When entering or working in a foreign country, the first attention is usually put on sales. Questions that come up are questions such as “Will our products sell?,” “What differences do I have to watch out for?,” “Are there regulatory requirements I have to fulfil?,” etc. A savvy recruiter can often help with questions like this, particularly if he has been working for some time. The amount of experience and the insights that a recruiter gets into all kinds of different businesses is tremendous.

Before calling up your friendly headhunter, a few thoughts need to be put to your operations in Germany. Do you want to have a trade representation or do you want to have a permanent establishment of your own? If you want a permanent establishment it would be wise to consult with a legal firm or one of the large accountancy companies how this is best accomplished. Often these companies will have “ready to go” companies that simply can be transferred into your name. In the recruitment process it is certainly helpful to have a German based company since sales people in Germany will prefer a German contract rather than a contractual relationship with a foreign entity. Again, a good executive search consultant can probably put you in touch with many of the people you need.

Recruiters in Germany work on a similar basis as those in other countries. Many companies find, however that there are fewer executive search companies in Germany that are prepared to work purely on a contingency fee basis. As a matter of fact, this was actually illegal in Germany some years ago! Today the trend is changing and there are more companies willing to work on this basis but they will often require exclusivity and a formal contractual relationship. The costs of recruiters tend to be a bit higher than perhaps in other countries. While UK headhunters tend to charge anywhere from 12 – 16% of the year’s salary, a German headhunter will usually want around 25%. The top flight executive search companies in Germany will often go higher than that, charging 30 – 35%.

Finding good sales people in Germany is probably just as difficult as anywhere else. The criteria that make up a good salesperson are also similar. One point to consider is, however, that you will probably want the person to speak English. Luckily this is usually not a problem in Germany since the school system requires people to take a number of years of English. Only with older people or those from the eastern part of Germany this might be a problem. What is often found though, is that if the salesperson has worked mainly for German companies his language skills may be quite rusty. Experience has shown, that through use, vocabulary and fluency will quickly be regained. The problem is that in the interview process this will not always be apparent. As a matter of fact, halting English is often a reason an excellent candidate is not employed. This is definitely a mistake! So take this into account in making your decision.

Another point to keep in mind in your recruitment process in Germany is that salespeople will not be available as quickly as they might be in other parts of the world. Germany tends to have longer periods of notice with 2-3 months not being uncommon. While these employees are often released from their contracts early, this is not a guarantee. Appropriate time needs to be budgeted for the total recruitment process.

Certainly it is important to keep in mind that Germany has its own sales cycles and speed of decision making. Don’t draw conclusions from your own country. If you find that your product has a 6 month sales cycle in the USA, it may well have a 1 year sales cycle in Germany. On some occasions the sales cycle may be shorter; in general it tends to be a bit longer though. Remember, Germany tend to be risk averse and very thorough in their inspection of something before they buy. The reward for this patience is, however, that once Germans go for a product they tend to stick with it for quite some time and then encourage others to also buy the product. So, to enter the German market, you need some patience but it is often amply rewarded.

To summarize, if you want to enter and be successful in the German market you should

a) choose the right legal entity
b) utilize executive search firms tapping into their knowledge of the local market
c) use headhunting companies in Germany to help you find excellent sales people and
d) have the patience required in the German market to become successful.

Good Luck!