This time we’ll discuss a real-life example of how the 80/20 rule has helped a manager transform employees by focusing on excellence.

Here is the thing – top sales managers should have a knack for sensing sales people with real talent. They must have a good nose for it, the ability to smell a sales person’s determination to become excellent and above average. Without this, then the person is simply looking for another job to fill his or her time. No one wants to hire somebody who’s only looking for a paycheck.

Why is that? Because those kinds of employees are most likely underperformers. And top sales managers are aware that if they spend too much time on underperformers, they have less time guiding the good to become truly great.

Excellent sales people not only produce excellent results, they also serve as roles models for the entire team.

Jean’s story is a perfect example of how the 80/20 rule could elevate a company’s productivity beyond average.

In the data entry industry, the national performance average is 300,080 key punches a month, or 19,000 punches a day. Now a top sales manager, upon hiring new employees, ought to be able to raise his or her team’s productivity beyond this figure. But how much higher – 20%? 35%? 50%?

When Jean was first hired, she averaged 500,050 punches a month. Her talent was immediately recognized, and later she and her manager put together an individual goal to improve herself over the next couple months. Three months later she hit one million punches. Jean checked her profile and found she’s been averaging 100,012 punches a day. Even Jean was taken back at how well she was doing.

Again she and her manager got together to create a new plan. Jean clocked in with two million punches six months later. By then there was no doubt she’d become a role model in her company. One day her manager approached her and asked, “Why are you so good at this?”

Jean said, “I love my work. And whenever I make mistakes I just get more practice,” or something to that effect. Later Jean’s manager sat down and designed a hiring profile to find more people like Jean.

Today Jean’s personal best is 3,526,000 punches a month. The average of those working around her is one million key punches, more or less.

Jean had talent and personality. But she wouldn’t have been able to achieve this level of success without her manager, who carefully carved her from bare wood to become the standard of excellence she is today. The manager also designed the company’s hiring profile based on Jean’s performance.

That’s what top sales managers do. Top sales managers formulate their approach based on the talents of their best sales people. Unlike average sales managers, they don’t force square pegs into round holes. Instead they focus on their best resource at the moment, the 20% portion, build it up until it satisfies their definition of excellence, and then use that as a model for the rest, the remaining 80%, of the team to follow.

As a top sales manager, focus your attention on excellence, and spend less time worrying about the average.

Take it from Jean and her manager.

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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 training, click here to get your choice of free sales management training courses.

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.

Say this in a group setting at first (at your first sales meeting to establish your credibility as a leader if you need to.

After this is done, talk with them one-on-one. I’ve always found that holding frank one-on-one conversations with every member of the sales team is essential to success. In no uncertain terms, tell each salesperson what you expect of him, reiterate their one minute goals. And reinforce to them that you both want the same things, right? When you discuss this with them, align their goals with your goals. 

Whatever you do however, be extremely clear on your expectations. They should know what minimum performance is – and if they don’t – then shame on you and shame on them! Shame on you for not repeating it over and over again and shame on them for not knowing it.

Once this communication is established, appeal to their passion for achievement and desire to make money. However, be very clear that if they don’t produce what is needed you will find someone who will. Don’t make it a threat; just tell them as you would state any other fact, like the sky is blue.

That’s just the way it is. Tell them that you are here to “achieve at the highest level”. Tell them “I’m not her to finish 30^th in the country, I am here to finish first – and neither should you”. Leaders can do everything right but if they don’t set an expectation of excellence – they can never expect to be successful.

 To learn even more tips and techniques about how to be a top sales manager, we’ll be posting nearly every day, so stay tuned for more gret tips on how you too can become a top sales manager.

To learn more about sales management training, click here to get your choice of free sales management training courses.

Post a comment and tell me on how you encourage your people in reaching the highest level of achievement.