Have you thought about part-time experienced sales people in your business?

January 19, 2012 Interim Sales Leave a reply

As in life there are no guarantees and sales is no different. When you meet and interview sales people invariably they will claim that they will be able to sell for your company and most likely you will believe them. There is nothing underhand or sneaky about this, after all there are no reasons why they shouldn’t, and no reason why you should or shouldn’t believe them.

Sales people should interview well and be convincing as it is part of the noble art and a critical success factor of sales that they be likeable and appear trustworthy. How do you separate the great sales people from the chancers? It is very difficult but there are a number of ways that you can create more certainty. Get down to facts and figures, what they did where, what they sold, how much, to whom, why they bought, and ask for customer references. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is, and you may ask why they ever left the company or were allowed to do so. There are stellar performers and remember that previous success of course does not guarantee future success.

The fact is hiring a sales person is a neccesity for your business if it is to grow but it does carry risk. Hiring the wrong person can take up a lot of management time and cost, harm internal company relationships and culture, and potentially destroy client relationships.

If what you really need is some sales help to get a new product or service off the ground or you are a small/medium sized business that needs more senior sales expertise but can’t shell out for a full-time permanent sales person have you thought about part-time…

A part-time or interim sales person can work a number of days per week or month alongside you as a business owner/Director or an existing sales team and use their experience and expertise to get to decision-makers quicker and more effectively. In addition, the risk to your business is severely diminished as they can be disengaged immediately for any reason, do not get involved in office politics and usually hit the ground running.

Most importantly you get access to the level of sales person that would be very hard to attract to a full time permanent role at your company. No lengthy contracts, no concerns over unfair dismissal, no paperwork, only upside. Have you thought about part-time experienced sales people in your business?