Sales by the Business Owner Don't Count

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I’ve twice found myself in the role that Tony Scelzo calls ‘the worst job in the world’…  The first salesman hired in a startup company.

The first time I found myself there I worked for Marketpath, a web company in downtown Indianapolis.  Actually I was technically the second salesman… I was hired a few months after my good friend T.J. Furman.

The founders had business coming in, and they wanted much more.  They had just signed a huge deal with the Harding Poorman group that generated tens of thousands of dollars plus residuals.

‘Great!’ I thought.  ’I'll sell a ton of websites and make a boatload.’

It didn’t take long for me to realize that selling websites was hard work.  While TJ and I sold several websites in our first few months, we definitely weren’t generating enough income to justify having 2 salesmen on staff full-time, so I got the boot.

It seemed that the founders were much better at selling than we were.

So, I started looking for a new job, because I didn’t yet believe that I had the skills to go into business for myself.  I went to work for Brandswag… as the first salesman they had ever hired.

The founder, Kyle Lacy, had a ton of momentum going which I thought would make working with us an easy sell.  After a few months it became clear that people really preferred to do be sold by the business owner.  And again I didn’t get the job done.

So I went into business for myself…

And people started buying from me.

Here’s my point… If you’re a founder or owner of the business, people assume you have the power to make deals.  They know that you’re staking your name and reputation on your work, and they assume that you’re skilled in what you do (ie, you’re good at graphic design, so they don’t assume you’re great at sales).

So here’s the point.  Sales made by the business owner don’t count.  They all go towards funding the business.  A salesperson will rarely be as good as the founder and it’s likely that the founder will lose money on the salesperson for the first several months.

Thoughts?

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  • http://www.spinweb.net/ Michael Reynolds

    Colin,

    This is a very insightful post. I found that this indeed used to be the case at my company until we hired Arrick. We went through a few sales people that didn’t work out for the reasons you described but when we met Arrick, it was clear that he had the right mojo for helping customers and making sales. We also sent him to sales training so that he had a formal process and it’s made a huge difference.

    • http://tribeswell.com Colin Clark

      I completely agree. It takes a certain type of person, and training definitely helps quite a bit.

      I guess that’s the one thing I left out in my story. I also got a great sales trainer about 9 months ago, and that has also made a huge financial difference.

  • http://www.spinweb.net/ Michael Reynolds

    Colin,

    This is a very insightful post. I found that this indeed used to be the case at my company until we hired Arrick. We went through a few sales people that didn't work out for the reasons you described but when we met Arrick, it was clear that he had the right mojo for helping customers and making sales. We also sent him to sales training so that he had a formal process and it's made a huge difference.

  • http://www.spinweb.net/ Michael Reynolds

    Colin,

    This is a very insightful post. I found that this indeed used to be the case at my company until we hired Arrick. We went through a few sales people that didn't work out for the reasons you described but when we met Arrick, it was clear that he had the right mojo for helping customers and making sales. We also sent him to sales training so that he had a formal process and it's made a huge difference.

  • http://tribeswell.com Colin Clark

    I completely agree. It takes a certain type of person, and training definitely helps quite a bit.

    I guess that's the one thing I left out in my story. I also got a great sales trainer about 9 months ago, and that has also made a huge financial difference.

  • http://tribeswell.com Colin Clark

    I completely agree. It takes a certain type of person, and training definitely helps quite a bit.

    I guess that's the one thing I left out in my story. I also got a great sales trainer about 9 months ago, and that has also made a huge financial difference.

  • Adev

    From experience, I’d have to disagree that business owners make the best sales people. Perhaps in some trades where direct knowledge and experience of a unique service or product help a sale to be made. But I feel you are leaving out many major factors and that’s personality, persistence and the ability to take prospects through the sales process. i could go on and on, but would highly recommend reading books on Solution Selling. I believe that most people can become good sales people and I do agree that there is credibility that comes from an owner/founder of a business. Just the same, I can appreciate your perspective.

    • http://tribeswell.com Colin Clark

      I think that in mature businesses where the products are clearly defined and prices are concrete, a hired salesperson can do just fine. I just think there’s something about dealing with a business owner directly that makes people more likely to buy. Thanks for commenting!

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