After a few months something isn’t quite right.  Things aren’t going as expected. The numbers aren’t where you thought they would be.  Progress isn’t being made. Your superstar isn’t looking so super. After  about six months it’s clear. Your impressive new hire isn’t going to work out.  You’re left asking yourself, “What happened?”

What happened? — You hired the right person, for the wrong role.

This happens all too often.  We often spend too much time trying to find the right person without spending as much if not more time on the role. Job descriptions are normally, buzz-wordy, annoying descriptions of the job and the type of person required to do it. What is really behind a job description? Normally, not very much.

Imagine hiring Tom Brady to be your starting offensive tackle.  It ain’t gonna work. He’s a superstar, but to think he can hold a block is plain dumb. It’s no different in the business world.  Too often I see farmers being hired to hunt. I see hunters being hired to farm. I see change agents and “pot-stirrers” being hired to keep the status quo.  A good hire takes more than finding the right person. It’s finding the right person for the role.

To get the right person in the role, break down the role by; goals, environment and effort.

Goals:

List EXACTLY what the role is to accomplish. Be very clear and concise. Don’t stick to the high-level goals. Be specific. Get them all on the table. At the end of the day what are you expecting from this role.  What will success look like?

Environment:

Outline the working environment. Again, be specific. Is it fast-paced? Is it political, or open? Is there lot’s of supervision or is it a free-for-all? Is it a grind, or are the skids greased? Does it require attention to detail? Does it require lot’s of baby kissing? What type of environment exits? Not everyone thrives in the same environment.

Effort: 

What’s it going to take to be successful? What exactly does the person have to do to make it?  Is there lot’s of calling?  Is there a lot of writing? Is there lot’s of travel? Do they have to write their own RFP’s? Do they have to be good with excel? Do they have to know how to read a financial statement? Do they have to motivate and lead a matrix organization?  What effort is required to be successful? What do they have to do?  Not everyone is good at everything.

Finding a superstar is awesome. However, he or she will fail if they aren’t in the right role. Spend as much time on defining the role as you do in finding your next superstar. It matters.

Superstars are useless if they aren’t in the right role.  Tom Brady at left tackle?  What a joke!

I read this article on the American Express Open Forum and agree with much of it.  This quote stuck out most;

most people who went to grad school did it to prolong adolescent needs for grade-based approval. (Note: This analysis comes from writers at the Chronicle for Higher Education.) This is because the model of grad school is generally outdated for today’s workforce, and high performers see this before they enroll. But people who are scared to try holding their own in the workforce see grad school as a way around the inevitable difficulties of finding a job one enjoys.

I agree with a lot of this.  Going to graduate school should be about getting specific, useful information that will directly impact your chosen field. Examples include going to Med School or getting a Master in Chemistry to work for a drug company. Unfortunately, most people don’t go for these reasons.

I have never required a degree when I hire.  I don’t require an MBA, BA, NBA, and NHL or a NAACP.  I don’t care. In sales and business it doesn’t matter.  I need someone who can solve problems, is capable of developing and executing to plans, is able to see the big picture, is creative, has drive and the business acumen to out perform everyone else.  Business school doesn’t teach this.

If you were hiring for a position in the Fortune 500, a recent grad from a top 10 business school might be a good bet. But since you are actually hiring for a small business, ask yourself: Why did this person just dump $100,000 into a business degree instead of dumping into their own company?

If the person doesn’t believe in themselves enough to give their own ideas a shot, why should you believe in them?

This is a good question.

When I hire, I look for people who have bet on themselves. The first question I ask is, “Tell me about yourself.”   I then just sit back and listen. I’m listening for things like them starting a club in H.S. or traveling around Europe with money they saved from working. (Not from Mom and Dad)  I listen for stories about leading an initiative for a non-profit or speer heading a community fund raiser.  What I want to hear is how they have taken initiative in their life and why they did it.  When it comes to new hires I don’t need a graduate degree, I need someone who can get stuff done.

Think about this for a minute. There is now a company who offers a service to scour you social media background for your future boss. I’m not surprised in the least bit. If anything I’m surprised it’s taken this long.

