Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
Executives in small to medium sized businesses have a tendency to become ecstatic when they have the opportunity to hire someone who was with a Fortune 1000 company. They immediately think, "Joe worked at Xorex" or "Suzie used to be at MBI" or "Phil was with Tfosorcim". And they think, "If they bring some of that big company magic to YSTI-YSTIB, we'll do great!"
If you are considering a salesperson, sales manager or VP of Sales from a big, name brand company, there is a crucial point that executives from smaller companies usually miss. You probably don't run a large, name brand company. Your salespeople probably aren't automatically invited in with open arms. Your company probably doesn't have a reputation that precedes it. Your company probably isn't the market leader. Your company probably doesn't have the lowest prices.
So how would one of these former big-brand salespeople or sales managers fare when they encounter the resistance, challenges, ambivalence and rejection that the rest of your salespeople endure? They didn't have to deal with it before, and their success was more likely the result of the company they worked for and what they were selling as opposed to their own ability.
Lesson: If your company is the underdog, get excited when you find a candidate who had success as an underdog! If you want to know whether a salesperson will succeed in your business with your unique challenges, use Objective Management Group's Proprietary Recruiting Process for Hiring Sales Winners, built around its Sales Candidate Assessment.
(c) Dave Kurlan
