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BUSINESS OWNERS and sales managers frequently ask me: “Should I hire experienced or inexperienced salespeople?” and “How do I grow my sales force?” Let’s look at the pros and cons of hiring experienced vs. non-experienced sellers.
Experienced Sellers
Advantages:
(1) They usually produce immediate results.
(2) They don’t have to be trained.
(3) They open new customers and markets to our company.
Disadvantages:
(1) Unseen baggage. Why are they changing jobs?
(2) Loyalty. Loyalty must be earned with any employee, but once a seller begins to move from company to company, they often continue.
(3) Overconfidence. Many experienced sellers have an exaggerated idea of their skills and value.
(4) They often have trouble adjusting to the new culture.
Inexperienced Sellers
Advantages:
(1) It’s easier to get new sellers to adapt to our company culture. We won’t have to un-train bad or different habits.
(2) Loyalty. Loyalty must be earned with anyone, but sellers who grow with our company, management team, and culture will stay longer than those used to changing cultures.
(3) Management. It will be easier to train to our culture than to un-train a different culture.
(4) Controlled growth. When we have an established sales training program, we can hire to the program, and establish a track record of controlled growth.
Disadvantages:
(1) Cost. Inexperienced sellers will have to be trained. They also will have a slower ramp up to profitability.
(2) Failure rate. Our investment of time and money will not always be rewarded by the new sellers. Some will succeed, some will fail.
Companies that have consistent growth have an ongoing training program for new hires. They will hire experienced sellers, but judiciously. They don’t shy away from them, but treat them as icing on the cake of sales growth. Once we have hired our sales force, how do we maintain and grow?
10 Concepts for Ongoing Sales Team Growth
(1) Always be looking. We aren’t always hiring, but we continually are interviewing and searching for new candidates.
(2) Hire the right person. Easier said than done. Each company has a sales culture. We must know the kind of salesperson we are looking for and hire to that position.
(3) Set expectations high from the beginning. When we set the activities and expectations high and clear from day one, we will have an easier time managing to these goals.
(4) Give solid initial training. Training must be thorough and specific.
(5) Monitor progress. Salespeople respond to attention. When they receive it often and early, they respond positively.
(6) Account Management. The biggest time and money management mistake made by sellers is calling on non-profitable accounts too long. Account management is the best thing management can do to ensure growth of the team. Left to individual sellers, it will be sporadic or non-existent.
(7) Ongoing training. There are people who pick up the selling game quickly. They are the exception.
(8) Show we care. Take salespeople to lunch. Have a drink. Spend some personal time. It pays big dividends in productivity and slowing down turn over.
(9) Hire two at a time. If we want sustainable, controlled growth, we must commit to hiring more than one salesperson at a time. Sales has a high failure rate. Hiring two salespeople gives our new hires a person to compete with and relate to—and gives us an insurance policy if one fails.
(10) Account visits. Management visits to salespeople’s accounts help us evaluate and educate the salespeople while in most cases increasing business. These visits also help make the account loyal to our company, not just the seller.
– James Olsen is principal of Reality Sales Training, Portland, Or., and creator of SellingLumber.com. Call him at (503) 544-3572 or email james@realitysalestraining.com.