Social Intelligence scours your social media and Internet presence to see how stupid you are.  Do you use, talk about or promote drugs. Are you some sex freak, posting nude or graphic pictures of yourself or others?  Are you a fan of Hitler, the KKK or the Swastika?  If you are that stupid, you won’t pass the test.

What I thought was refreshing about this service is it doesn’t share the keg stand(s) you did every Friday while you were in college, or even the lame one you attempted at the your college homecoming when you were 35.  Social Intelligence doesn’t share your age, race, religious orientation etc.  They only focus on the stupid stuff.  I like how Gizmodo broke down the benefit of a future employer using this rather than the company doing it themselves:

  . . . ultimately the bottom line, and my takeaway, is that these kind of services actually make a lot of sense. Employers would have to be stupid not to Google job candidates. Yet it’s better for both the employer and the candidate to have a disinterested third-party do full-scrape background checks.  We now routinely bandy about the kind of information online that employers are legally prohibited from asking. Your average Facebook profile can reveal an entire litany of details like your race, sexual orientation, national origin, or religious affiliation that are off-limits in the hiring process.  As an employee, you don’t want potential employers knowing certain things about you that might make you a less attractive candidate due to their personal biases. As an employer, even if none of those things matter, just accidentally finding them out can be a problem.  For example, consider the following scenario. Let’s say you’re a California-based employer and you do a basic background check on a job candidate. In scouring the Web, you discover a brand new Tumblr update that says “I’m pregnant!” Holy impending mandatory paid time off! But you’re good a corporate citizen. That doesn’t matter to you. Yet for unrelated reasons, you hire a different candidate. Meanwhile, the rejected candidate sees your company’s IP address in her analytics program. She assumes you didn’t hire her because she’s pregnant. She sues. Now what?  If Social Intelligence finds out you’re pregnant, or gay, or a Muslim, or newly married, or newly gay married to a pregnant Muslim, it leaves that out of its report. All an employer sees is, basically, that you passed or failed. And it won’t flunk you for getting drunk or knocked up.

Our lives our increasingly under scrutiny. Not because of some Orwellian shift in our society. But, simply because there is more information.  Information WE share. Our social media background is controlled by us.   To think it’s not fair game is silly. Be smart!  There is no such thing as sharing with ONLY the people you want. Sharing on the Internet is like a secret.  It’s never shared with just one person.

Related articles

• Employers Look More Closely at Social Media Activity (news.dice.com)
• Jennifer Waters’s Consumer Confidential: Could you pass a Facebook background check? (marketwatch.com)

Are you the reason you didn’t close the big deal you’ve been working on for the past year. Are you the reason you aren’t going to make quota this month?  Are you the reason your pipeline is too low? Are you the reason the team isn’t performing well? Is it because of you that the teams moral is low? Are you the reason the companies biggest account is leaving? Are you the reason things aren’t going well?

I was in Rite-Aid the other day. I was behind the counter getting some batteries. Seeing me behind the counter a woman asked if a manager was around. I didn’t hear her at first so she asked again. Her tone was terse and a bit put out. I quickly apologized, letting her know I didn’t work there. Upon finding out I couldn’t help her she just turned away, no apology or anything. A manager then walked up. I could hear her say she had taken the test and wanted to know what the next steps were.  The manager wasn’t quite sure what she was talking about. He asked for some clarification.  The woman proceeded to say she had applied for a job and wanted to know what to do next.  The manager asked if she remembered who she had interviewed with. She said no.  She continued to say, she took the test and was told to come in. The woman had little to no information of the process, who she spoke to, what she was responsible for etc.  And on top of it all she acted put out. After a few minutes of trying to help her, the manager suggested she come back when the night manager was on duty and he might be able to help her.

I was blown away. The woman was looking for job, yet she wasn’t owning anything. She knew nothing. She showed no respect. I can’t see her getting the job. I can see her being angry or frustrated she didn’t get it and blaming Rite-Aid, the manager, or any other convenient scapegoat.

Hurdles to success exist everywhere.  There is no shortage of challenges in life. So why so many of us choose to become a hurdle to ourselves is baffling.  If you’re not getting what you want. If things aren’t going as planned, stop and ask; is it you?  If so, stop. Don’t be a your own hurdle.

If the person passing by said yes, she responded with; “Would you be willing to help me out?”

