, INSULATION, TOOLS and HEATING AND PLUMBING. Take a look to see if any meet your career development plans.

• Call us on 01480 405225 to discuss any of our current vacancies 
• Email us on recruit@pinnacleconsulting.co.uk
• Visit our new website at www.pinnacleconsulting.co.uk to find out about our full range of recruitment services for the building product sector.

See below for full details of our featured jobs (click 'Read more').

Keep informed of ALL our latest jobs when they become available on our Facebook page. Remember to click LIKE!

Developing a career in the building products industry: The story of a job search, Kingspan and an iPad!

A couple of weeks ago we were delighted to announce that Iftakhar Saeed was the lucky winner of our iPad competition. His was the first name drawn out of those who signed up for our e-newsletter ‘Pin Points’.

The Pin Board blog caught up with Ifty for a chat about his career in the building products industry as well as his new iPad...not that he has had much of a chance to use it yet, but at least Mrs. Saeed is happy!

The win has capped an eventful and successful couple of months for Ifty as he has just started a new sales development role with Kingspan Insulation, the globally respected manufacturer of premium and high performance insulation products for the construction industry. Pinnacle Consulting placed Ifty in this role and it was a good opportunity to discuss the process of finding a new job from a candidate's point of view.

Looking for a new job can be a stressful time and it can also be an exercise in time wasting – mainly yours, so choosing your strategy is crucial to keeping your sanity and finding the best opportunities. Time wasting was something that Ifty was keen to avoid, so he decided to select just one recruitment consultancy to find him a new position. 

“After four years’ working within the sector I developed a great affinity to the building and construction industry and decided to develop my career within it. I found Pinnacle Consulting after an Internet search. Their website was clear, informative and, more importantly, relevant to my requirements. I contacted them direct and was also given a clear, informative and relevant reception. After meeting them face-to-face I quickly recognised that they were friendly and professional and their aim was to find a role that was right for me. They are recruitment specialists in the building products industry and this was clearly evident in their approach. They were exactly what I was looking for and it was a pleasant change from some of my previous experiences, so I appointed them to act on my behalf."

Ifty is presented with his new iPad

This is something that we were delighted to hear, as Pinnacle is built on integrity and long-term relationship building.

Another area that convinced Ifty that Pinnacle would be his chosen consultancy was how easy it was to deal with them. Ifty commented, “I was delighted that when I met Pinnacle it was not just a paper-pushing exercise for them and I did not have to complete about 30 forms just to start the process. They were interested in getting to know me personally, my background, my skills and what I was looking for. Their whole team was involved in finding me a role, which was another important factor, as it widened the job search by utilising all their contacts."

When Ifty was asked what had frustrated him in the past with other recruitment agencies, he stated that unhelpful feedback, lack of communication and presenting him with roles that did not meet his expectations were all very annoying. “Pinnacle always got back to me with insightful feedback and advice, both before and after an interview, or just generally to update me on their search and what they were doing for me. They were very focused and provided quality rather than quantity, which suited me fine. I felt that I could trust Pinnacle to work on my behalf with my best interests at heart."

Ifty was placed with Kingspan after about 12 weeks into his job search and was pleased that the whole process was hassle-free. He is currently enjoying his new role as part of Kingspan’s exciting growth plans and is also pleased that Pinnacle provided a useful insight into the culture of Kingspan and what they expected of their employees. “The staff at Pinnacle clearly have a good understanding of Kingspan and this was very valuable to me in my decision to accept the role, as well as my interview preparation."

It is always good to hear that people are happy with your service - finding people the right job is what we're all about and our reputation depends on it.

Although we can’t promise you a new iPad, why not contact us today on 01480 405225 for an informal but professional chat about your career path. And, as for Ifty - after two successes in recent weeks, he is hoping the third might be something that Mrs. Saeed does not take ownership of!

You can still sign-up for our e-newsletter Pin Points and receive building industry news and views as well as recruitment advice direct to your inbox.