For college football fans reading this, have you ever wondered why some coaches seem to always win or be at the top of the polls or their conference, year after year? You can take a naïve view and say it’s all money and boosters (which might be partly true), but the real unseen reason is these coaches understand that TALENT WINS. You probably understand and believe that too. But where is the talent? Aw, the real question. The coaches I refer to above travel around the country all year long, scouting, meeting, and assessing high school talent. Trying to figure out who will best fit their program. When they get it right, they win (at least in that player’s position). When they get it wrong, they must go out and recruit a new/better player for next year. But these coaches create their luck by finding the top talent in the most positions and recruiting them to their program. As a Sales Manager, this is your primary job.
The good news is most of you can stay local to meet your potential talent. But you need to meet with salespeople every week. The more reps you meet, the better your understanding of the overall talent in your area. Assessing their abilities now, before you need them. Determining the most talented (as you see them), assessing their timing for a change (the biggest hurdle), and selling them on you as the leader they would rather follow than the one they are following today. The coaches above compete with other coaches for the most talented players they meet. And these coaches must tell a better story about where their program is heading to sign that athlete. So must you. So how are you convincing the most talented salespeople to come work for you? Potentially a better salary or better comp plan might be available to you. But even that is limited if a rep has to start over by moving to your company. So, what can you offer?
You Have to Tell a Better Story to Land Talent
Just like with athletics, salespeople want to win. Are you a winning team? Are you building a winning team? Part of your recruitment must be sharing your current team goals and your vision of the future. Understanding the rep, you are recruiting by understanding their goals is helpful to you in building a vision for them of how they would fit in your vision of the future. Just like top coaches, top sales managers can communicate these visions passionately so that top talent will follow them to achieve these goals that are being set out there. Everyone likes to win. By showing these prospective reps that you have a vision of winning and that they could be instrumental in helping the team win, can win out over a few percentages of money and comp plan differences. Remember, both sides are taking a risk here. The rep is leaving a known. A known salary, compensation plan, company, management, etc. You are asking them to take a leap of faith for the same unknowns. Knowing you, your company’s outside reputation, and documentation on salary and compensation plan are helpful, but being part of something bigger than they are today, is what is likely to move a great rep from a comfortable position.
So, how good is your story? How big are your teams’ goals?