I have written this because of the feedback I received from last week’s article titled “We struggle to attract and hire good salespeople”, with readers telling me how much they need to find strong sales “hunters”, to bring in fresh clients.
Not a new problem, however, there are reasons why it’s a common one.
Let’s start by examining what the right person for this role will look like. The selling skills set they will need, their mind-set and beliefs. Once we’ve delved into this, we need to understand the environment they’re going into and whether it will support or hinder them.
Picture a lion. He or she needs to constantly hunt, and to survive, be good at doing it. Translated for sales they must be driven by a strong desire to be successful, combined with the commitment to do uncomfortable (but, I stress ethical) things they’d rather not, probably most days. Motivated, they are accountable and take full responsibility for their activities and results.
The lion knows they will be directly and consistently rewarded for their efforts.
When young and inexperienced, they are trained by their parents, and learn the essential skills needed to survive. They are toughened up to handle failure, to believe they will succeed and must persist.
Professional salespeople, the trusted advisors you need to hire, always aspire to work in a business that offers them ongoing training and development, but many organisations are woeful when it comes to getting this right.
For top performers, this is more important to them than a few dollars here or there, so if you are serious about getting effective new business salespeople in, I encourage you to review what you have in place now, and ensure you are offering a clear development path for their sales career.
Also, like any successful pride of lions, a top performing sales person needs to be part of an effective team, with a strong leader. Great salespeople demand clear and decisive management to keep them engaged and accountable, so if your sales managers are below par, you will likely struggle to keep them.
Now, put that lion into an environment where they don’t receive quick rewards and it will soon lose interest in hunting. Instead, it will become complacent and search out its next meal from another lion’s efforts, and if that doesn’t work out, ask for a transfer to a zoo where it will cared-for and fed by a friendly keeper.
All sales organisations need some hunters, but many don’t have the right rewards mechanism in place to let them flourish. “I need her to focus totally on new business, but our policy is to pay an annual bonus”. “Plus, if the other lions in the team don’t do their bit, they’ll be no bonus paid to her at all”.
Compare this with the sales person who manages a portfolio of accounts. He doesn’t need to hunt and face rejection. Some clients are cultivated for growth and like a farmer, it is fitting that the sales person, and the account management team be rewarded “seasonally”, by way of quarterly or annual bonuses, after the crop has been harvested and sold at market.
A lot of CEOs have told me it’s difficult to run one scheme for their new business salespeople and another for the rest. That often the lines are blurred around who is responsible for the win, that he couldn’t have closed the sale without the help of the technical guys. I get this, but encourage you to find a way that is simple and achievable.
Finally, a request to all my readers.
I am committed to writing regular “Food for Thought” articles, so I may share with you my ideas on how you can build a strong sales organisation and grow revenue. If you have any challenges or successes you would like to share with me, I would love to hear from you.
You can contact me directly on 0416 115266 or email me at
