Why many salespeople struggle to grow their own businesses

While sales is a key skill for any entrepreneur, it takes much more to run a successful firm. PHOTO | FILE 

By PETER KAGECHE

In Summary

• Replacing pride with patience key as is getting good business partners.

Many employees shun sales jobs yet all who start their side hustle or outright business crave the skill.

One would therefore imagine that the stellar salesperson who starts his business is bound to thrive.
But no. In fact, the polar opposite happens: he struggles and tragically, unchecked, his business quickly bites the dust.

If I’m this good at trading in currencies at BCK bank, an employee muses, I should thrive in my own forex bureau.

What happens instead is culture shock. In the initial stages the employee may succeed, possibly buoyed by existing leads. Quickly though, reality hits home.

Foremost is the realisation that the primary reason why he thrived with the former employer was not so much because he was good but the environment the employer had created, allowed his talent to flourish.

It suddenly hits him that for his business to survive, he must put in place the same systems and structures that made him thrive in employment.

Working systems and structures are like tilled and regularly watered land – the seed finds it easy to flourish. Few withstand the tenacity this calls for. The vast majority find it easier to look back over the employment fence they had jumped over. Miraculously, the grass over there looks greener than it was when they left.

Next, the budding entrepreneur hires sales people and is sure that his cash flow projections will unfold in real life as they do on his Excel sheet. But Excel operates in a linear environment; selling doesn’t.

The former dealer, now CEO of a property development firm, is visibly irritated that his sales people aren’t selling. “Why?” he angrily asks.
For starters, the quality of employees you brought on board was what your budget could afford, and what your budget can afford must go through a learning curve.

“But I didn’t have to go through this myself; I was always ahead of my game. In fact, before hiring them I easily sold and still sell these plots of land. And what is this about them requiring training? In other words, why can’t they be like me? And why do I have to incur further expenses training them on something they are already paid to do?”

Well, not all seeds fall on rich arable land. Some fall on rocks and others on thorns. All must be nurtured. Oh, and that budget-quality ratio isn’t linear either. Even if you can afford quality, you are still not guaranteed competence.

Ask any seasoned businessman and he will tell you that he has poached hitherto stellar sellers whose star simply dimmed when they crossed over.

The insistence that your employees be like you is driven by pride, which blinds you from seeking help. Counterparts who were not in formal sales jobs like engineers, accountants and teachers on the other hand will find it much easier to learn or seek a business partner who is a competent business developer.

It’s not all doom and gloom for the salesperson-turned-business owner. Once he replaces pride with patience he realises that he has options, which include getting a business partner who complements his weakness; or, learn from Joshua Oigara of KCB, who while being interviewed by the Daily Nation said: “To run a business you don’t have to be a specialist. It is more of a job for a generalist. The bank can hire the best accountant or marketer it needs. The CEO is a captain. The key task for the captain is to inspire the team. It is not enough simply to get the degree in marketing or finance. One should be able to broaden their knowledge base considerably.”

Kageche is lead facilitator at Lend Me Your Ears, a sales training and development firm. Email:lendmeyourears@consultant.com