Seller without experience: to take or not to take?
Every business needs sellers or, as it is now fashionable to say, sales managers: from a stall selling vegetables and seeds to a large IT company that turns zeros and ones into someone else's income. And any competent leader understands that it’s not enough just to do SEO-optimization of the site, pay for the context, buy links and wait for customers to rush to bring their money to the company. Accordingly, at one stage or another of the expansion of the company, a strong-willed decision is made: to organize a sales department.
It would seem that half the work was done, it remains only to hire competent specialists who know exactly how to offer / explain / persuade.
This article is just about whether to hire experienced sellers and how to organize the right work in the sales department.
+ He can sell. He sold toothbrushes, glasses and household appliances. He worked in an online store, on cold calls and in the salon. He will sell, you can be sure.
+ He knows everything. He went to a bunch of trainings, he will teach you many chips that you would not have thought of using on sale yourself.
+ He has experience. You have deprived a competitor of a serious advantage, this advantage now works for you.
+ He knows not only how to sell, he has a base of your competitors.
+ He does not need to be taught. Sales start immediately, you will not spend time. Indeed, the main thing is to be able to sell, the product can be learned in the process, he already knows this, has come across it.
+ He will help. He will tell you what motivation systems were in your previous job, how the work in the department was built, and will help you find other cool sellers from those with whom he worked.
I can miss something out of the pros, if I wish, each person can supplement this list for himself. Complemented? Let's go further. The reverse side of the coin: cons of an experienced seller.
- He can sell. Do not hesitate, he will sell you himself very dearly, but so beautifully that when you understand this, you will once again make sure that he is a cool seller. But dear.
“He knows everything.” Better than you, better than competitors, customers and everyone else. He will not learn new things, he will teach you old things and lower you 1 lvl lower. But he has a bunch of certificates, which means that you need to listen to his opinion.
- He has experience. He knows the value of this experience in the labor market. You should be glad that you have such a cool special. And do not swing the law if he doesn’t like something, his competitors will take him away with arms and legs, and your reputation may also suffer if he doesn’t like something very much.
- He has a base of your competitors. And your base, which can easily become the base of your competitors.
“He does not need to be taught.” He will not learn anything. He always sold radio components on the market and really bought from him. But his way of selling with specific vocabulary may not be suitable for selling SEO promotion services to an online marketer or business owner. Do not tell him about it: he always sold it like that, it did it there and it does it, he has experience, he knows better.
- He will help. At his former workplace there was a coffee machine, logisticians were subordinate to accounting, salespeople had access to all the initial prices and the admin panel of the site, which means you should have it. And there’s Sanya from his last job, he sells at a glance, we must take it. You will believe his experience, do your best and will be glad that everything is fine with you. Until you understand that your employee has all the conditions and a salary (do not forget that he sold you himself qualitatively), which suits him, but there are no orders. Of course, why grab every client if you can do nothing and get everything for it? And Sanya from his previous work as a person, of course, is cool, but firstly, he also got comfortable, and secondly, he is not your person, he is a person of your subordinate.
All the conclusions are at the end of the article, and it will be fair to describe the pros and cons of hiring a seller without any work experience at all (ideally this is a senior student, or just graduated from a university). So, the pros:
+ He does not know his price. He will monitor the labor market, he will see the offered salaries, but in each vacancy he will see the phrase: work experience is needed. The assessment of oneself as a specialist falls, the amount of the desired salary falls. Pure savings.
+ He has no experience. He will not dictate terms such as he is a million, and he understands this. He needs to get a job, and not get a warm place.
+ He does not know. That is, nothing at all. He does not know how others do, he is not attached to the phrase “but at my old job ...”, he will study, he is a student, he is used to studying. The student tries to infuse ALL knowledge in general and prove to you that you have chosen him correctly, that he is a good employee.
+ He is afraid. That the interview will not pass, the test one, does not know the product, the market, does not know how to sell, that he will be fired, that he will have nothing to pay for the apartment, that there will be a bad record in employment and a short experience and a lot of cockroaches! Yes, he will do everything just to not get fired. The number of jambs will be minimized, KPI will be at the highest level.
+ He is grateful. You are salvation for him, he is your debtor forever: you, such a big and important businessman, hired him, with all his complexes and fears. He will immediately begin to pay off his debt, will try to please you, which means productivity will be maximum.
