ARE THERE ANY GOOD SALESPEOPLE ANYMORE?

John Lynch is one of CBA Recruitment's founders and currently our Managing Director.  Before setting up the group of companies of which CBA is one, John spent 25 years as salesman, sales manager and sales director.  He writes: "IBM trained me in 1967/8, and other companies - and the marketplace - built on that training.  I never stopped learning.  The most important thing I learned was that effective selling is about doing the right things the right way again and again and again.  Yes, it's about working harder than the next guy - but it's also about working better.  As I rose through the ranks I hired people who would do those things and I got rid of those who wouldn't - partly because I couldn't afford them but mostly because bad salesmanship drove me potty.

"Bad salesmanship still drives me potty whenever I see it - and I see it every day.  Why are so many salespeople so useless?  In my view, the problem starts with poor selection processes.  What I looked for in a salesforce was fairly simple - I wanted good people, properly trained, who stuck with it through the bad times as well as the good and made their numbers.  Without excuses.  What I did not want was guarantee-hoppers, or the untrained, or those without staying power, or people who leapt from job to job just ahead of the chop. I never found a recruiter who did what I wanted, the way I wanted it done. So we started our own."

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