b'INTRODUCTIONall departments in our organization, this fosters strongtime with trivial things that arent always connected to career progression and sustained company develop- delivering results and revenue. Sellers that have higher ment.talent understand what needs to be done and have the We aim to raise the bar and were known to deliver qual- accountability to deliver. ity results and service to our clients. For us, the men-tality is to always strive to be truly best in class. NotMy final question asked both leaders to only will the results be significant, but it also really addsthink about the impact talent has on the to the overall winning culture for our entire company.overall life cycle of their teams. Please Its clear that both of these leaders un- share your thinking on the importance of derstand the value of talent. But, whattalent when it comes to selecting, coach-would they say when faced with a man- ing, and retaining your people. ager who prefers hiring based on gutBob: I think it all starts with selecting the right talent. instincts? If you operate with a talent-first mindset and populate your organization with diverse top talent across your Bob: I would say they are setting themselves up for fail- teams, you will find the coaching and retention to be ure. As experienced as any sales leader may be, their gutmuch easier. Coaching top talent really is a pleasure. and bias will cloud their view on candidates. ExperienceThey are more engaged, highly motivated, and have a and gut is valuable, but not in a vacuum - and they arepositive impact on the rest of the team - including over-best when used alongside an unbiased evaluation tool.all team retention. Lars: I think having a gut instinct is a great thing toLars: It depends on the position were hiring for. Is it have, especially if that particular sales manager has aentry-level or senior rep level? Ideally, we look for talent solid previous track record in recruiting top talent. With that said, a gut instinct should only be one elementthat fits our need, but its equally important for some-that goes into the hiring and recruiting process. The CSSone to fit with our team culture. Its also imperative for assessment tools, along with other managers feedbacksomeone to respond to coaching and regular feedback. and opinions after the interview process, work hand-in-hand together to assess and justify a key addition to the team. Next, I asked them to reflect on theRetention has become vitally important. Competition for talent is at an all-time high, which is why it is an even coaching and training theyve providedbigger focus to for us to provide employees with the to both sellers with top talent and totools they need, a culture of inclusiveness and collabo-those who are average. What differenceration, and a high potential for growth. in ROI have you seen for your company?At CSS, our reason for being is to turn talent into perfor-Bob: The difference when coaching average and topmance. Bob McCuin, Lars Wunsche, and the organiza-talent shows up pretty early. It first appears in the ramptions they represent truly understand that performance up time and grasp of core concepts. Average sellersbegins with talent. We are very thankful for their part-remain in the gates, but top talent is ready to hit thenership and the opportunity to support them as they streets and start running fast. Top talent also has theirselect, develop, and retain the best talent to achieve own view of success and its usually even higher andtheir goals. more accelerated than what we set and that is saying a lot! Heres to much continued success for each of you in Lars: It is substantial, not only do they bring in more rev- 2023! enue, but they typically dont bog down the managers A Conversation With Key Executives9'