The following article was written by Dave Kurlan and originally appeared on his Blog, Understanding the Sales Force
Most in the cherry-picking news media are continuing to pound us with bad stuff: record unemployment, 80,000 dead, lockdowns into August, 30 trillion in debt, economy will be slow to recover, you'll be jailed if you open your business too soon, schools to remain closed in September, people will die, etc. But there is good stuff going on that they aren't talking about because, for the most part, the media doesn't care about sharing the good stuff. It's bad for ratings.
For example, since the 30 million who temporarily lost their jobs are receiving unemployment at more than 100% of what they were earning before, they aren't facing the hardship the media would lead you to believe and the money is there for a reboot when it comes. But the really good news is for companies that are able to hire salespeople. Consider this!
Do you have cash on hand? Do you have access to cash? Money is almost free right now so don't discount traditional borrowing! If you can invest some money, now is definitely the time to hire salespeople. Whether you want to expand your geographical coverage, the verticals you call on, the audience you sell to, the products you offer, want more saturation in your existing space, or want to upgrade the quality and performance of your existing sales force, THERE WILL NEVER BE A BETTER TIME TO HIRE SALESPEOPLE. EVER.
Consider the following statistics from Objective Management Group (OMG), who have assessed 1,975,522 salespeople.
You are looking at historical shifts in statistics!
If you can find a way to spend the money now (cost of tools and 3-months salary), and you use OMG'S predictive sales candidate assessment, you will see some incredible swings:
Your sales candidate pool will increase in size by 600. Yes. They are out there!
The number of sales candidates completing their sales candidate assessments will increase by 958% because it is an employer's market. Just three months ago it was a candidate's market.
The overall assessment recommendation rate will decrease by 45% because there are a lot of crappy salespeople out there right now. Also, you will be able to raise the bar on the minimum requirements for a recommendation because there are a lot of good salespeople out there too.
Because of all the available sales talent right now, you will be able to identify and hire your salespeople 450% more quickly.
While the fixed cost for a sales candidate assessment license remains the same, the relative cost per assessment decreases by 958% and your annual compensation drops by 11% due to supply and demand.
Even if the market you sell to is sluggish right now, that won't be the case by the end of the summer. Don't wait until then to hire! Everything will shift again by Labor Day. Both supply and quality of available sales talent will decrease as demand increases, the time to hire will increase, and the time to onboard your new salespeople will take longer as well. DO. THIS. NOW.
Your current and new salespeople will face unprecedented challenges in the form of delayed closings, resistance to being sold anything at all, and resistance to spending more money than anyone has to. This resistance will come in the form of stalls, put-offs, objections, excuses and sob stories. Your current and new salespeople must have the skills to differentiate, take a consultative approach and sell value if you are to have any chance of maintaining your margins. If your salespeople move forward armed with only the limited skills they had prior to the pandemic, your win rate and margins will be crushed. YOU MUST EVALUATE YOUR EXISTING SALES FORCE, DETERMINE HOW BIG THE SKILLS GAPS ARE, AND PROVIDE THIS CRUCIAL SKILLS TRAINING NOW. If you wait, you will find yourself fighting to survive from the back of the pack.
Image copyright 123RF
