GPI 402 – Ask new employees about their previous employer contacts to find sales leads.

When hiring new employees, note on their applications all companies that are currently your firm’s customers.  The new employee may have left on good terms and still has valuable contacts within that organization that could contribute to generating new sales.

Steps to take to uncover sales leads:

• When hiring new employees, have them complete your application and fill in their last ten years of employment (you decide the term).
• Have your sales or marketing personnel review the list of companies where the new hire has worked and try to note any current customers or targeted potential customers.
• Ask the employee if he or she feels comfortable in giving their name and current position to employees at the previous company. If they were terminated, neither of you will want to make the connections.
• If the employee has good relations with the previous firm(s), ask him to review the list of contacts your company has for employees who work for that customer. He or she may have good relationships in which they feel comfortable making a call or connection in behalf of their new company.
• Even if the employee does not want to get involved with the selling process, simply knowing people in the potential customer’s purchasing department will help in the process to begin to sell to a targeted company.