Mistake 1: Hiring From Outside the Packaging Industry
It is tempting to hire a strong salesperson from an adjacent industry — food manufacturing, industrial chemicals, or consumer goods — and expect them to adapt to packaging. While these candidates may have transferable sales skills, they lack the substrate knowledge, industry relationships, and technical vocabulary that packaging sales demands.
A sales representative selling flexible packaging needs to understand barrier properties, laminate structures, and converting processes. A corrugated sales rep needs to know board grades, flute profiles, and print capabilities. This knowledge takes years to develop, and customers expect it from day one.
The fix: Prioritize candidates with genuine packaging industry experience. If you must hire from outside, budget for a 12-18 month ramp-up period and pair the new hire with a technical mentor.
Mistake 2: Relying Solely on Job Boards
Posting a sales role on Indeed or LinkedIn and waiting for applications is the default approach for many packaging companies. The problem is that the strongest sales professionals in packaging are not browsing job boards. They are already performing well at competing companies, earning good money, and not actively looking for a change.
Job boards attract active job seekers — which often means candidates who are underperforming, unhappy, or being managed out of their current role. The passive talent pool, where the best performers sit, remains untouched.
The fix: Supplement job advertising with proactive headhunting. Whether through your internal team or a specialist recruiter, directly approach the sales professionals you actually want rather than waiting for them to come to you.
Mistake 3: Moving Too Slowly
In a talent-short market, speed matters. Packaging companies that take 8-12 weeks to move from first interview to offer regularly lose top candidates to faster-moving competitors. Every week of delay increases the risk that your preferred candidate accepts another offer.
The fix: Streamline your interview process to 2-3 stages maximum. Make decisions quickly, communicate clearly with candidates throughout, and be prepared to move to offer within days of your final interview — not weeks.
Mistake 4: Undervaluing Cultural Fit
A candidate with an impressive resume and strong numbers may still fail in your organization if the cultural fit is wrong. A sales professional who thrived in a large, process-driven multinational may struggle in an entrepreneurial, owner-managed converter — and vice versa.
The fix: Assess cultural alignment alongside commercial capability. Include team members in the interview process, discuss working styles openly, and use reference checks to verify how the candidate operates in practice, not just what they achieved.
Mistake 5: Not Selling the Opportunity
Many packaging companies approach hiring as a one-way evaluation: they assess the candidate, but forget that the candidate is also assessing them. In a competitive talent market, the best sales professionals have options. If your interview process feels like an interrogation rather than a conversation, you will lose top candidates.
The fix: Treat the hiring process as a mutual evaluation. Sell your company's growth story, manufacturing capabilities, culture, and career progression opportunities. The best candidates want to join businesses that are going somewhere — make sure they can see your vision.
Getting It Right
Avoiding these five mistakes will not guarantee a perfect hire every time, but it will significantly improve your odds. The packaging sales talent market is competitive, and the companies that approach hiring with discipline, speed, and a genuine understanding of what top candidates want will consistently outperform those that rely on outdated methods.