In my experience business owners that go looking for a new sales rep are in a hurry, and need the new recruit to 'hit the road running'. Success is often hampered because of three common myths that bring more cost than revenue.
The most common way to hire a sales Rep is:
Go to a recruiter
Demand someone with the exact same experience, selling the exact same product, for at least five years.
The person has to have the gift of gab, ability to build great rapport, be well dressed and generally likeable.
This may be common but it's often not successful.
The problem with this picture is that these decisions are built on the long held myths below:
1. 'My new Sales Rep can set my sales strategy and process'. Your new sales recruit does not fully understand your business until they have experienced it. This means it is unlikely they will be able to set the sales strategy and your sales process within the first month or three of being employed at your organisation. They may have worked for very similar organisations before and have great ideas, but no two businesses are the same. Ask any branch manager from two different suburbs and they will give you a long list of differences about why they are different to the other branch. If your business was identical to where they had worked before it would be a good idea to change your business. You will not empower your new sales recruit by abdicating responsibility for sales strategy and process, because they are ill equipped to develop it when new.
2. 'They need to have the gift of the gab'. Being able to build repour is helpful but what buyers really want according to LinkedIn's report on the State of Sales 2020 in Australia, is people that can actively listen and problem solve. When buyers ask for experienced reps they are asking for people that are competent at guiding them seamlessly through a sales process and care little about other places they have worked, or for how long. The gift of the gab myth really hurts because nothing turns people off like a talkative sales person.
3. 'Recruiting my competitors rep will grow my business' Customers are loyal to brands not salespeople. Why? Because It is the business that delivers the products and services that the customers like, rarely the salesperson. If the customer is so loyal to the salesperson that they come to you, it is likely they will leave with the Sales Rep and this is short term business at best.
So, what about 3 top tips for hiring a successful sales rep?
1. Process before people. Before hiring a new sales person it is advisable to document your sales strategy and process. Taking responsibility for this critical step early, will keep paying dividends all year. Your sales strategy is how you communicate with your customers and your sales process is the steps that you lead them through until they are buying. Training your new sales recruit will be much quicker and less painful, and provide results faster.
2. Hire the right experience. If you need your Rep to go and find new customers and do prospecting, that person needs to demonstrate that they have been successful in contacting people they didn't know, at companies they were unfamiliar with and converted them into new customers. If your new Rep is going to look after existing customers, make sure that the new Rep has had demonstrated experience of account management previously. Please don't change your mind on which your recruit is need for between advert and employment.
3. Knowledge can be taught but aptitude matters. Your new sales recruit needs to be able to understand your customer and their problem. They need to be able to understand your product or service and your key value proposition. It is often better that they have not sold that exact same product or service before but something comparable. It is difficult for a new sales recruit to see a product or service that they knew well, in a different way. It is much easier for them to see a new product in the way that you want them to see it, when they start.
Developing a sales strategy and process can be time consuming for busy business owners, but sales success depends on it. New recruits can bring lots of energy and ideas, but ensure you have set them up to win by doing your homework first. And please, don't subscribe to or repeat the myths that continue to hurt small businesses daily.