You’ve seen this movie before:

Manager interviews “superstar” salesperson and feels relieved that this prayers have been answered.  Superstar candidate negotiates a base salary and draw that’s way out of the comfort zone of the manager, but, hey, she’s going to be worth every penny.  One month into the relationship, nothing much happens.  Three months into the relationship, the manager starts to worry because the former superstar doesn’t seem to be catching on.  Six months in, still no sales.  Twelve months and six figures later, the manager pulls the plug.  They’re stuck with unemployment liability and COBRA administration for the next 18 months…worse off than before, and beginning to wonder if they’ll ever get this sales hiring thing right.

How did this happen?  Relax, it happens to everyone.  If this horror movie keeps repeating itself in your company, it’s time to look at the facts.  As I’ve mentioned before, a superstar salesperson at one firm has a 50% chance of being a bust at their next firm.  Why?  Because it takes more than raw talent to succeed in sales.  It takes great marketing, good management, and solid financial footing to faciliate strong pipeline development and close rates.  In other words, it takes a support system.

There may be other factors at play.  Sometimes, people just aren’t as hungry as they used to be.  Or their family situation causes stress and leads to poor performance.  Or, aliens abduct them and replace them with a B-player stunt double.  Whatever the case, hiring a former superstar guarantees nothing, but holds high potential. 

What do I do about it?  One option to consider is a “temp-to-perm” trial period.  Instead of hiring that new salesperson directly to your payroll  and absorbing all of the risk, what many forward-thinking firms are trying is a contract relationship for a set period of time (typically, 6 months).  The thinking goes like this:  “If someone isn’t going to work out, I’ll know in six months.  So, I’ll just put this new resource on an at-will employment contract through a 3rd party staffing firm and try before I buy.  If the resource works out sooner, I hire sooner.  If they miss expectations sooner, I terminate the relationship without the hassle and headache.”

If you haven’t considered this option, it’s time to think about it.  That is, unless you want to see that same movie again.