The Accidental Salesman

Accidental sales people that run a business and begin employ sales people should be careful to distinguish between natural raw sales talent and developed sales ability. I often go into small businesses to try and turnaround a sales person who has been hired with great promise only to end up being a disappointment.

Its a big gamble taking on a sales person, no matter what size of company you are. The financial impact to smaller businesses is greater so its more important to ensure you are not duped by someone who looks like a sales person, talks like a sales person, and behaves like you would expect a sales person to behave. That does not mean they can sell at the level you require and in the way you require.

The way candidates for a sales job approach a job interview is indicative of the way they sell.

I get involved in screening for business owners recruiting sales people and there was one person recently who claimed she had excellent closing skills and yet the screening tool I use suggested her closing skills were poor. Despite disputing this fact she discussed money before building value and did not seek to close. There was no disputing this lady had raw talent but she had not developed her skill. That comes from practice and making mistakes and recognising your mistakes. She had won lots of business in the past despite her poor closing skills. Just imagine what she could do if she focused on developing those skills. Unfortunately for her she was not professional enough to keep working on her craft and seeking to develop her talent. You should not interview sales people in the same way as other job applicants. For example:

• Give them a hard time (thats my job!!) and see how they respond.

• Ask them to sell themselves to you and see if they start asking questions or just pitch straight away.

• Tell them you only have 10 minutes for the interview and see if they seek to rearrange or whether they just crack up.

• Start talking about money and see if they seek to delay the money conversation until later

If they can’t handle it with you then there is no way they will handle it out in the real world selling on your behalf - and you are out of pocket by £20,000 on salary and recruitment costs, not to mention the opportunity cost of what business you could have achieved if you got the right person.

Best wishes

Richard

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