Top Sales Manager Blog

Like many kids, my Dad used to tell me stories before he tucked me to bed. After running through the gamut of Big Bad Wolf, Goldilocks and the three Bears and Three Billy Goats Gruff, he used to tell me another tall tale. He’d say that when I grow up, I could be anything I wanted to be if I just worked hard enough. He said. “Anyone can become the President if they wanted it really bad and worked hard for it.”

I believed him…that is until I became a sales manager…

No offense to Dad, but the problem with the story is that it’s simply not true!

It’s romantic, hopeful, and optimistic, but it can’t be any more true than Santa Claus riding down the chimney on Christmas Eve.

Do you honestly believe that everyone is born with the exact same potential?

People are born unique, and that’s the beauty of it. We have our own strengths and weaknesses. We have different levels of potential. Some people are cut out to be doctors. Some are raised to become the President of the United States. Some are born salesmen and saleswomen.

A great salesperson is always learning new skills and knowledge on the job. But skills alone won’t drive a salesperson to excellence. To succeed in this line of work, there’s got to be another factor involved. There has to be talent.

Talent is an inherent pattern of thought and behavior, meaning it’s in the blood. On the other hand skills are learned abilities which can be taught from one person to another person.

Simply put,

Talent = “Nature”

Skill = “Nurture”

How does this apply to your work as a sales manager? Simple. Hire talented SALESpeople.

An applicant may submit a 15-page resume with a Pulitzer Prize-winning cover letter. This person is skilled enough to give someone who’s been in the business almost twice longer than him a run for his money. But even so, no killer resume can fool a competent sales manager who has an eye for scouting real talent. Remember, you can teach them new skills, but you can’t teach them new talent. Take this to heart when hiring new people into your sales team.

The skills can come from you, but the talent must come from them.

Hire talented applicants if you want your salespeople to grow and become successful in this business. If you think someone from your team doesn’t have that special something to become a great salesperson, then be a man and tell them, and maybe offer some advice, as the officer in charge of their performance, on possible career change options. In fact mediocre sales managers are the only ones who think they could change people – and their talents – at their core.

To learn more about sales management, get our free video on the sidebar of this post or by clicking here.

What ideas about hiring talented salespeople into your team do you have? I’d love to hear them out. Leave a comment after this post.

Filed under: Hiring by ralphburns