Steve Weinberg | Great Sales Pros Are Born Not Made

22 May Great Sales Pros Are Born Not Made

Posted at 21:33h in Uncategorized by Steve Blogs

Nature versus Nurture?

The debate on whether excellent sales pros are born or made is a classic nature versus nurture argument. After extensive experience in hiring, coaching, and managing over a thousand sales pros, the author concludes that most (not all) high-performing sales pros are born with innate skills, which they further develop. While some mediocre sales pros can improve with training, they are a minority.

The author disagrees with best-selling author Daniel Pink’s view that everyone is naturally a salesperson, citing statistics and personal experience to support the idea that natural-born sales pros have a significant advantage.

I had the opposite view!

When I initially assumed the sales manager’s role, I believed that I could assist most sales pros in becoming high performers, as I had successfully transitioned from an accounting manager to software sales with training. I hired several people with backgrounds similar to mine and was able to coach and train them to be successful. So, I felt it was nurture over nature.

Despite many years of experience successfully hiring and coaching sales staff, I encountered challenges in maintaining this success, primarily due to scalability issues. We hired several outstanding sales pros who did not require as much training and coaching as prior sales pros.

It became clear to me that many high-performing sales pros possess an innate ability to execute sales skills. Often referred to as the “gift of gab,” but more accurately, it is a personality trait characterized by an ease in interacting with people, comfort in speaking before groups, confidence in articulating ideas and persuading others, and superior communication skills. They were also adept at handling unexpected changes during the sales cycle. Consequently, many high-performing sales pros are inherently predisposed to succeed; their sales actions are often instinctual. While their sales skills may require development, they do not begin entirely from scratch. So, I changed my opinion – it’s mostly nature over nurture.

These natural sales pros can be successful at various companies, regardless of the solutions they sell, although many tend to specialize, such as selling life insurance policy administration software. They easily adapt to the company and the solution they will be selling. They will gain the product knowledge necessary to be successful. What makes these people different from others?

Pareto Principle

An Accenture CSO Sales Insight report stated that the “top fifth of sales reps generate more than 60 percent of a company’s sales revenues, while the remaining four-fifths, including the 65-70 percent of average performers – the so-called “frozen middle” – drive just 40 percent of sales. “¹ The top 10 percent often account for more than 50 percent of the company’s revenue.

According to a recent study by the TAS Group, the “best sales reps are 250% better at qualifying leads,” a critical skill.²Also, the high performers can access key players in the buying cycle more than “80 % of the time” versus 52 % for all sales pros.³ Both contribute to their abnormal sales performances.

I found that the Pareto Principle states that for many events, “roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.”⁴ applies to sales pros as well. My theory is that natural-born sales pros comprise approximately 20 percent of all sales pros but about 90 percent of the high-performers. The other 80 percent do not possess the innate skills. Some will become top performers, but most will not.

As a lifelong sports fan, I think people like Michael Jordan, a professional basketball player, and “Bubba” Watson, a golfer, come to mind. They are considered by many to be “naturals.” Jordan is the most driven and competitive person I have ever seen. Watson has never had a golf lesson. Both were born with the skills that enabled them to be highly successful. Of course, they needed to work on further developing their talents. Nobody practiced harder or is as competitive as Jordan. But Jordan, Watson, and other naturals did not start at zero; they started at 75 or 80 on the 100 scale and then added the other 20 or 25 to become superstars.

We need to recognize that some sales pros do not belong in sales. Some freeze when asked to speak in front of a group or feel uncomfortable persuading buyers or asking closing questions. Some with exceptional product expertise might be better suited for sales support roles and should be encouraged to pursue other careers rather than face attrition.

For the 80 percent of sales pros who are not naturally gifted, the path to sales proficiency is longer and requires more coaching and training investment. The failure rate for those without natural talent is high, possibly up to 70 percent. As a sales manager, it’s not worth training 50 or 100 of these sales pros to have only 15 or 30 succeed. Let other companies try to develop them (then hire them) is better.

Sales trainers often promote the idea that they can train most sales pros to be high performers. While basic sales skills training is useful and improves performance, it may be similar to golf lessons. The best golfers take lessons to improve, but they are already talented. Amateur golfers take lessons on basics like stance, grip, and swing, but many will never become low-handicap golfers. I have taken hours of golf instruction and have not experienced significant improvement.

Sales pros with inherent skills possess transferable abilities that enable them to excel when moving between companies or industries. Although familiarity with a specific industry is beneficial, top-performing sales personnel can successfully sell various products and services. The primary distinction lies in the time required to learn and acclimate to a new industry. It is important to note that even naturally adept salespeople require training and coaching—they need less of it.

The impact on the sales manager of hiring and coaching lower-performing sales pros is often overlooked. Identifying, hiring, training, and equipping sales pros can significantly affect whether a sales manager meets revenue targets. Finding high performers is challenging and may be one of the most difficult tasks for a sales manager. Lower performers tend to move from company to company in search of a place where they can achieve success.

In conclusion

When I go to the racetrack (or watch the Triple Crown races, and decide which horse I want to bet on, I look at the track record of the horses. A horse that has won 8 out of 10 or 11 races usually will perform better than others. The same is true with sales pros.

Sales managers should try to hire “natural” sales pros to achieve overall revenue performance. I expect many of you will disagree with me and would like to hear your arguments.

Steve

Tags:

#nature versus nurture, #sales, #sales achievement, #sales excellence, #sales management, #sales strategy