Have you ever been in an interview for a sales position and heard, “You have three months to prove yourself, if you can sell we’ll keep you, if not, you’re gone”?
I’ve heard that a few times myself. Fortunately I was never desperate enough to have to take a job from one of them. As a salesman, I gained considerably at the expense of companies with this hiring philosophy.
What tended to happen to those hired under such a condition was that after about 2 months they’d begin to panic and resort to unethical tactics to make a sale. Usually it would involve lying in some form or another, perhaps an unrealistic delivery promise or lowball pricing. Then when they couldn’t deliver as promised the stories would start to roll:
“Our printing press broke down in the middle of the job, right now it’s in pieces on the plant floor and the mechanics are working on it. Your job will be the first one off once we recover.”
The lowball quote would be padded with other costs when the invoice arrives and now suddenly the initial price looks more like a down payment on the job.
“That wasn’t in the original agreement, it’s an extra.”
When I was young I was told that your sins will find you out. I have seen the truth of this many times in many sales people. The one that survived the unreasonable probationary period because he or she found success using unethical sales tactics now develops them into an art form. They became habits. This is not the route to go because once a salesperson is labeled a liar or unethical, not only does their personal reputation go out the window, so does the good name, if it ever had one, of the company that person represented.
Think about this, if you were a buyer for a firm why would you even consider giving work to a business that has sent 3 different sales people to call on you over the course of the last year? What if you took a chance on one of them only to find out that you gave a project to a rookie who doesn’t have any clout with the company he represents, and your job winds up late because the salesperson got fired, or their lack of experience caused it to get messed up. Now you look like an idiot and have done your own client a huge disfavor by handling their work in such irresponsible fashion. No, you are not going to give projects to anyone but a trusted and competent supplier that you know can keep their word and make you look good.
It’s amazing that so many sales managers and company owners don’t understand this. Besides, what kind of a sales person is it that can’t land a job with a decent company? It takes time and skill to earn profitable accounts. On the other hand, the more pitiable companies that are out there the better it is for the good ones. The differences between them are so obvious. All you need is to be consistent, honest, prove yourself, and your patience will be rewarded.