The number of people who said they supported Planned Parenthood was pretty high.  It seemed like almost 70% of the people she approached were supporters. Unfortunately, not one “supporter” stopped and talked to her. They were all too, busy, didn’t have time, no interest, etc.  You can picture it.  No one wanted to stop, in spite of being a supporter of Planned Parenthood.

Let’s break this down.

Her first question was a qualifying one.  It determined if the pedestrian was a potential sale. It qualified them as a supporter of her cause, which is a critical element in making the sale.  However, after she qualified them, she fell on her face. She had no hook.  She offered nothing to the qualified prospect that would capture their attention, nothing that would hook them enough to stop and listen further.  Instead she put it on them, asking for a favor.  Her approach did not take into consideration the context and environment of her prospects. They were all going somewhere, they had a destination. They were going back to work. They were headed to lunch. They were shopping. What they weren’t, was in the market to make a charitable donation.

The sale was a disruptive sale. It was disrupting them from what they were currently doing. A disrupting sale requires a good hook. It requires a compelling story to capture the prospects attention.

I called the girl over and offered her some advice and shared my thoughts around the importance of the hook.  She told me she was required to follow a script.  I asked how the script was working out.  Not so good, she said.  I asked her what she was being paid for, to follow a script or raise money.  She said raise money.  Your choice then, I said.

She walked away and thanked me.  She never asked me if I was a Planned Parenthood supporter.  She never asked me to donate. Once back in her spot she continued with the same pitch.  After 20 minutes of more failure she moved to the other side of the street.  Ahh, that was the problem.  She was on the wrong side of the street.

The pitch and the person, they were both wrong.

Norm’s right. Talent wasn’t earned. No does anything to get their talent. It’s a gift from god.  Production on the other hand, that’s earned. The key is to have talent meet production.I have often said sports and sales go hand in hand.  The goals are clear. They are both performance based.  It creates superstars and goats. There is no hiding on the field. Success is yours and yours alone to achieve or squander.I’ve always looked to hire great talent.  It’s the only time I allow talent to be part of the discussion.  After they are hired, all discussions move to production. Talent is a tool.  Some of us are born with better tools than others.  The lucky ones learn what tools they were born with and know where they are best suited.  But, that’s all talent is, a tool. Like all tools, it is at the control of the crafts person. Used poorly, or left in the tool box, they are useless.In sales, like sports,  talent only matters if you produce.  Is your talent producing what it should?  Don’t let your tools go to waste . . . produce!

Are SE’s (Sales Engineers) valuable?  The good ones are worth their weight in gold. To me sales engineers have two roles. To address the technical and complex elements of a complicated technical product or service and to build and manage the technical relationships within an account.  It’s that simple.

I’ve had sales engineers in almost every organization I’ve lead.   I’ve been very lucky to work with some of the best.   I wouldn’t be caught dead without a good team of sales engineers.

SE’s are best used with a very technical or complicated product.  Their job is to be the technical subject matter expert.  The best SE’s can and WILL hold their own with the most technical savvy buyers and geeks they meet.   Good SE’s will not only be able to talk the technical talk but also walk the sales walk.   Good SE’s turn the technical discussion into a sales discussion by translating the complexity into problem solving solutions or benefits. They understand how things work and why that’s good for the buyer.  What makes this skill so important is there are real tangible benefits to a technical buyer sales people are not capable of demonstrating.  Without an SE’s ability to translate technical complexity into value, the sale can be lost.  Valuable SE’s are not only technical, but they know how to sell.   I don’t think enough attention is paid to the “sales” aspect of sales engineers. When this happens you get too much technical and not enough sales.

The other area good SE’s shine is relationship building and demand creation.   In many cases SE’s are invited to parties where sales people can’t go. They participate in trials, lab reviews, tests, and more.  SE’s have access to places sales people just can’t get to.  The best SE’s know they have special VIP access and know how to capitalize on it.  They look for opportunities.  They create demand.  They are proactive.  They educate and inform.  They position themselves as experts to be relied on.  Good SE’s make themselves indispensable to customers.

SE’s are critical to complex, technical sales. I don’t think you can be successful in that type of environment with out them.  With that being said, good SE’s are difficult to find.  It’s not enough to be technically sound.  Understanding how to translate technical knowledge into sales opportunities is how SE’s create their value.

