Finding a Great Government Sales Executive
We were asked by a recent
attendee of our "Winning Government Business" class in Atlanta how to find a
great person to sell his products and services. He was beside himself trying to
find the type of person who was brave enough to make sales calls, intelligent
enough to understand his business and computer savvy enough to find the
opportunities and names online.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist (unless you are selling missiles) to sell to the government. It takes a person with absolute perseverance and willingness to develop key relationships from the bottom of the government and work their way to the top. This is not one of those jobs where you find the top CEO and work your way down. That is not how the government works. You need to get the ranks to rally around you and to walk you into the commander's office and say that they want to use you. So, there are several approaches to find the key person. The first is the easiest way into the government. Find a retired military person to shake hands and sell for you. However, you need to give them project managers and team members who can back them up when the handshaking and introductions are over and the technical talk about your product or service begins. You will also need to send them on some strong sales classes like http://www.fedmarket.com so they know how to leverage their great relationships and turn them into sales for your organizations.
Finding this person is not easy, but you can network your way around an officer's club or ask around your community to see who is retiring soon. Also, you might want to advertise in your area military base publications or websites. This may take some underground work, but you'll get someone who is grateful for the business opportunity and disciplined enough to have the perseverance you need to build this business.
The second approach is to find a HUNTER who has already been successful in selling to the government in your area. You can also find this person by advertising, but you need to understand that successful sales executives want a six-figure opportunity placed in front of them. Keep the salary low and give them an attractive percentage of the profits for winning the business.
Here is an ad that would catch my eye: SIX FIGURE INCOME OPPORTUNITY OPEN NOW FOR GOVERNMENT SALES EXECUTIVES ONLY! If you are a successful at selling to the government with GSA sales experience and connections, we want to talk to you! Hunters only. Call:____________________
The third is to hire from within. Get one of your top managers, who is looking for a challenge, yet knows every corner of your business and give them a promotion. Make them "National Government Sales Executive" or "Vice President of Government Business" ... you get the picture. Have a meeting about their "promotion" and make a big deal out of it. The first year this person is in their position is going to be the toughest year for them because it will take at least 12-18 months before they uncover their first order. So, you need to assure them that if they fulfill their goal to build your desired number of relationships in the first year, that they are on track. During the second year, they will need to close a specified amount of business and it should grow from there.
Here's the toughest part. You need to be patient. This is an investment of at least $100K the first year. But, if they are opening doors and building the right relationships, the business should start to grow in approximately 18 months and then you will start to see your return on investment. Keep an eye on their appointments and have them keep a "target" database with detailed notes so you can see the progress of their relationships. Require them to maintain detailed notes and give you copies of the databases. This will insure you will not lose all of the legwork if something happens to this key resource.
And finally, make sure you perform a thorough background check on the individual before you hire them. Because they will be selling to the government, they will need to share their social security number and identification to get into some of the agencies and military bases. Eventually, if you uncover some business that requires a security clearance, you need to be assured that your sales executive has a strong background. When you invest in their security clearance, you will not want any unprofitable surprises.
Also, you will need to set aside some money for a travel budget for this key resource. They will be required to go on the road on your behalf regularly, so be prepared to create a budget for them as well as agreeing that they will be traveling at least 50% of the time.
If you hire a dynamite sales executive, who has no government experience, be sure to consider sending them to a class at http://www.fedmarket.com/. If they are sales savvy in the corporate world, we will be able to arm them with a strategy that will point them in the right direction to develop key relationships in the government immediately.
Good luck with your search and here's to finding a sales superstar!
It doesn't take a rocket scientist (unless you are selling missiles) to sell to the government. It takes a person with absolute perseverance and willingness to develop key relationships from the bottom of the government and work their way to the top. This is not one of those jobs where you find the top CEO and work your way down. That is not how the government works. You need to get the ranks to rally around you and to walk you into the commander's office and say that they want to use you. So, there are several approaches to find the key person. The first is the easiest way into the government. Find a retired military person to shake hands and sell for you. However, you need to give them project managers and team members who can back them up when the handshaking and introductions are over and the technical talk about your product or service begins. You will also need to send them on some strong sales classes like http://www.fedmarket.com so they know how to leverage their great relationships and turn them into sales for your organizations.
Finding this person is not easy, but you can network your way around an officer's club or ask around your community to see who is retiring soon. Also, you might want to advertise in your area military base publications or websites. This may take some underground work, but you'll get someone who is grateful for the business opportunity and disciplined enough to have the perseverance you need to build this business.
The second approach is to find a HUNTER who has already been successful in selling to the government in your area. You can also find this person by advertising, but you need to understand that successful sales executives want a six-figure opportunity placed in front of them. Keep the salary low and give them an attractive percentage of the profits for winning the business.
Here is an ad that would catch my eye: SIX FIGURE INCOME OPPORTUNITY OPEN NOW FOR GOVERNMENT SALES EXECUTIVES ONLY! If you are a successful at selling to the government with GSA sales experience and connections, we want to talk to you! Hunters only. Call:____________________
The third is to hire from within. Get one of your top managers, who is looking for a challenge, yet knows every corner of your business and give them a promotion. Make them "National Government Sales Executive" or "Vice President of Government Business" ... you get the picture. Have a meeting about their "promotion" and make a big deal out of it. The first year this person is in their position is going to be the toughest year for them because it will take at least 12-18 months before they uncover their first order. So, you need to assure them that if they fulfill their goal to build your desired number of relationships in the first year, that they are on track. During the second year, they will need to close a specified amount of business and it should grow from there.
Here's the toughest part. You need to be patient. This is an investment of at least $100K the first year. But, if they are opening doors and building the right relationships, the business should start to grow in approximately 18 months and then you will start to see your return on investment. Keep an eye on their appointments and have them keep a "target" database with detailed notes so you can see the progress of their relationships. Require them to maintain detailed notes and give you copies of the databases. This will insure you will not lose all of the legwork if something happens to this key resource.
And finally, make sure you perform a thorough background check on the individual before you hire them. Because they will be selling to the government, they will need to share their social security number and identification to get into some of the agencies and military bases. Eventually, if you uncover some business that requires a security clearance, you need to be assured that your sales executive has a strong background. When you invest in their security clearance, you will not want any unprofitable surprises.
Also, you will need to set aside some money for a travel budget for this key resource. They will be required to go on the road on your behalf regularly, so be prepared to create a budget for them as well as agreeing that they will be traveling at least 50% of the time.
If you hire a dynamite sales executive, who has no government experience, be sure to consider sending them to a class at http://www.fedmarket.com/. If they are sales savvy in the corporate world, we will be able to arm them with a strategy that will point them in the right direction to develop key relationships in the government immediately.
Good luck with your search and here's to finding a sales superstar!
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