The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Let’s cut straight to it: Talent is something you’re born with.

You can’t create, mold, or magically inject it into someone. You either have it or you don’t. As much as we love a good rags-to-riches story, the truth is, talent can’t be trained into someone—it’s hardwired. And if you’re trying to force a square peg into a round hole by “developing talent” in someone who simply doesn’t have it, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

Recently, I have been spending a lot of time talking with managers about their underperforming salespeople.

I want to help leaders win, and having AEs who are not performing is a huge problem for most. This made me reflect on how leaders hire and where they spend their time. Unfortunately, many leaders spend a lot of their time with AEs who have a “talent” deficit.  

You can’t go back to the same dry well looking for water. No matter how much time and energy you put into the well, water will not suddenly appear.

Still, many leaders think they can change the person, and they keep putting time and training into them, hoping they will suddenly “get it”.

If you have ever coached a seller who struggled to adapt to changing situations and circumstances and just kept doing the same thing over and over because they’ve always done it that way, you likely understand the importance of hiring people with adaptability.

It can make or break a salesperson’s success.

An adaptable salesperson has the ability to adjust and thrive in various situations and environments, making them a valuable asset to any sales team.

If you’ve seen Moneyball, you know that Billy Beane, the GM of the Oakland A’s, didn’t just play the game—he changed the game.

It’s not just a great underdog story; it’s a masterclass in using data to build a winning team, even when the odds (and budget) are stacked against you.

Beane’s approach? Simple: find undervalued talent, tap into their potential, and use data to outsmart the competition.

But what does Moneyball have to do with hiring and coaching salespeople?

Everything.

This week, I was reviewing a potential new hire with a client who is really struggling with finding talent to fill several open seats across her sales teams. As we reviewed the candidate, it was clear that the innate talent just wasn’t there for success in the role. Although the company had tried many different things to attract potential employees, nothing seemed to be working. 

I asked her how full the talent bank was, and she said, "Running on empty." 

We discussed the strategy of thinking about recruiting just like sales prospecting, something that must be done constantly, with dedicated time each week to build a pipeline of talent for current and future roles.

The ability to prospect effectively can make or break a team's success. It's the lifeblood of the sales process, the crucial first step that fills the pipeline and drives revenue growth.

But here's the challenge—identifying candidates who excel at prospecting is no easy task. It requires a keen eye, the right assessment tools, and a deep understanding of what makes a great prospector tick.

Think about it—how often have you hired a salesperson with a stellar resume and charismatic interview presence, only to find they struggle to generate new leads?

The cost of a bad hire in sales can be staggering, not just in terms of lost revenue but also wasted time and resources.

You want to hire great people, but it’s harder than it sounds. I get it! How are you supposed to know whether your candidate is right for the job?”

Let’s start with how you are screening your candidates. What are you looking at to determine whether they may be right for the job? Even if you don’t have a formal screener, you are currently using something to screen candidates.

Most likely you gather intel from a few different sources, but I bet you lean pretty heavily on their resume. Great start, but be careful. Resumes are notoriously biased, only showing the candidate’s assets.

It won’t help you understand their limitations or weaknesses at all. Also, today’s resumes are built using AI, graphic templates, and professional services, all of which can make even a bad candidate look like a superstar.

Finding the right person for a job is challenging, especially with other responsibilities on your plate. Rushing through the process and taking shortcuts can lead to costly mistakes. A poor hiring decision can be expensive and difficult to reverse. Worse, once you part ways with a mismatched hire, you’re back to square one, facing the same urgency as before.

Consider this: if you don’t have the time to do it right now, when will you find the time to do it all over again? To avoid wasted time and frustration, getting it right the first time is crucial.

Attracting the brightest minds and best talent has become a fierce competition for organizations across all industries. However, conventional recruitment methods often fail to captivate potential candidates, leaving them disengaged and unmotivated. It's time to shake things up and inject some excitement into the hiring process.

Enter gamification—the art of blending game-like elements into the recruitment experience. By incorporating interactive challenges, immersive simulations, and creative quests, organizations can pique the interest of top talent while making the journey of finding the perfect fit an exhilarating adventure.

Gamification transforms the once-dull task of recruitment into an engaging and enjoyable experience that resonates with today's candidates.