Recently I learned of a 12-employee company in Utah that just let its business development (think sales) person go.  Nine months and $25,000.00 later, this person had not brought in one piece of business.
 
Ouch.
 
Over the years when clients and prospects have acted as if a good salesman or woman would be the answer to their prayers, I've felt my skin begin to crawl.
 
Now, let me be very clear about this: there are many extraordinary salespeople out there, and their companies owe their success in great part to their hard work and productivity.
 
Many, however, are in companies with a minimum of thirty-five employees. And while those businesses aren't exactly in the "big business" category, they're on the cusp of being considerably different from companies with fewer people. They're more likely to have systems in place and a fairly secure cash flow.
 
The firms with fewer than thirty-five people seem to fare the worst, even with salespeople working on straight commission. Because, make no mistake about it, a commissioned salesperson is still costly, when you factor in your own time and that of your already busy employees who now have to be diverted from their work to become involved in training.
 
These growing businesses that suddenly find themselves too busy (or too lean-and-mean) to address bringing in new business are the most vulnerable to the dream of a magic bullet salesperson.
 
For starters they look at sales first, rather than looking at how they can market more consistently, which usually increases leads and business rather quickly. After all, marketing is the cause; and sales are the effect. 
 
Next, they usually go outside their four walls, instead of looking for a good candidate from customer service or project management. Someone who knows the company, its products and services from the get-go, might be delighted with a promotion and a raise (plus the positive signal to your other employees that you promote from within) and would require little to no training to go out and meet with clients/customers and prospects.
 
And the single biggest reason why business owners don't consider these people? "I can't afford to take them away from what they're doing. The thought of the time it will take me to find their replacement leaves me cold." Of course, in too many instances, these people are buried in administrivia; but they must stay there, rather than be given the chance to enhance the bottom line.
 
That's a shame, because their sales training needs are often minimal. Many already have customer contact and have built trust among the client/customer base.
 
Of course there are the instances where a company truly has no one to move into the sales arena. In those cases the next person I look at is the owner. Often he or she is also buried in administrivia, and could accomplish miracles by getting out of the office!
 
What makes this decision to hire a salesperson so fraught with land mines?

Stay tuned for Marketing Myth #44B next week.


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