The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

The Tour of Duty Framework

There are so many young people out there with innate talent and tremendous potential… but zero sales experience. 

People who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged in their jobs, and they will have 12.5% higher productivity (Gallup.com).

Nothing fires me up like facilitating the Talent Focused Management live simulation workshop. The lessons are powerful, and the takeaways are career-changing! Following last week’s workshop, I asked our participants to share one of their greatest lessons learned from the program, and one response really stood out for me. 

Recruiting and hiring top talent is a tall order!  But it is critical for success in a sales organization.

Here it is, the beginning of another new year and the perfect time to make sure you are setting yourself up for success in 2018. If you manage people, one of the best ways you can do this is to ensure that you have a strong talent bank — even if you do not plan on making a single hire. 

A strong talent bank allows you to set the bar high for your team, hold people accountable to meeting expectations, and move forward without missing a beat if one of your people chooses to leave.

Here Are 5 Pro Tips for Strong Recruitment and Selection in 2018:

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  

I would bet, like the rest of us, you learned this Golden Rule in Kindergarten and you were probably raised to believe you should always treat others as you would want to be treated.

It sounds great in theory, and I applaud your kindness and compassion, but make no mistake, the Golden Rule does not work when developing people.

WHAT?!

It’s true. The sentiment is nice, but it just doesn’t work.    

If you have ever worked with me you know I am a sucker for strong feedback and coaching. Here’s why. 

People are the foundation of any sales organization and if the people don’t grow, the organization can’t either. One of the very best ways to grow people is to provide them with strong, consistent, and targeted feedback so they can adjust their style, adapt their approach, and turn their talent into performance. 

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to work with an exceptional manager whose secret weapon for growing people is effective feedback. His genuine caring combined with his never-miss-a-thing insight can be life-changing for those who work for him. 

I was anxious to better understand what he did so naturally and most others struggled to do at all, so I pummeled him with questions. And he let me in on his secret.

This manager built his career on two principles. 

1. Praise: People need to receive specific and positive feedback from their manager when they do things right in order to consistently repeat those positive behaviors.
2. Criticism: A manager has a “moral obligation” to be upfront and honest with their employees when providing them with corrective coaching.

Moral obligation? I wanted to hear more.

I spent some time on the phone this morning talking with a new client. Brand new to the world of talent assessments and strength management, this sales manager was trying to wrap his mind around everything he was learning.

He called me because he was frustrated to learn that one of his lowest-performing salespeople had one of the strongest talent profiles on his team. He could not figure out how that could be possible!

Have you ever felt the frustration of managing a seller who was not performing on the job even though you knew the person had the potential? It’s maddening! And if it has happened to you, you’re not alone.

There are many reasons why a salesperson may fail to perform, even though they’ve got the potential.