A Great Sales Rep, is a Great Sales Rep, is a Great Sales Rep……Or Are They?
As a sales leader for over 25 years and a fair number of companies, all in the IT space although some quite different from others, I’d say that it depends. There is a small contingent of folks in sales who are the “savants”; the Yo Yo Ma’s in their field. As there are many fantastic cellists, there are few who play to that elite of a level, but many who still perform quite well. For other than that 5% savant level in sales (the person who can sell anything to anyone, anywhere), there is another segment of performers who, when they are in a company where product type, culture, deal complexity, customer type, vertical, etc, plays to their “sweet spot”, will deliver top drawer performances.
I’ve had some folks on my team just once, others two, three and a couple; four times. When looking to hire individuals who’ve been successful on your team in the past, although it may be difficult, you need to set aside your appreciation for their past efforts and successes and really study how they sold at the prior company vs the fit for the new organization.
This is in no way to dismiss the baseline characteristics of integrity, honesty, communication skills, customer care and work ethic; those are a given for every “new to you” hire and any repeats. A few distinctions to consider; transactional smaller sales vs more complex, longer sales motions in the enterprise space; knowledge of the target vertical (HR, Healthcare, Federal, etc); larger established company with resources at the ready vs. startup environment that puts a lot more on the rep to get their own prep/support work handled; whether they derive strength from being part of a team, or are they a “lone wolf”.
That A+ Player from your last company, or one previous, may be the perfect fit for the role that you have open today, or they may not. Go through the analysis first on the current company, comparing it to the last one where this person was a headliner, before you make that call to reach out!