+ He is ready to work overtime. As a rule, he still does not have a family, obligations, and he really does not want to return to the hostel or to a rented apartment, where 4 more such students live besides him.
+ He is happy that he was taken. One of the main secrets of a successful sale is a good mood. A smile is heard even on the phone, which is to say about personal negotiations.
+ He sincerely loves his company and will enthusiastically prove it to everyone he knows, including customers. He will create the image of the company, advertise the brand without knowing it.
+ The most unpleasant plus is for dishonest ones. Students can be used as an expense: on a test salary, moreover, very low, and the conditions of the test are impracticable. But he doesn’t know about it, right? This is not a guide to action, but if for someone it sounded like a great idea, keep in mind that karma will suffer for you and your company.
The list can be continued again indefinitely, but in a barrel of honey there is a fly in the ointment, which means that there are also disadvantages in hiring students. And here they are:
- He does not know his own worth. But you need to clearly understand his needs. If you lay him a salary more than he imagines in his thoughts, he will work at half strength. It is necessary to create an artificial deficit, so that earnings for the most part depend on it. But the salary should also be, prove that you are a serious company and without money it will not remain. But he should be very small, he did not hold big money in his hands and he might have enough to live on, otherwise there is a risk of getting an office vegetable who does not seek to get more salary.
- He has no experience. The diploma is also stupid to judge knowledge. And no one will tell you what kind of person he is. You, most likely, are also not a psychologist, but you can only form an opinion about this person from your own conversation, his resume will not tell you anything useful.
“He doesn't know anything.” He needs to be trained, taken to trainings, to go to the training himself, then conduct a course for him, but it is necessary to train. It will take time, it may take money, but consider that it will cost more, his training or high salary burnt huckster?
“He's afraid of everything.” Sometimes, the more we are afraid to make a mistake, the greater the chance to make it when a person is worried, his thoughts jump, and his hands shake. You need to monitor your behavior and be a competent leader, make warnings and fine, be interested in how the weekend went, but not cross the line of business relations. For the work to be done efficiently, the manager must be afraid, but not to the point of panic. You can not be a subordinate friend, but you should not be a dictator, look for a middle ground. Choose the path of the teacher, in the end you will have to be one.
- He is grateful, yes. But over time, experience comes, acquaintances and prospects open up. Your employee can learn a lot and interest competitors, he can also understand that he was still heated on his salary, and Yurka earns $ 100 more from a parallel flow. It is necessary to create a maximum of conditions and comfort so that the employee does not have the idea to find out what others are doing there. And at the same time you need not to overdo it, mindful of the office vegetable.
- Most likely, he used to skip. And in a hostel or in a rented apartment for four, he can be very fun. So much so that on one of Mondays he will not come to work, because his head really hurts. Only responsibility can save. Having received once a fine in the amount of average earnings for 0.5 days + having drawn up this day at his own expense, in the future he will think about whether to do this further.
“He is happy to have been taken.” He searched, found and ... relaxed. Now mom will not say that he is sitting on his neck. The flag is taken, you can do nothing further.
- He sincerely loves his company. And he will tell his friends not only who he works for, what cool chips he sells, but also what a funny tie his boss had today. Unfortunately, no one is safe from this, and thus not only a beginner will spoil the image of the company.
- It is easy to put into consumption and pay a penny. Anti-advertising is provided to you. Any job portal through 5-6 such students will be promoting you as a dishonest employer.
And the pros and cons are enough everywhere, but as a result I can say the following:
If neither you nor anyone else in your company really knows how to sell, an experienced seller is almost indispensable. But only one that will work for you, not for yourself and that will be able to train other employees. And it’s much better if you first learn to sell yourself, and then teach new students. But when choosing the rest of the team, my choice definitely falls on young future specialists. You can teach to sell, retrain - much more difficult, adjust for yourself - almost unrealistic. If you do not compare with anyone, then there will be no discontent. And staff turnover. But there will be a fresh outlook on things, quick learning of all processes, exactly the way you see them and the strong foundation of your company in the face of grateful, satisfied, well-fed and calm employees. Teams.
