Never take anything for granted, sometimes the obvious solution is also not the best
In a commercial context, what are the most mistakes made by SMEs that decide to hire vendors, agents and representatives?
Here are the 6 major mistakes to avoid when you are managing a small and medium enterprises!
# 1- Recruit by large companies
Often recruiters of SMEs believe that if a sales person has been successful in a greater reality, will secure the same results in a smaller structure.
However, there are the variables to be taken into account. A trade from a greater reality could expect to be supported by technologies, tools or team not present in the new reality, moreover, according to the founder of mid-market Institute Ram V. Iyer, with many chances that resource will be found to carry out the unfamiliar tasks (such as analysis of sales or competition), which could make it difficult to insert in the company.
To avoid such situations, people who choose new candidates must carefully define the tasks that they are going to perform in the short, medium and long term. That done, you can then focus on finding individuals with the experience and / or aptitude for the established tasks.
# 2- Take stellar sellers
In it tends erroneously SMEs to think that hiring agents and representatives famous or well-known , although not in its field, represents the easiest way to increase sales and turnover of the company.
Despite this knowledge is actually quite common in children, as taught by the former CEO of Worldwide Chally Howard Stevens, one must consider the fact that such resources are rarely able to guarantee the same performance in production environments where products, procedures and approaches are completely different. It’s a bit like expecting a champion in football backgrounds basketball, because basketball has shown great qualities.
Such an error cannot be committed seeking candidates who have achieved success through persistence and training in the specific area.
# 3- Choose not related professionals to corporate culture
It happens often that in talks organized by the SMEs with new candidates will neglect the ‘affinities between the company and possible resources : even if the latter may be particularly talented in sales, that does not establish compatibility with the corporate culture or fail to play her part in the long run will be a dangerous investment.
According to the co-author of Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less Robert I. Sutton, is a bit as if a very good commercial agent went from clients in suit and sneakers. Perhaps it would do some good contracts, but it sure would fail to convey the message of reality for which he works. A company that wants to present to the public its employees in suits, to witness a higher level of professionalism and seriousness.
Not to be in similar circumstances, you must select the employees of the commercial department with the same attention that lends itself when the internal employees are chosen: make sure they are compatible with the company’s policy and give a trial period to test them.
You may also like to read another article on heygom: Liquidity and cash flow: 5 Typical errors in the financial management of SMEs
# 4- Transforming engineers sellers
In many cases, small and medium-sized companies looking for agents and representatives prefer to assign these roles to resources that, although specialized in other areas, are already working within the company.
And then it happens that engineers or figures of a good standard techniques are transferred to the sales department, with the hope that their genius also demonstrates in business. The reasoning is simple: if these pieces they know to produce extraordinary solutions, because they cannot sell them? As taught Ram V. Iyer, the reason lies in the fact that the technical training does not necessarily imply ability to sell or ability to communicate with the public.
If you want to transform an enterprise in technical sales person, this must at least have shown a strong attitude towards sales. If it also did some nice contract, even better.
# 5- To compensate for the poor performance of the sales department with technology
When agents and representatives in small companies bring poor results, they tend to compensate for these performance by implementing systems and sales technologies, in hopes of helping the resources to collect more success.
Having said that, as explained by the CEO of SalesBuzz Michael Pedone, the sale of technology becomes a good investment only when you have available to sellers good. Allocate the money for such projects without prior hone skills of collaborators; it brings only a relentless waste of money.
The best way to overcome such problems is to focus first on finding skilled professionals and then made available to them on the tools and performing technologies, which allow their users to improve their results.
# 6- Providing inadequate training on the sale
If the trade agent working in a large company is trained according to specific procedures and steps, the smaller the company is, in many cases only learned about the characteristics of the product-service to be offered.
Habits like that lead, according to the author of the bestseller No More Cold Calling Joanne Black, creating commercial preparations at a theoretical level, but not at all able to handle situations like concrete appointments with potential customers.
To avoid such situations, you may want to educate every new seller, explaining (the first to take the field) which could face problems, how to approach with your audience and what to say depending on the circumstances: in a nutshell, you have to really teach to handle a real business conversation.
These 6 major mistakes made by small and medium-sized businesses who hire agents and representatives: more or less common mistakes, to avoid with particular care!
