How much weight do you put in to hiring salespeople from your competitors?

There are a couple of reasons that hiring salespeople from the competition can make sense. First, when you are actively targeting the same list of customers as your competitors, hiring the "pre-existing" rolodexes that competitive salespeople may possess can be a very effective tactic. It can also be a risky one for a lot of reasons, including legal ones. Second, many businesses operate in complex markets where substantive knowledge is critical to being a successful sales rep. You can either hire candidates with no industry experience and train them or hire "pre-trained" reps from the competition which is usually the better option.

Chad has good points also; generally hiring a Rolodex can be crap shoot.
The general rule is he or she will leave 20% of their existing clients, and regarding compensation 1. You have to sell the company 2. Be creative, have a comp plan that both of you are comfortable with. If you’re hiring a top 10% producer and he or she is making lot revenue for the company, you can work with them to operate to your system.

In general if the only reason a competitor is coming over is money then you should check twice that it's the right hire. If there's a reason besides money that they're switching then share that passion with the customer.

I've seen groups make poor hires from the competition. The biggest mistake I've seen is assuming that because someone has ABC company experience on their resume that they have the right skills, experience and talent for your company. In one situation, I watched a company hire several candidates from ABC company, a competitor. ABC though had had a few different lifecycles since it's inception. Most of the early hunters were long gone and the competitors hired away from ABC were farmers doing lots of maintenance deals. The new company found that most of ABC company hires didn't have the hunting skills or experience they needed.

Kim

I agree with Scott, competitors are the best option especially in today’s economy, but make sure non compete isn’t an issue.

I read the article from Lee Salz. The key point here is to hire “TOP PRODUCERS “and do not settle for less.

Top producers are typically very happy were they are at, and they’re not looking to make a change. It takes a cold call from an experienced outsider to jerk them out of their comfort zone, and take a serious look at a new opportunity.

Most companies do not go to their competitors for candidates because it creates bad blood, the other reason is, an experienced outsider will get straight answers from the candidate, and the process is totally confidential and the competitors name is not mentioned until due diligences are met and it is a perfect fit.

Remember average players produce average results!