BR's Working Romania | Alina Dumitru (Zepter Romania): "Zepter continues to be based on direct sales and this is a process that requires empathy"

Alina Dumitru (General Manager, Zepter Romania) was a speaker at Business Review’s Working Romania event and talked about the way the company retains its employees and the challenges it faces when trying to recruit new workforce, especially among young generations, who have different needs compared to their older counterparts.

The Zepter GM said that due to the fact that the company relies on direct sales, its processes to recruit and retain employees are a bit different compared to many other large companies on the market.

“Zepter continues to work based on direct sales and this is a process that requires empathy. We don’t have a big online presence because our products have to be presented in detail and we need to identify our customers’ needs in order to close a sale. We continue to host events where I try to meet with as many people as possible and explain the advanced technology behind every product.”

She also explained that the most successful members of Zepter’s sales team are the ones who are the most familiar with the products and the way they work.

“It sometimes takes a while for people to understand how a Zepter product works, therefore our employees must use these products themselves and have a deep understanding about them. Our sales team ranges from 30 to 80 years old, and they earns money based on sales commission, so we need to have a mix of heart & mind in order to keep our employees happy,” she said.

As for recruiting new employees, Alina Dumitru said that she found it challenging to convince young students to come on board, but that she was eventually able to connect with them in a meaningful way.

“I’ve recently met with groups of students, even though everyone around me said that there was no chance that I would be able to recruit them. But I learned a lot from that experience – I met smart young people and I understood the fact that I was the one who had to open up to them and understand what they want and need. The fact that the work was commission-based and there was no fixed salary was the first obstacle in our discussion; but I was very surprised by how quickly they were able to learn about the products, even though they had complicated technology behind them. So I was the one who had to come up with the next steps in order to recruit them,” she concluded.