Improving the Success Rate of New Hires - Two Logical Assumptions and How to Challenge Them - Jim McLean
All of those involved in the hiring and management of new sales representatives have seen unexpected failures among those expected to succeed. There are many causes, and this brief article does not intend to address all of them. It does address two issues that we at Resource Management International, Inc. have seen frequently in our experience both as corporate managers and consultants.
The rate of success in onboarding new representation can be improved by challenging two logical assumptions and adapting the onboarding process accordingly.
Assumption #1: The new person has been successful in the past, therefore he or she will be successful in the future.
Reality: Past achievement is indeed an excellent indicator of future performance. At the same time it is likely that the new salesperson will repeat those patterns of analysis and behavior that have made them successful in the past. The problem is that some of those behaviors may not be as appropriate of effective in the new environment as they were in the old. Critical elements in the new situation may not have been encountered in the past.
Questions to Improve Success:Have we clearly defined a detailed sales process specifically for our company and products that the new salesperson can understand and follow?
- Have our mangers established the skill to identify changes in process that each of them may need to make in order to succeed in their new environment?
- Do we ask our new sales professionals to proactively examine the environmental difference between their old and new selling situations?
Assumption #2: We won’t have to train the experienced salesperson “they are already trained.”
Reality: A lot of other companies, including the ones whose former employees you may be hiring are thinking the same way. Further, they may be training in different competencies than those required for success in your business. Lastly, the new sales representative may be acting based on the expectations of their old organization rather than the new.
Questions to Improve Success:
- Have we identified core competencies for success in our business?
- Have we designed vehicles to test these competencies among our sales team?
- Have we designed training and coaching models to provide skill and knowledge training once gaps have been identified?
- Have we communicated our expectations clearly to the new sales representative along with the methods of achieving them and the standards by which performance will be measures?
As companies seek to identify and integrate new people into their organizations, it is important to recognize that while logical assumptions can be useful, they must be challenged within the light of each company’s unique environment, situation and objectives.
Jim McLean
Consultant
Resource Management International, Inc.
Dallas Office:
5808 McKinley Lane
Richardson, Texas 75082
USA
Tel.: 972-918-0763
E-mail: jmcldal@aol.com
Website: www.4rmi.com
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Copyright Resource Management International, Inc. 2005
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4 comments
Jim McLean (as usual) has listed the important priorities for getting the new sales employee educated and prepared for success. I’ve watched Jim complete several programs in the past with reps and we’ve gotten great ROI.
Tom Glover
Pres./CEO Vasomedical,Inc.
Excellent points. As a former student of Jim’s, and coming from a technical field into medical, I can attest to what he stated. It is very important for new hires to take time to understand the new environment that they are entering. Even similar companies mask their differences. As a new hire, you should proceed with caution and evaluate what has been successful for you in the past to confirm that it will be successful for you in the future.
JR Amador
Trauma Specialist
Smith and Nephew
Practical & critical points listed by Jim and definitely, there are more topics when we dealing with personnel issues. If we are able to minimize those hidden costs internally, our competitiveness could be enhancing over competitors.
Michael Shih
B.Braun (Taiwan) Co.
I had the opportunity this week to share this article when I was providing advice to the CEO of young European startup.
Among the several issues facing this healthcare startup is salesforce effectiveness. Not unusual? Well yes unusual because the sales reps were top performers and well known to the CEO of the startup as he had not only hired them in their former company but had also worked with them for several years.
The new product line was very similar to the recently left one, the customer universe was essentially the same, and the level of personal motivation of the sales reps is higher in the new company - so what’s the issue?
There are several - but most notably - even though the customer universe is the same, the customer target is smaller customers as opposed to the large ones from the former company. The sales reps not only have had to adjust from being “key account” managers to “sales reps” but have also had to cold canvas and establish new relationships - with a new company name on the business card. And guess what - some of them are not going to make it.
This to the point article helps diagnose the problem and is also 90% of the cure.
Thanks
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