When building a team, employers often weigh what a candidate can do against how they will do it. Technical ability and sales performance are easy to measure on paper, but cultural fit can determine whether that talent strengthens the organization or strains it. In the latest edition of The Expert Panel, PPAI Media asked three of our Expert Voices this question:

When hiring, how important is cultural fit compared to technical ability or sales performance?

Seth Weiner headshot
Skills get you considered. Character gets you hired.”

Seth Weiner, MAS

President/CEO, Sonic Promos

Seth Weiner, MAS, is the president and CEO of Sonic Promos:

“Can I challenge the premise? This gets framed as a tradeoff, character versus competence, as if you must sacrifice one. You don’t.

“Competence is the price of admission. If someone can’t do the job or grow into it, fit never comes up. But once candidates clear that bar, the deciding factor is never the resume. It’s whether I trust how they’ll behave with a difficult client and no one supervising. Skills get you considered. Character gets you hired. Treating those as competing priorities is how companies end up with talented people they can’t trust. It happens all the time.”

I would rather invest in developing someone who fits the culture than hire a technically strong person who disrupts it.”

Jeff Policard

VP of Sales & Marketing, Vu Line Direct

Jeff Policard is the vice president of sales and marketing at Vu Line Direct:

“I look for both, but cultural fit can take a slight edge when the technical ability or sales experience is not too far off. Skills, processes and product knowledge can be taught with the right training and support. Cultural fit is much harder to teach.

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“Someone’s attitude, values, accountability and ability to work well with the team often determine long-term success. I would rather invest in developing someone who fits the culture than hire a technically strong person who disrupts it.”

We can train someone to sell; we can’t train them to genuinely care about a customer at 4:59 p.m. on a Friday.

Kevin Walsh

President, Showdown Displays

Kevin Walsh is president of Showdown Displays, PPAI 100’s No. 10 supplier, and former chair of the PPAI Board of Directors:

“We hire attitude first because skills are teachable, but enthusiasm for Mondays is rare. We can train someone to sell; we can’t train them to genuinely care about a customer at 4:59 p.m. on a Friday. Reflecting Showdown’s core values in your actions and words is essential – and rewarded. Collectively, we’re a feisty, collaborative team that takes our work seriously, but not ourselves. If you bring curiosity, humility and maybe a decent sense of humor… we’ll find a place for you. The rest, we’ll learn together.”