Area Sales Manager, France

A project for a Swiss mechanical engineering group shows that things sometimes turn out differently than you expect – and then differently again. After we had already filled several sales positions in Germany for the group, we were now to recruit area sales managers in France.

I don’t speak French, and the French labour market has its own rules, which at the time I knew nothing about. I didn’t really want to take on the assignment. On the other hand, I couldn’t simply turn the client down. What to do?

I decided to make him an offer he could only refuse: citing the difficulties of international searches, I quoted such an exorbitant price that I was sure this cup would pass me by.

But – surprise, surprise – a few days later the signed offer was in our letterbox. It is just about the worst thing that can happen to you in sales: the client doesn’t just threaten to give you the order, he actually does.

Now I was in a pickle. I had to deliver. For that I needed a native French speaker who not only spoke without an accent but also knew the country and its people and could handle a project like this.

Fortunately, we were based in Cologne, and Cologne has traditionally had a strong French community. So we found a project associate who had studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and had worked in public relations for one of France’s largest industrial groups. Thanks to the exorbitant fee, we also had enough budget to pay her properly.

Together we completed the project successfully. Our project associate impressed us so much that we offered her a permanent position – and she accepted.

She enjoyed the work, and it was always a pleasure for us to see the poise and esprit with which she won over even seasoned managing directors of mid-sized industrial companies in difficult identification calls.

And when it came to approaching candidates, we used to joke internally that their reactions always followed a three-part pattern:

• First reaction: not interested in a move.
• One minute later: well, I could think about it.
• Another minute later: please, please tell me how I can apply.