Frustratingly, Sales Cooke has experienced an increase in the statement “good salespeople are so hard to find these days.” This is because there seems to be a higher incident of hiring “failures” as it relates to sales positions. Sales Cooke does not buy into this assessment. In their desperate quest to quickly and easily increase revenues, business owners and sales managers seem to think that they can simply hire an experienced salesperson, plug them into their new job, and they will start cranking out orders. If you are one of those people that really believes this is how it is done–contact me now. That is not how it works!!
Somewhere in the very early stages of this newly formed hiring relationship, someone has to spend time training the salesperson. It is not so much that good salespeople are hard to find–it is that it is hard to find a person in the organization with the experience, the ability, and the commitment to spend the requisite time to properly hire, train, and manage these experienced salespeople. Simply bringing in an experienced sales professional does not guarantee results. It increases the potential, however, there is still some learning that must take place before success is ensured. This learning process includes education on the company, the product, the process, the culture, and the market.
If your business does not currently have a program for properly hiring, training and developing your sales professionals, you must put one in place. If you do not have the time or the experience, that is okay. Hire an expert, like SalesCooke, to build and implement a sales effectiveness model. Then, participate in a training program to help you maintain it. Please do not blame the sales professionals for their perceived failures. You too, are accountable for those failures. Yes, sales is sales. However, understanding the complexities of the sales program in a new organization takes a little time and a little management love to make it productive. Remember, the new sales pro and you are in this together.