Are you feeling Lucky? A Good Business Plan Doesn’t Require Much Luck!

Have you ever said to yourself, “We need to hire an account manager who has a portable book of business with no encumbrances with regard to a non-compete?” Looking back over the last few years, I’ve been given those exact parameters numerous times when managers have called to ask for our assistance in filling an account manager’s position with their company. Realistically, at least to some extent, almost everyone pursues that objective in their recruiting efforts, even though the outcome of the effort is generally somewhere between poor and dismal. When was the last time you were able to hire someone from your local market who had a substantial base of business, which was portable, and there were no concerns regarding a non-compete?

One of the main reasons this approach to recruiting is often taken is rooted in the need to change the numbers…immediately, as in overnight. Personally, I’ve watched this play out for several years, and it has been my observation that even when a manager hires the seemingly ideal candidate, the account manager will seldom live up to the hiring manager’s expectations, which are largely based upon the assurances put forward by the candidate during the interview process regarding how much business “they can walk over.”

Unfortunately, one of the reasons certain account managers want to leave one company and go to another is because they are not performing well presently, are perhaps feeling the heat from a dissatisfied employer, and they seek out a new employer who will guarantee their income for the next several months. It would be wise to remind ourselves that the account manager will usually bring with them whatever habits, attitudes, and work ethic they had during their previous employment.

An alternative approach, which is being implemented by many of our clients nationwide, allows for a manager to hire someone who is not from the industry, but who has had at least one positive selling experience where they learned to prospect, to make cold calls, and to use the telephone to book appointments, etc. Personally, I think it is a good idea to choose individuals who have been “stack ranked” against their peers and had a quota to meet, which they should have consistently exceeded. Ideally, they need to have excelled to the level of being in the top 10 to 20% of their peers at whatever they have been selling.

Interestingly, winners usually win, and poor performers (historically) will usually perform poorly in the future. My advice would be that you never allow yourself to believe that you, or your company, will be the missing ingredient that causes someone who has turned in excuses for under performance in the past, to suddenly (overnight) become the peak performer you want to have on your team.

If a manager were to hire the person I’ve described, have them on board for a few weeks (maybe longer), and then send them through our specialized sales training, they would have someone on board who would methodically go out and establish a flow of new customer relationships for their company. They would not ramp up their revenue overnight, unless they were to get lucky. Instead, it will be a slow and gradual process, but it will happen. Realistically, their volume will predictably increase at the incremental rate of about 5K per month (some will ramp up at a faster pace, and in the larger legal markets, they will most likely build their revenue at a faster pace) until they plateau at a level commensurate with their natural ability, developed skill, ambition, and desire for a certain standard of living.

Three new reps hired in January of ’06, and trained shortly thereafter, will predictably be doing 30-40K each (in new business) by the summer of ’06, assuming they are held accountable to a reasonable level of sales activity. The good news is that even at that level of performance, your company’s annual volume would be on track to increase by over 1 million dollars, and the account managers should continue to increase their monthly volume at the rate I’ve described for months to come.

The approach I’ve described takes patience, a long term vision, and the willingness to increase your overhead for the first three or four months while the new reps are getting their volume to a level where your company at least breaks even on them. In all likelihood, one of the three will not be with your company 18 months later, for whatever reason, but the remaining two should have improved enough to offset some of the loss of volume otherwise created by the third. The reality of attrition in any service based business affects the numbers, which implies that there is wisdom in always looking for the next qualified candidate who might need to be added to the team.

In many instances, this approach to building revenue and profitability is not what many managers are looking for as a strategic plan. To be sure, there is no “blue sky” in what I am suggesting. However, it is reasonably accurate and predictable, and managers could build a very solid business plan around the formula I am proposing. It changes the game plan from hoping you get lucky and find “just the right person,” to having far greater control over the outcome you want for the growth of your business.

You have probably heard the expression, “The proof is in the pudding.” We have been teaching account managers to sell to the legal market for the last 11 years. If you would like to read a few comments from owners, managers, and account managers attesting to the results they have experienced after going through our specialized sales training, click on “Testimonials.” The testimonials make a compelling case for the remarkable return everyone gets from an investment in sales training…you, your company, and your account managers.

As the New Year approaches, managers and owners traditionally re-evaluate their business. 2006 holds great potential, especially for those companies that are positioning themselves to capitalize on the evolving technology needs of the marketplace.  As I stated in our last newsletter, we can equip your account managers with the knowledge, skill, and confidence to aggressively go after the technology related service needs in your market, whether the project involves imaging, coding, OCR, EDD, or web-based repositories. 

Our class schedule for the coming months is posted on our website under “Training Schedule.”   Let us know if you have account managers you would like to register to attend one of the upcoming classes.

If you have any questions about the sales training course or any of our other services, please give us a call at 1-800-929-8740.