The Latest and Greatest

Everyone loves new cars, new houses, new pets and new technology; all the latest and greatest. But new salespeople, as in people who have never sold before? I am not a lover of that group. I’m all for giving them a chance and there are many industries that do. Personal Life Insurance, Copiers, Cell Phones, Office Supplies and Retail all come to mind. But let’s take the case of the company that chooses to hire green salespeople because they can’t afford to pay much.

This particular President made a decision to hire 9 green salespeople because he could afford to pay them only $30,000. What he fails to realize is that it will take the better part of a year to develop 9 green salespeople to the point where they are closing business, other than by accident or luck, on a regular basis. So he invests $270,000 and sees very little revenue in return.

What would happen if he chose to hire 5 experienced salespeople instead? Perhaps he could pay them $50,000 and because his business has a very short sales cycle, they could be generating consistent revenue at the end of 90 days. He invests $20,000 less and has a significant revenue stream within 90 days that he can use to hire 4 more experienced salespeople.

Why is this so difficult for people to understand?

Because they feel that there is more risk when paying $50,000 than $30,000. My experience suggests otherwise. The risk is always greater when you hire people without a track record. While our sales specific pre-employment assessment accurately identifies people that will succeed in a sales position, even if they are new to sales, you will still have to wait until the development period passes before realizing revenue from new salespeople. The same assessment will accurately identify experienced people that will succeed in a sales position at your company. The only risk a company faces is when they fail to use the assessment at all!