18 Instead of asking your sources, "Who do you know who's a good salesperson?", try honing in a specific skill. For example, if you are trying to find someone who can solve complex client prob- lems you can ask something like this, “Who do you know who asks well-thought-out questions to uncover needs?” or, “Who do you know who seeks to know the ‘why’ behind a problem to get to the root cause? The Nominator System is available in the Resource Library on The Center for Sales Strategy website. Now you know where to find them, but what makes them superstars? These sellers are not just superstars in performance, they are superstars in talent. We did not ask our clients to only send us superstars who had strong talent assessments. It was not even a requirement that they had a talent assessment, but the people our clients sent to us were extremely talented. After we received the names of these superstars, we started researching them and found that all but one of them was Recommended on the talent assessment. That’s really something because their managers consider them to be superstars within their first two years on the job, and many of these salespeople were newer to the business. This research shows us that the people who very quickly become superstar performers are extremely talented. The manager’s talents make a difference! We wanted to learn more about the managers who found these superstar sellers so we researched them as well. Were they talented? Did they have the natural talent that makes someone a great recruiter? Here’s what we found. 77% of managers who hired these superstar sellers have the talent of Recruiter at an intense level on their Profit Center Manager Interview which means they are naturally good at identifying talent and putting people in the right positions. It’s a good idea to make sure that the person leading your recruiting efforts has the Recruiter talent. Managers who are naturally good at networking and identifying talent are more likely to hire superstars. Actively seeking referrals, consistently adding people to your Talent Bank, and holding out for talent when making hiring decisions are some of the strategies that the very best managers practice regularly in order to hire the right people who have the poten- tial to achieve excellence in the position. Finding superstars isn’t easy but they are out there and you can find them by setting clear recruitment goals and committing to practicing the strategies that will help you to attain these goals. Mindy Murphy Senior Talent Analyst The Center for Sales Strategy