When Going After A Star Performer Is A Bad Thing.

By Robert Estupinian

A few weeks ago I was sitting down talking with a business owner who was interested in recruiting one of the top salespeople from a major competitor. Based on the stories she shared with me about this star performer, the possibility of having the salesperson come to work for her was a great opportunity. However, I want to share with you some of the thoughts that came to mind and that anyone considering hiring a star performer should consider.

 

Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

The annuals of most sales organizations are filled with the accounts of those too good to be true hires that never produced. In some cases they did produce, but the results were less than lackluster, and yet the compensation they received was significant. There are many reasons why this occurs.  First, many times the salesperson may be successful because of the structure and support that they are receiving at their current employer. It could be as easy as having an administrative assistant that goes beyond the call of duty regularly to support the salesperson. This was the case with one “top” mortgage loan officer a few years ago. Once they were recruited away this “top” producer was never able to obtain even a percentage of the sales that he achieved before. Upon investigation it was not the salesperson, but rather his processor that was really doing all the selling and follow-up.

 

Secondly, any company thinking about hiring a star performer must make sure that they are not inheriting someone else’s headache. At times the legend of these star performers runs long after they last produced. A common joke among commercial brokers is the account of the broker who continues to talk about the big multimillion dollar deal that they closed. The punch line is that the deal occurred two years ago, and they have not done anything since. Yet, when these commercial salespeople they speak about the event as if it just happened.

 

Similarly, it is important to look at the selling environment at the time that the results were obtained by the star performer. This is never more important than in today’s selling environment. Yesterday’s star producer may not be able to compete in today’s challenging economic environment. As things get tougher there are those salespersons that will leap from one company to the other never producing at any of them. A year ago I ran into this situation with a client who hired a “top” producer from a major bank. Previous to working for the major bank she had worked for a smaller regional bank and had a lot of success there. The major bank hired her away and then my client hired her away from the major bank because of her legendary abilities. As you can imagine once at my client’s company she did not produce at all and they ended up terminating her soon afterward. Upon looking into the situation I discovered that when she worked for the small regional bank she was selling in a 100% virgin territory. There literally was no other competitor for 100 miles. By the time that my client hired her she was competing with seven other comparable service providers and she did not have the skills to effectively produce under those circumstances.

 

Good fit is more important.

A good question to ask anytime you bring anyone into your organization is, will this potential hire be a good fit for the team and the organization?  This single question will make more of an impact than simply looking to hire someone that has the potential to bring in the numbers. Let me explain by virtue of a true example. A financial services organization that I consulted with was able to recruit away a “top” investment advisor. This advisor was able to bring in the numbers faster than anyone ever had in the history of the firm. His numbers in the first 60 days were literally 200% better than anyone had previously been able to accomplish during the same time. Management was elated and the future appeared to be bright for both the firm and the new advisor. However, by day 90 complaints began to come in from the individuals that this advisor had sold to. By 120 days from his hire date he was still bringing in business, but the firm was also cancelling and refunding clients.  After a careful review of the situation it became apparent that this advisor would say and do anything to get the business including misrepresenting the facts. 

 

In another situation I ran into an organization that hired a “top” producer who did perform ethically, but ended up tearing down the entire sales team. One reason was the ego needs of this top producer. He required perks and special attention that was not available to the rest of the sales team. Whatever this top producer asked for was granted including price concessions and bonuses not available to the rest of the sales team. To add insult to injury, the top producer looked down on the rest of the sales team as being inferior to him. He refused to attend any sales meetings or work with any other sales team members. In short order the special treatment and his arrogance began to affect the rest of the sales team and slowly they began to leave the organization. Once this happen his production was not sufficient to cover the loss of production from the sales people that had left. The true cost of losing those good sales people was more than the profit that this “top” producer had brought in.

 

The foregoing information is just a sample of the few things that any business owner should consider before hiring a star performer. This being said, this does not mean that you never hire star performers; rather you need to take into consideration many aspects of the hire rather than just the numbers that they can potentially produce. Working with a sales consultant that can investigate and evaluate the fit and performance of a star performer is one way to maximize your success and at the same time minimize your frustrations. If you have any questions about this article or would like to discuss your situation, I welcome you to contact me at 408-879-7280 or email me at Robert@mutualvisionllc.com