The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Depending on the organization, the person leading a sales team may be called a manager, a leader, or a coach.

For many people leading a team and for their team members, the name doesn’t matter because the job description is the same. They are the person responsible for guiding their team toward hitting their sales goals.

But the difference between managing and coaching has become a hot-button issue. Why? Because Gen Z cares, and they are set to become the dominant group in the work force by 2025.

Across markets and industries, one consistent hiring theme. It’s hard to find strong candidates. Big cities, rural communities, and everyone in between are struggling to find talented candidates or, sometimes, any candidates at all.

We know the talent is out there. But where? Where can you find your next great seller?

A spot opens up on the sales team and the hiring manager needs to fill it. Fast. They look over their talent bank, find a few candidates, look over their Sales Talent Assessments, and decide who has the sales talents they need.

One is available.

Hired.

That’s it but for the onboarding, right? Unfortunately, no. Finding new talent for a sales team involves more than just finding a talented person who wants the job. It’s also critically important to find talent that will fit on the team.

According to the World Economic Forum, by 2025, Gen Z will account for one-third of the workforce.

As a group, they are the most technologically savvy ever to hit the workforce. Many have definite opinions on what they expect from their companies and managers and are not afraid to express those opinions.

They have specific expectations of what their work life will look like, and unlike other generations, they are not afraid to hop to a new job or quit even if they don’t have another job lined up. In fact, according to ResumeLab, 83% of Gen Z employees consider themselves job hoppers, and 75% would leave a job even if they didn’t have another one waiting.

Undoubtedly, the newest generation to hit the workforce has a lot to offer your organization, so what are the secrets to retaining your Gen Z workforce?

You did it! You finally built a great sales team! They are destroying their budgets, the team challenges each other but gets along beautifully and they are a delight to manage. And then… someone quits. Maybe more than one. What happened?!

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of May 31, 2023, there were 9.8 million job openings across industries, and the number of people voluntarily quitting their jobs rose to 4 million.

In April 2023, LinkedIn reported a shocking 61% of American workers are considering leaving their jobs in 2023. This number is especially high among the younger generations, Millennials (66%) and Gen Z (72%).

Perhaps worse from a management standpoint, top sellers are being headhunted more than ever. One top seller I know said it was a bad week if they got less than three job offers. Competition for talent is fierce since the talent pool over the last few years has not fully recovered from COVID and “the Great Resignation.”

With those terrifying statistics in mind, let’s discuss ways to keep your top talent happy and wanting to be long-term employees.

A few years ago, the idea of hiring a candidate without an in-person meeting seemed ridiculous. Since hiring the right person is vital to a team's success, the idea of not being in the same room, shaking hands, and making an in-person connection was, at best, a last resort and, at worst, unthinkable.

But whether you embraced video conferencing or were dragged into it kicking and screaming, over the last three years we have developed the technology, know-how, and experience to conduct most interactions online. Here are some ways to get the most out of your recruitment.

Sales management is a tough job.

I googled why sales managers fail and got “About 206,000,000 results (0.40 seconds).” “About 60% of new managers fail within the first 24 months in their new role”, according to research from CEB Global.

Why?

There are a lot of reasons (just ask Google), but it often comes down to not knowing how to manage people effectively and not being able to implement changes and improve the selling process.

Simply put, to be successful as a sales manager, you must understand people and how to help people sell.

Scenario: A team member comes to you, excited because a former coworker, a Top Performer, has just let them know that they are looking for a new position.

They are perfect for an opening on your team! You become excited because that opening has been hard to fill. Finding quality candidates has been hard and the competitive job market brutal.

So you can’t wait to hire this person. But before you meet with them, you have them take the Sales Talent Assessment, confident that their talents will match the glowing description by your AE.

Then comes that email. Not recommended to move forward in your process.

What?! How can this happen? And what do you do next?

Wouldn’t it be lovely if each sales candidate that you interviewed came holding a sign? “I’m Coachable.” “I’m a Hard Worker.” “I’m disorganized.” “You can’t trust me!”

Think of the time savings if everyone summed up their best strengths and their worst weaknesses for you and handed them over before an interview. You could come prepared with questions to find out how those strengths work for them (or trip them up) and if/how they work around those weaknesses.

Too good to be true? It’s not. All you need is a validated talent assessment like the Sales Talent Assessment (STA) and a conversation with a Talent Analyst.

In a tight job market, finding candidates, qualifying them, conducting interviews, and hiring are all rushed and stressful.

Many managers are in the position of having open positions on their teams that they're desperate to fill and having candidates enter and leave the job market quickly, so having a well-thought-out interviewing plan is vital. Equally important is learning to look and listen for the talents necessary for success in sales.