There is something about industry experience that is seductive to many hiring managers. The allure of a salesperson who has been “in the industry” for some time is almost irresistible.

The same infatuation seems to exist with salespeople once they are on the payroll. The salesperson’s ability to understand the company’s product and service offering is important to the position. But why are many new salespeople judged by their level of product/service understanding? Is this really the best determinant of sales success?

In a word, no.

At the risk of being overly simplistic, salespeople are hired to . . . sell. Their sales skills trump all other skills. These skills and abilities should be the measure of their growth in starting a new position. It is remarkable how many hiring managers take the short-term view of a new salesperson’s product knowledge.

Invariably some managers will think of salespeople who were never able to learn the product/service in enough detail to sell it on their own. I am reminded of a salesperson who went to work for a customer of ours who sells wireless scanners. This salesperson did not know the first thing about computers and although she was strong at selling, she was not able to have a qualifying discussion with a technical prospect. In those misalignments, product/service knowledge can nuke strong sales skills.

In most instances, salespeople may not have the fine knowledge needed to devise a proper wiring scheme, write a specific program or read a complex blueprint. But if they have the skills to get the deal to quote/presentation stage and can then close it, how valuable is that? If technical expertise closed deals, the right approach would be to move the most technical people in your company into sales. If you have been in sales more than a day, you know this approach rarely works.

Here is the crux of the issue – your company is probably filled with product/service experts of some sort. I suspect that top-level sales abilities are far less common within the company. If you hired well, this new salesperson brings these scarce sales skills to your company. This is the area in which to focus.

In response to this need, we are expanding our sales development plan and offering a new sales manager track as a new service. This focus will provide sales managers with a specific path to grow new salespeople into revenue quickly while developing a stronger long-term salesperson.

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