Being Too Nice Is Bullsh!t

The company was very successful and had been growing revenue year-on-year. Until recently. Their brand was strong and their service delivery model sound. Culturally they prided themselves on being a little quirky and fun. Slowly though, sales had started to dry up and currently the pipeline was looking a little empty. Growing pains within their sales strategy were starting to appear. My client, whom I’ll call Dan, had just started working for the company. He had a strong personality and initially he’d caused a few waves with his direct communication style. He questioned the way they’d done things. Most of the time it was justified, they just weren’t used to it. He’d inherited a sales team that were performing but only just hitting target. Slowly he’d been able to exercise his influence and people had begun to understand the importance of accountability.

One of Dan’s team was a problem. He’d been with the company for years. People liked him and he was genuinely a nice guy. His clients absolutely adored him. The problem was that he had stopped learning and stopped selling. His clients were his friends – he’d forgotten he was paid to sell to them. Each month he’d come in at around 70% of target but now the business needed more. 70% wasn’t enough. New energy was needed. Hunger, passion and a burning desire to exceed sales targets. These were qualities he either didn’t have, or perhaps had forgotten. He was on his way out. It was best for the business and best for him if he moved on.

Dan called me early one morning. “Dave, I need some help.” “I’ve got approval to hire; shall I send you a job spec?” “What are you looking for Dan?” I asked. “Do you want the politically correct or incorrect answer?” “Incorrect is fine by me.”

“I want a challenger – someone that came out of the womb that way and didn’t just go on a course.”

“I don’t care how old they are – but I know what I’m looking for.”

“I want someone who sells just as hard internally as they do externally. A driver who puts pressure on other people without alienating themselves and isn’t afraid of having the hard conversations.”

“We already have too many tree-huggers; I want someone who’s money hungry. Someone who couldn’t give a toss about the ‘guess the baby’s weight’ competition as they’re too focussed.

“They’ll be commercially astute. Perhaps they’ve owned their own business.” “They’ll certainly be able to provide insight to customers and they’ll draw from rich business experience.”

“They’ll get to know the customers business inside out, can have mature conversation and know how to close sales.”

“And they’ll be hungry for success and also have the ability to earn an income in the top 5% of the country’s salary and wage earners.”

“Does that give you an idea of what I’m looking for?”

“Yep” I said.

Dan’s points resonated with me. Most of my clients often wanted the same thing but weren’t quite as direct as Dan. I understood the importance of commercial experience but it was the intangibles which intrigued me and still do on a daily basis. What gives some people those challenger sales traits? Their up-bringing? Their personal experience and life journey? Their Sales training? Their DNA? The size of their limbic system?

I’ll settle for a combination of everything and got to work searching for someone that fitted the bill. The Evolution talent list consisted of people who had a proven track record of sales success. There were half a dozen who fitted the brief and Dan’s corporate culture and made my selections.

Dan chose his ideal candidate.

Job done!

 

Takeouts:

• Clear and direct communication gets results.
• Waiting for orders and being too “nice” will produce average results at best.
• To influence change you have to be prepared to stand up and be counted – to challenge customers

#ExceedingTargets #EvolvingTalent