Dulled By Success
There is an effect we have noticed when recruiting salespeople from larger companies that seems to be consistent across markets. Some salespeople, maybe many, lose their edge when it comes to prospecting when they land a large customer. I see this effect happening in larger companies, for some reason, more than smaller companies.
I bring this up because I read an employment ad for a large company that we used to work with in a previous life. This company has an unbelievably strong customer service orientation. I mean that in a negative way. Their “hunter” salespeople believe they can service their way to a sale. This approach is reinforced by a team of customer service people assigned to every account.
Recently, this company has seen it’s long-standing market share evaporate under pressure from an aggressive, sales-oriented competitor. The competitor is taking this company out in their strongest regions.
The main thrust behind the competitor’s success is the sales team’s inability to close new customers in a competitive situation. This company has a well-established name that has allowed it to hide the gross inadequacies that have solidified within their sales department. In essence, the long-tenured sales team’s skills have been dulled by success.
I’ve seen this phenomenon in other large companies also. I don’t have any market research to prove this effect - my thesis is purely anecdotal. The salespeople become complacent with their existing customers and compensation and ratchet down the prospecting. Once an aggressive competitor emerges, the salespeople are almost helpless to react.
Be wary when talking to sales candidates from these companies. Ask them about recent customers they have closed and look for complacency in their business development.
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Posted By Derrick Moe | Compensation, Sales Management | |
Derrick:
Interesting article.
Here are a few random thoughts, based on my 25+ years of training salespeople and sales managers.
“Customer service orientation” is probably not the casue of the problem. Working for a larger, well-known brand often allows salespeople to “hide” behind the name, rather than use good sales skills.
When I was head of a small consulting firm some years ago, I hired a good salesman who had been very successful at selling office equipment for Xerox. He did poorly with us for two years because he expected the name — which we didn’t have — to open doors for him. Once he realized it was on him, not on the name of the company, he began to do well.
Another factor is why salespeople flatten out and lose their edge is because of poor sales management. Contrary to popular opinion, money and recognition are not the #1 factors in motivating salespeople. The most important factor — much to everyone’s amazement — is task clarity. That means the sales manager’s role is to make sure that people know exactly what is expected of them, not just how much revenue they have to generate. It also means that sales managers need to provide their people with the skill set to accomplish their goals.
It’s more complex, but that’s the general idea.
Art - thanks for the excellent comment. Your point about sales management is one I wish I would have put in the original post. Task clarity and holding salespeople to the expectation is absolutely critical. Thanks for bringing it up.