What originally seemed like sage advice to Steve Giordano quickly turned into the worst sales strategy he'd ever used. Several years ago, the furniture retailing executive hired a sales consultant based on the suggestion of the company's CEO. The consultant was a number cruncher who said the way to improve sales was to have reps track all of their selling activities. A points-based motivational program was instituted, in which sellers got points for things like approaching a client, upselling, or closing a deal. On paper it might have looked like a sound program, Giordano says. But this formulaic way of approaching sales didn't make sense at all to the company's 800 sellers, most of whom fudged their numbers and approached customers only when they noticed them at the counter ready to buy—thereby earning credit for sales they hadn't actively effected, Giordano says. He has since moved to Kane's Furniture, in Pinellas Park, Fla., where he is the COO. Kane's used a consultant who coached the company's sellers to use a relationship-selling, consultative approach that's proven far more effective.

Making sure a consultant will propel sellers into the right selling strategy is easier said than done, say managers who have been burned too often by consultants who simply don't understand the nature of a sales team's business, or how they can gain market share. "I know of very few consultant programs that lasted beyond their installation," Giordano says.

"Very few consultants address the core positioning and structure [of the companies they coach]," says Howard Stevens, CEO of HR Chally, a talent management organization in Dayton, Ohio. Instead, he says, "they try to spot-fix particular problems. So you spend a lot of money for things that just bounce off the wall."

How can you make sure your consultant is on target? For starters, make certain the consultant understands your business model and customer base. A good place to start, says Alan Weiss, founder of Summit Consulting, a sales consulting firm in East Greenwich, R.I., is to sit the consultant down with your sales team and make certain that they see eye to eye. Also find out how successful the consultant was in his own sales career, Weiss says, adding that top consultants will also go out on sales calls with reps. That will eliminate those who have turned to consulting because they simply can't sell themselves. Finally, he says, conduct a thorough background check on your consultant by asking for references, then for additional contacts from those references.