The choice is yours, I’ll add that each leader should remember the following: a properly organized enterprise structure is built on the basis of the oldest principle: “My vassal’s vassal is not my vassal”. Create units, appoint leaders to them, and ensure their mandatory control. You should not communicate with the rest of the unit. All tasks are assigned only to their leaders. In their department, they set their own priorities. Do not stop them from working and they will work for you.
Successful sales and cool staff!
It would seem that half the work was done, it remains only to hire competent specialists who know exactly how to offer / explain / persuade.
This article is just about whether to hire experienced sellers and how to organize the right work in the sales department.
+ He can sell. He sold toothbrushes, glasses and household appliances. He worked in an online store, on cold calls and in the salon. He will sell, you can be sure.
+ He knows everything. He went to a bunch of trainings, he will teach you many chips that you would not have thought of using on sale yourself.
+ He has experience. You have deprived a competitor of a serious advantage, this advantage now works for you.
+ He knows not only how to sell, he has a base of your competitors.
+ He does not need to be taught. Sales start immediately, you will not spend time. Indeed, the main thing is to be able to sell, the product can be learned in the process, he already knows this, has come across it.
+ He will help. He will tell you what motivation systems were in your previous job, how the work in the department was built, and will help you find other cool sellers from those with whom he worked.
I can miss something out of the pros, if I wish, each person can supplement this list for himself. Complemented? Let's go further. The reverse side of the coin: cons of an experienced seller.
- He can sell. Do not hesitate, he will sell you himself very dearly, but so beautifully that when you understand this, you will once again make sure that he is a cool seller. But dear.
“He knows everything.” Better than you, better than competitors, customers and everyone else. He will not learn new things, he will teach you old things and lower you 1 lvl lower. But he has a bunch of certificates, which means that you need to listen to his opinion.
- He has experience. He knows the value of this experience in the labor market. You should be glad that you have such a cool special. And do not swing the law if he doesn’t like something, his competitors will take him away with arms and legs, and your reputation may also suffer if he doesn’t like something very much.
- He has a base of your competitors. And your base, which can easily become the base of your competitors.
“He does not need to be taught.” He will not learn anything. He always sold radio components on the market and really bought from him. But his way of selling with specific vocabulary may not be suitable for selling SEO promotion services to an online marketer or business owner. Do not tell him about it: he always sold it like that, it did it there and it does it, he has experience, he knows better.
- He will help. At his former workplace there was a coffee machine, logisticians were subordinate to accounting, salespeople had access to all the initial prices and the admin panel of the site, which means you should have it. And there’s Sanya from his last job, he sells at a glance, we must take it. You will believe his experience, do your best and will be glad that everything is fine with you. Until you understand that your employee has all the conditions and a salary (do not forget that he sold you himself qualitatively), which suits him, but there are no orders. Of course, why grab every client if you can do nothing and get everything for it? And Sanya from his previous work as a person, of course, is cool, but firstly, he also got comfortable, and secondly, he is not your person, he is a person of your subordinate.
All the conclusions are at the end of the article, and it will be fair to describe the pros and cons of hiring a seller without any work experience at all (ideally this is a senior student, or just graduated from a university). So, the pros:
+ He does not know his price. He will monitor the labor market, he will see the offered salaries, but in each vacancy he will see the phrase: work experience is needed. The assessment of oneself as a specialist falls, the amount of the desired salary falls. Pure savings.
+ He has no experience. He will not dictate terms such as he is a million, and he understands this. He needs to get a job, and not get a warm place.
+ He does not know. That is, nothing at all. He does not know how others do, he is not attached to the phrase “but at my old job ...”, he will study, he is a student, he is used to studying. The student tries to infuse ALL knowledge in general and prove to you that you have chosen him correctly, that he is a good employee.
+ He is afraid. That the interview will not pass, the test one, does not know the product, the market, does not know how to sell, that he will be fired, that he will have nothing to pay for the apartment, that there will be a bad record in employment and a short experience and a lot of cockroaches! Yes, he will do everything just to not get fired. The number of jambs will be minimized, KPI will be at the highest level.
+ He is grateful. You are salvation for him, he is your debtor forever: you, such a big and important businessman, hired him, with all his complexes and fears. He will immediately begin to pay off his debt, will try to please you, which means productivity will be maximum.
+ He is ready to work overtime. As a rule, he still does not have a family, obligations, and he really does not want to return to the hostel or to a rented apartment, where 4 more such students live besides him.
