Customers Don’t Walk
Here is an urban legend we encounter frequently in our sales hiring activities - customers don’t walk with the salesperson. What I mean is customers rarely follow a salesperson to a new company. If the salesperson quits one company and goes to a competitor, it is a rare occurrence in which the customers move their business with the salesperson.
Yes, everyone can provide an example of when it happened, but we deal with many salespeople in many industries and it just is not common. Sales candidates, on the other hand, will go out of their way claiming that they can bring the business with them.
Unfortunately, many companies who do not have a strong sales hiring process will get caught up in the possibility of gaining new business for little investment. This blinding desire often masks the obvious weaknesses the sales candidate possesses. Beware of this pitfall!
The best approach is to assess sales candidates based on their abilities, aptitudes and performance within your hiring process. The strongest candidate may not be directly from your industry which will not be surprising if your run a talent-based process. And if your final candidate is from your industry and brings a customer or two with them - terrific, they are the exception not the rule. Just don’t make your hiring decision based on that hope.
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Posted By Derrick Moe | Hiring Salespeople, Sales Candidates, Sourcing | |
Amen. Someone else thinks like I do….And if a salesperson goes to a direct competitor and this week is calling on the same customer as last week, how can he have credibility in front of the customer? I recruit in the clinical and research laboratory sales and marketing arena and I encounter managers that want to hire the competition. They think it is a double positive - cripple the competition and fill the vacancy. But if customers don’t walk, all they have is a “retread”. There are some fantastic sales professionals out there from other industries that could truly add to your team. Think about it.
Peggy - thanks for the comment. Unfortunately, I think you and I are in the minority on this topic! I think some managers think these types of candidates will require little to no training either. Once they are on board, just plug them into their territory and watch the revenue start. That approach rarely works either.