KnownSense

Wanted: Sales person with existing relationships.

How often have you seen an ad like that?

These ads should make you think. What is it about a sales guy with relationships that makes him/her so important to another organisation? How ethical is it to expect sales people to walk in with existing relationships? Why wouldn’t a sales person with an “existing relationship” ready to be poached end up starting his own company? Is there a certain point at which it makes sense to open your own firm? Does this mean that sales people working honestly at other firms are losers for not seeing an opportunity to bud off? This line of thinking is wrong. How many sales freelancers have you seen? Not many? There is a reason for it.

What such advertisers don’t realise is that relationships exist primarily between firms; one seeking a service and the other providing it. A star sales guy with “relationships” is not delivering anything other than a promise of service to a customer. Articulating a value proposition is very different from ensuring a flawless delivery. Satisfied customers create the “relationship.” Fulfilment is entirely a function of your delivery organisation and no amount of opportunistic sales poaching will help you deliver. Ever.

The next time you advertise a job like in the headline above, you might be advertising yourself as a company to avoid because you haven’t really understood the dynamics of being truly customer centric. You also might be advertising yourself as a firm that doesn’t care about customers, sales, ethics, or the value of delivery. Your prognosis for the long term is bad no matter how many sales guys you hire. I might as well give you some tar and feathers right now.