If you walk through the second floor of the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator (KSTI) on a given day, you’re likely to hear an interview in progress. It’s likely for Bandalier, a start-up that provides sales support to clients in the tech industry.
“We don’t look for a specific set of experiences or any particular background,” said founder Jeremy Ruch. “Instead, we’re looking for folks who are excited about a career in sales and have a set of personality traits and skills that make them adept at speaking with and listening to people.”
The Bandalier team believes it’s figured out how to lower the turnover rate in entry-level sales roles. The answer? Individualized recruitment, development and training of employees. The company operates under the notion that the country’s most competitive talent pool is currently underutilized. It hopes to eliminate the high turnover rates and outsourcing common among customer support and sales-focused jobs.
“Technology and big data are often viewed as job-killers,” the company’s website reads. “We want to use them to enable remote work, more meritocratic hiring, better training, and stronger feedback loops for employees.”
The traits of a successful sales representative can often be hidden, according to Bandalier’s logic. For that reason, performance metrics are used to determine a candidate’s aptitude.
“We’re much more open-minded than typical sales organizations about the background and experience of the folks we hire,” Ruch said. “Over time, we think we’ll wind up hiring candidates that are both more diverse and more successful as a result.”
Currently, Bandalier has four full-time and eight part-time employees. Once brought onto the team, individuals are trained to accommodate the needs of companies on-demand. Recently, Bandalier has worked with a range of software companies that focus on digitizing small business operations, including some situated at Koffman.
Matt Scanlon, head of the Binghamton office, said Bandalier is valuable to start-ups offering great products but lacking the knowledge or expertise on how to grow their sales.
“That is where Bandalier comes in,” Scanton said. “We’re helping those start-ups that have the perfect product at the perfect time.”
Interested candidates can apply here.
By Camila Araujo, ’19
