Well … there’s the million question for you! Every sales manager, business owner, VP of sales and high performing sales rep I have ever known has asked that question at some time or other. What is the key? Can I hire for it? Can I teach it? Could I learn it and become a better sales rep than I am today?
For the better part of my sales and sales management career I have wondered what the answer to that question is. The last 15 years or so we have been in the business of benchmarking top sales performers, assessing candidates and doing comparative analysis to help clients select, develop and retain top sales talent. Identifying “what it takes” has been developed into a science anyone can employ to know exactly what it takes. Without all of the boring research mumbo jumbo it comes down to measurement of what we call “core skills & core competencies”. Something the candidate or sales rep has as a part of who they are at the core of their being.
There are, at the end of all of the number crunching research 5 core skills that stand out, in sales, from the 23 that we measure. We call those the Big Five! They are; personal accountability, resiliency, self management, interpersonal skills and continuous learning. So, we have the question “what is the #1 key” narrowed down to 5 core skills. Now the task is to determine which one is most important!
The answer is (drum roll please!) … continuous learning. Defined as a “personal, internal drive to grow” this core skill, when mastered, can lead us to master all of the other Big Five core skills and any other skill needed to be successful!
The reality of that truth was never more evident to me than it was this past week during a series of events, not related to sales, that had me scratching my head and really feeling bad for some folks I don’t even know. As many of you know, we just started a personal venture with “The Man Up Challenge 2010″. It is simply a series of weekly videos followed by a simple action step designed to challenge us all to become better men, husbands, fathers and etc. (If you want to learn more or even join us go to www.manup2010.com )
The response I received when I posed the info about the challenge on a message board I participate in was appalling and encouraging both at the same time! 1/2 of the guys were as good as they were ever going to get, knew everything and had zero desire to learn anything from anyone else. And the other 1/2 couldn’t sign up fast enough because they were wide open to learn anything they could to become a better man!
My experience is the same when I speak or train sales people and sales managers! 1/2 couldn’t care less and the other 1/2 are fully engaged! I will pose a question to you. Which 1/2 do you think are consistently performing below average and which group consistently leads the pack? Perhaps a more important question is … which group are you in?
Here’s the good news! If you are one of the continuous learners we are going to have a ton of cool stuff for you in 2010 to plug into and we will recommend a lot of other places to learn as well … like the www.manup2010.com Challenge and others not so gender specific (sorry ladies, not meaning to slight anyone)! If you aren’t a particularly enthusiastic learner then it is one of the easiest core skills to develop. Just make a commitment to subscribe to a blog, take out a magazine subscription, read or listen to a book a month or even enroll in a training program somewhere. Make a commitment to yourself and take action to master the core skill of continuous in 2010!
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