Some of you will remember cocky salesperson "Bob" up there in the picture as I used him before in my now infamous article, "Bob is NOT a Sales Process." Well I recently helped a couple of small business clients try to hire a salesperson for their businesses and this is what I learned from that experience.
Good salespeople aren't looking for a job.
I also learned the market price for hiring a credible/proven salesperson is higher than most small businesses and startups are able to afford. So I've come to the conclusion that small businesses and startups alike should pursue an alternative approach to filling the most important role in the company, the role of salesperson.
Don’t hire a salesperson!
Instead I contend it is more cost effective and you will achieve significantly better long-term results if you hire someone who has,
- the right characteristics (we’ll talk about this in a second) to make a good salesperson for your business who either
- has a good understanding of your particular product/solution/technology and/or
- a solid understanding of the industry you serve and lastly, but no less important,
- the receptiveness to learn a new skill - how to help prospects make good buying decisions.
You see, the one common misconception made by CEOs/owners of small companies and fortune 100 corporations alike is that salesmanship is a ‘gift’, a ‘knack’, or a trait you are either born with or not. It is none of these. Sure, if you are an ass or get stage fright easily then maybe sales isn't the right direction for you. But the skill of selling is a learned skill - one that can and should be taught. And I don’t have to look further than the nearest mirror for proof as this was how I became a $10B salesperson.
I was an aerospace engineer with Boeing who grew up in a military family, was a prior USAF officer and a pilot. When I was elevated to the role in sales I had been a flight safety engineer in our flight test department. In that capacity I not only worked on the full variety of production aircraft (F-15, F/A-18, T-45, AV-8B) but also with the different specialized engineers (radar, structural, landing gear, escape systems, etc….) who designed them. Looking back, I now see the value that experience and those relationships had in my success. I was able to speak credibly and productively the multitude of “languages” our international prospects required - the languages of national defense, pilot, engineer, logistics, and finance. The skill I lacked was that of selling, in this case, the complex sale. This was a skill I was formally taught when brought into the sales department. And this common language of how we pursue sales "in the service of" was taught and adhered to by all the leaders of our company. It became a new language I mastered over the years to a point now where it is how I approach most of life's human interactions (friends, co-workers, clients, business associates, etc...).
GEN James Mattis, USMC (Ret.) in his new leadership book, Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead, reinforced this point when he described his philosophy about building a team,“Hire attitude, train skills.” So, beyond understanding the product/solution or the industry you serve what characteristics (attitude) should you (owner/CEO) be looking for in someone you might hire or elevate into this most important role of sales?
A close business associated I’ve known for years, Josh Sweeney, Founder of EpicCulture, an Atlanta-based company culture consulting firm, shared this advice, “High performing salespeople are built through a combination of nature and nurture. When we work with organizations to hire salespeople, we always start with nature. Through in depth behavior analytics, we have identified three specific traits of high performing salespeople that we can test for during the hiring process. These traits are, (1) fast paced, (2) pioneering, and (3) take charge. Each of these natural traits have a direct impact on sales success. Companies then have to add the nurture piece, ensuring the new salesperson is trained in proper sales techniques and skills. It is our experience that if either of these elements is missing from the process, the salesperson and sales team will not succeed.”
Tom Gunn, (Vice President of Business Development, Boeing) my mentor, and the man who plucked me out of the engineering field to be part of his military jet fighter sales team, wrote in his book, Gunnsights, “I do know what I look for in a (sales) candidate: people with imagination, people who demonstrated independence, maturity, judgment, fortitude, and personal integrity; people with curiosity and objectivity; people with the sort of self-confidence needed when meeting with the skeptical head of state; even people with a chip on their shoulder, who wanted to win, to prove something to themselves or their parents or the girl back in high school who refused an invitation to go bowling. I looked for people who were willing to spend a great deal of time in the field selling billions of dollars worth of airplanes (military jet fighters) against competition from not only other American aerospace companies but also offerings from Britain, France, Sweden, Russia, or various consortia. Above all, I look for people who shared my passion and my obsession for understanding human nature. This (latter trait) had nothing to do with products or technology but instead, with how decisions get made because after all what is selling but getting someone to agree to buy your product? This is gritty work, not glad handing and salesmen spin.”
It was these characteristics and a strict adherence to a disciplined, teachable, and replicable sales process that contributed to Tom Gunn’s ability to historically transform the company sale’s win-rate from the low 30s to over 80%.
Related article: "Sales | Win Every Time"
A closing thought for those who still might hold a little skepticism for the advice I am sharing here. Selling is not about manipulation or convincing but instead it is about helping a qualified prospect through their decision making process to make the BEST decision to solve a problem. Therefore the salesperson you send to prospects must know both how to engage in an intelligent and informative way (background, education, experience, attitude) and also with the understanding of how to best serve a client through their decision making process (sales training). It is the combination of these two that results in a great company ambassador and successful salesperson that reflects well upon you (CEO/owner) and your company.
You can view Mike Gomez being interviewed about this article here on the Atlanta Small Business Network.
Want to give your sales team the best chance for success? Allegro can help. Call or email now.