You've seen this movie before:
After months of searching, you finally interview a superstar salesperson and feel relieved that your prayers have been answered. Your superstar candidate negotiates a base salary and draw that's a bit out of your comfort zone but, hey, she's going to be worth every penny.
One month into the her stint with your company, you're seeing lots of enthusiasm but not many outbound phone calls. Three months into the relationship, you start to worry because your superstar doesn't quite seem to be catching on. Six months in, still no sales. Twelve months and many paychecks later, you've decided to pull the plug - stuck with unemployment liability and COBRA administration for the next 18 months...worse off than before, and beginning to wonder if you'll ever get this sales hiring thing right.
How did this happen? First of all - relax, it happens to everyone. If this horror movie keeps repeating itself in your company, it's time to look at the facts. Did you know that a superstar salesperson at one firm has, at best, a 50% chance of being a bust at their next firm? It takes more than raw talent to succeed in sales - great marketing, good management, solid company finances, and favorable competitive dynamics that facilitate strong pipeline development and close rates, for starters.
There may be other factors at play. Sometimes, people just aren't as hungry as they used to be. Perhaps their family situation causes stress and leads to poor performance. Or, aliens abduct them and replace them with their evil B-player stunt double. Whatever the case, hiring a former superstar presents high potential, but guarantees you nothing.
What do I do about it? One option to consider is a temp-to-perm trial period for your new sales hires. Instead of hiring that new salesperson directly to your payroll and absorbing all of the risk, many forward-thinking firms are trying a contract relationship for a set period of time (typically, 3-6 months). The thinking goes like this: If someone isn't going to work out, I'll know in six months. So, I'll just put this new resource on an at-will employment contract through a 3rd party staffing firm and try before I buy. If the resource works out sooner, I hire sooner. If they miss expectations sooner, I terminate the relationship without the hassle and headache.
If you haven't considered this option, it's time to think about it. There are however, some drawbacks about which you should be aware:
Truly top-level salespeople may be apprehensive about a trial/contract period. In most cases, you'll be recruiting these resources away from good-paying jobs where they're having success, and the trial period may be seen as a lack of commitment on your behalf.
Trial period doesn't mean shorten your interview process. You should treat the selection of a contract-based salesperson with the same level of diligence applied to permanent hires.
Pay the same base salary and the same commission rate. You're not going to get a true read on your salesperson if you whack their commissions until they make it to permanent employment status, and they might just start looking for This model a great fit for hiring to a low-complexity sales process, like appointment-setting or inside sales positions, or for sales jobs where the short-run churn rate is naturally high. It's not a great fit for sales roles where it takes 12-18 months to bring someone up to speed.
A quick legal note: All advice contained in this post assumes that you'll use a staffing agency or other 3rd party as your contractor's employer of record, and that they'll be paying your contractor on a W-2 basis. Most staffing agencies would be thrilled to pick up the phone and here the words, I'd like to payroll an employee through your service, and it will run you anywhere from 18-22% of the employee's rate (the staffing firm has to pay all income and insurance costs, which they pass on). Please consult an attorney before bringing anyone on as a 1099 contractor, because doing so exposes you to risk.
--
Adam Robinson is a noted recruiting industry entrepreneur, speaker, and author. His company, Hireology, is a web-based platform that helps companies make better hiring decisions. Follow Adam on Twitter @adrobins and @Hireology.
.jpg)