Related articles

• The 5 Traits of a Start Salesman (customerthink.com)
• Secrets Of A Great Salesperson (forbes.com)

We have a fear problem in Corporate America.   Fear of failure, fear of losing, fear of reprisal, fear of negative press, fear of missed numbers, fear of lawsuits, fear, fear, fear, fear, is with out a doubt, the singular emotion eating away at Corporate America.

Charles Green over at Trusted Advisor had a great post today: Are Your Company Values Important Enough to Fire People Over? In it he shares a message he received from a client about the behaviors of some very successful sales people:

We have a group of VHPS (Very Highly Paid Salespeople). They’re mainly commission-paid and very successful. Problem is, they don’t pitch-in on corporate initiatives—recruiting, people development, internal sessions.  They prefer to focus just on making more money.

We want to incent and motivate them to be more participative. We’re looking for ideas from other commission structure industries that have figured out how to keep the high-pay but incent and motivate team behavior.

Really?  Incent values, or appropriate behaviors?   Can you imagine asking a child psychologist how to “incent” your children to keep from stealing or hitting their little brother or not swearing at you?  Trying to incent your employees to act right, is akin to incenting your children to do what their supposed to.

Green had a great response:

Here’s what that boss should be saying:

“It has come to my attention that y’all are not showing up to do some real basic stuff. Further, I understand this is because you’re not ‘motivated’ or ‘incented’ to do these things.

“Instead, y’all are getting rich at the corporate buffet by cutting in line. You’re eating scrambled golden eggs while you’re starving the goose that lays them. You’re suckling at the teats of the money-pig and refusing to clean up the pen. So I got some motivatin’ for you.

“First, TCSRN (This Crap Stops Right Now). Starting today, if I see any more of this, it’s LDHYWGLSY (Let the Doorknob Hit You Where the Good Lord Split You). Adios.

“And if that’s not incentive enough for you, I can OUCOWA (Open Up a Can of Whup Ass) and show you the door.

Green is absolutely right. You don’t and can’t incent values.  You expect them.  If they can be achieved, then clearly they are at the wrong company.  Not too tough, or is it?

The problem with enforcing values is they are difficult to measure.   As Green discusses in the post, today’s VSP’s (Very Smart People) know only the measurable and the tangible.  Although, I don’t completely agree, I do agree the measurable is all most companies will use to make decisions and if it can’t be measured it doesn’t exist and this is where the problem is.  Why?  FEAR!

Measuring, and tangible outcomes are great for covering your ass.  Data is the ultimate fox hole.  It’s the ultimate cover.   Without data, real tangible data, people are exposed, are easily second guessed and in today’s world where people are afraid, no one has the courage to take on the battle.  Holding people accountable to the companies values takes courage.  It takes strength and a willingness to make decisions on data that isn’t black or white, but gray.   Unfortunately, like this company, few have the courage to stand up for their values, they are just too scared.

I think fear rules in today’s corporate world and that is just too bad.  Why are we all so afraid?

Fred Wilson had a good post the other day on what he sees as the transition from engineering to creativity in application development.  I am seeing something similar in sales.

I look for creative sales people.  It’s the one skill, when present, that always works.

When I say creative, I mean a sales artist, a problem solving artist, someone who does not create constraints or artificial hurdles.

Today’s business environment is more difficult than ever.  It moves at lightning speed.  Competition is fierce.  Without creativity it’s almost impossible to compete.   Problems can’t be solved as new ideas aren’t discovered fast enough.

There is a difference between creative sales and the science of sales.   Today’s complex business environment demands creativity to uncover, solve and create more than ever.  Is there something wrong with the traditional, science based, numbers oriented sales approach, no.  But, it’s not enough anymore.  What once put you in the lead is now only good enough for middle of the pack.  In today’s more complex world creativity makes the difference.  Customers have access to more information.  They are smarter, more educated, and more prepared than any other time in the history of sales.   Customers are specific, focused, and in control.

I’m seeing a clear trend in sales people over the past few years.  The creative, the sales artist is winning more.   I am hiring more for creativity and less for the science.  My teams have been more open, artistic, and creative than when I first started selling.   I’m not sure if other sales leaders are seeing this or hiring for the same trend, but it is certainly working for my teams.