+ He is happy that he was taken. One of the main secrets of a successful sale is a good mood. A smile is heard even on the phone, which is to say about personal negotiations.
+ He sincerely loves his company and will enthusiastically prove it to everyone he knows, including customers. He will create the image of the company, advertise the brand without knowing it.
+ The most unpleasant plus is for dishonest ones. Students can be used as an expense: on a test salary, moreover, very low, and the conditions of the test are impracticable. But he doesn’t know about it, right? This is not a guide to action, but if for someone it sounded like a great idea, keep in mind that karma will suffer for you and your company.
The list can be continued again indefinitely, but in a barrel of honey there is a fly in the ointment, which means that there are also disadvantages in hiring students. And here they are:
- He does not know his own worth. But you need to clearly understand his needs. If you lay him a salary more than he imagines in his thoughts, he will work at half strength. It is necessary to create an artificial deficit, so that earnings for the most part depend on it. But the salary should also be, prove that you are a serious company and without money it will not remain. But he should be very small, he did not hold big money in his hands and he might have enough to live on, otherwise there is a risk of getting an office vegetable who does not seek to get more salary.
- He has no experience. The diploma is also stupid to judge knowledge. And no one will tell you what kind of person he is. You, most likely, are also not a psychologist, but you can only form an opinion about this person from your own conversation, his resume will not tell you anything useful.
“He doesn't know anything.” He needs to be trained, taken to trainings, to go to the training himself, then conduct a course for him, but it is necessary to train. It will take time, it may take money, but consider that it will cost more, his training or high salary burnt huckster?
“He's afraid of everything.” Sometimes, the more we are afraid to make a mistake, the greater the chance to make it when a person is worried, his thoughts jump, and his hands shake. You need to monitor your behavior and be a competent leader, make warnings and fine, be interested in how the weekend went, but not cross the line of business relations. For the work to be done efficiently, the manager must be afraid, but not to the point of panic. You can not be a subordinate friend, but you should not be a dictator, look for a middle ground. Choose the path of the teacher, in the end you will have to be one.
- He is grateful, yes. But over time, experience comes, acquaintances and prospects open up. Your employee can learn a lot and interest competitors, he can also understand that he was still heated on his salary, and Yurka earns $ 100 more from a parallel flow. It is necessary to create a maximum of conditions and comfort so that the employee does not have the idea to find out what others are doing there. And at the same time you need not to overdo it, mindful of the office vegetable.
- Most likely, he used to skip. And in a hostel or in a rented apartment for four, he can be very fun. So much so that on one of Mondays he will not come to work, because his head really hurts. Only responsibility can save. Having received once a fine in the amount of average earnings for 0.5 days + having drawn up this day at his own expense, in the future he will think about whether to do this further.
“He is happy to have been taken.” He searched, found and ... relaxed. Now mom will not say that he is sitting on his neck. The flag is taken, you can do nothing further.
- He sincerely loves his company. And he will tell his friends not only who he works for, what cool chips he sells, but also what a funny tie his boss had today. Unfortunately, no one is safe from this, and thus not only a beginner will spoil the image of the company.
- It is easy to put into consumption and pay a penny. Anti-advertising is provided to you. Any job portal through 5-6 such students will be promoting you as a dishonest employer.
And the pros and cons are enough everywhere, but as a result I can say the following:
If neither you nor anyone else in your company really knows how to sell, an experienced seller is almost indispensable. But only one that will work for you, not for yourself and that will be able to train other employees. And it’s much better if you first learn to sell yourself, and then teach new students. But when choosing the rest of the team, my choice definitely falls on young future specialists. You can teach to sell, retrain - much more difficult, adjust for yourself - almost unrealistic. If you do not compare with anyone, then there will be no discontent. And staff turnover. But there will be a fresh outlook on things, quick learning of all processes, exactly the way you see them and the strong foundation of your company in the face of grateful, satisfied, well-fed and calm employees. Teams.
The choice is yours, I’ll add that each leader should remember the following: a properly organized enterprise structure is built on the basis of the oldest principle: “My vassal’s vassal is not my vassal”. Create units, appoint leaders to them, and ensure their mandatory control. You should not communicate with the rest of the unit. All tasks are assigned only to their leaders. In their department, they set their own priorities. Do not stop them from working and they will work for you.
Successful sales and cool staff!