Shallow swimmers sinking

For some time now, I've been interviewing candidates for a sales management position. It's been a tough position to fill.

We need the candidate to have experience in my client's industry, which narrows down the candidates considerably. The candidate needs to fit well into the company's culture, which is fairly progressive, further limiting the gene pool. But the two most formidable limiting factors are the need for the candidate to have matured beyond the shallow, snake-oil approach to selling, and have the ability to inspire and lead a group of experienced and "deep" salespeople.

The shallow swimmers sink fast, during my screening process. They have their memorized cliches, and cling to them like the proverbial life preserver. It doesn't take long to determine the depth of their abilities, as I try to figure out how good of a "coach" they will be for the sales force. I ask them to describe a couple of specific examples of coaching they have done.

A "deep" sales manager will have dozens of examples to choose from. They will include the mistakes that stymie salespeople in every company:

• Lack of discovery during a call

   

   

• Inability to close

   

   

• Resistance to technology

   

   

• Inability to listen

   

   

• Inability to understand why the client has backed off

   

   

• Clinging to "scripts" when clients are insisting on "conversations" (they can get scripts from websites and automated response systems - by the time they contact a salesperson, they are looking for DIALOG)

   

   

• Presenting too much information in answer to a simple question

   

   

• Not answering the question at all, even while attempting to or pretending to

   

   

• Pretending to know the answer, when the answer isn't known (clients are not fooled - and not amused)

   

   

• Arguing with the client

   

   

• Laziness

   

   

• Selling what they like to sell instead of what the client wants to buy

There are dozens of additional examples, but you get the idea. The deep sales manager will pick one of these examples and explain what he or she did to help the salesperson become aware of the mistake they were making. In each case, the deep sales manager takes a unique approach, depending on the salesperson being coached. There is no formula. Using a rich understanding of human nature, and experience solving these problems, the deep sales coach works in partnership with the salesperson to understand the problem, then come up with a solution that the salesperson will actually carry out. Then, the coach works with the salesperson daily until the new habits are established, and the salesperson has reached a whole new level. This is coaching at its most effective.

It is also RARE. Sales managers vying for a position will try to convince you that they can do this. But in the course of answering the "specific examples" question, they reveal their shallowness. Their approaches always fall into one of three categories:

 

1) They avoid the issue of management altogether (they don't go far enough). Instead of solving the problem in tandem with the salesperson, they foist their responsibility back onto the salesperson. "So, Annie. Obviously you could have been more successful on this call. What do YOU think was the problem?" When the salesperson identifies the problem - even incorrectly (the shallow swimmer won't know the difference) - the "coach" then says, "What will YOU do to solve the problem?"

 

 

2) They simply take over (they go too far). A candidate I interviewed the other day said that one salesperson had been unable to close an account that he knew had potential. What did he do? He told the salesperson to bring him along on the next call. In that call, he simply took over, and sold the client himself. "See? I knew there was business there!" Did the salesperson learn anything from this? Maybe, maybe not. It's more likely that she thought, "Well, they just responded better to you, for chemistry reasons."

 

 

3) They spout cliches (they don't do anything new, inspiring, or relevant). Every salesperson has heard all the cliches, dozens of times. "Always be closing." "Sell the steak, not the sizzle." "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." And so on. The problem with these cliches - and there are even books about how the cliches are cliches because they work - is that they don't work anymore.

 

Let's put it this way. Let's say that you are a drop-dead gorgeous woman who hasn't yet found the right man. Wherever you go, heads turn. The room goes silent. So silent that you can hear guys walking into walls as they are frantically thinking up their pickup lines.

You've heard all the cliche approaches - there are really only about 5 of them - and you were bored with them the first time. Now that you're in your late 20's, you've heard them literally thousands of times. You could even tell the guy what he's going to say before he opens his mouth to say it.

Will a cliche work with this babe? Obviously not. The only man who will succeed is the one who doesn't "come on" to this woman, but who sees her for the person she is, and begins a real, live, meaningful and intelligent conversation.

Today's customers are like the babe. They've been pitched thousands of times. They can see a pitch coming before the pitcher raises his arm. Their eyes start rolling as soon as the telesales person says, "I'm not calling today to sell you anything," or some other insulting, dishonest phrase. All they really want is for someone to treat them like a human being, to hear their question and to answer it - honestly. They don't want to be manipulated or pushed.

The older, shallow swimmers are starting to realize that their cliches aren't working anymore, and are hoping they can get by until they have to retire. The younger ones are like deer in the headlights, wondering why they just got laid off, and wondering why it's suddenly so difficult to get a job. They haven't realized yet that no one wants what they are "selling" - what they are selling is methods that simply don't work anymore.

Their only chance is to realize that everything has changed, and start learning how to start swimming in the deep end, where all the customers are.