Growth Dynamics Get Down

Hey everybody! I'm Sarah Waple, and I'm the president of Growth Dynamics. I'm here today with a Fast Tip Friday.

A bad hire in sales can be expensive, salary and onboarding costs can be the more obvious losses however, a bad hire can be detrimental. When a sales hire fails, time is lost as is the momentum. Poor performance has has an affect on the revenue directly. 

Hey, I'm going to reference one of my best resources, one of my best business relationships, here this week on fast tip Friday. This is a book that two people I know very well, John Condry and Paul Carpenter, wrote a few years ago. It's about management. It's not just sales management, it's just management in general.

Recently, I had the opportunity to assist a client in the search for a new sales manager for their team. This role required a seasoned professional with years of experience in sales management to provide strong leadership. As I began interviewing candidates, I added two new questions to our standard set: 1. Why did you become a manager? and 2. What training did you receive when you became a manager?

To my surprise, many candidates became managers simply because they had reached the peak of their current roles or were promoted internally without much consideration for their managerial capabilities. Furthermore, most of them had received little to no formal training in management, relying instead on self-initiated professional development or trial and error to navigate their new responsibilities.

This lack of investment in managerial training is concerning, considering the critical role that sales managers play within a company. Without proper support and training, new managers may struggle to meet the expectations of their roles, leading to potential performance issues and turnover.

Investing in manager training not only benefits the individual but also the company as a whole. Proper training can help new managers transition successfully into their roles, improve communication skills, understand the expectations of their positions, make effective decisions that consider both individuals and the team, and navigate organizational changes smoothly.

Recognizing the importance of manager training, we are excited to announce the launch of a Sales Manager training program starting on March 13. This program includes monthly remote classes from March to August, online supplemental classes, and one-on-one coaching sessions with our expert, Charlie. If you are interested in enrolling your managers in this program, please contact Sarah Waple to schedule a fact-finding call.

By investing in the development of your managers, you can help cultivate strong leaders who will contribute to the success and growth of your organization.

Hiring the right talent is crucial for the success of any organization. However, the process of bringing in new employees comes with inherent risks. From cultural fit to skill misalignment, companies face numerous challenges when it comes to making the right hiring decisions. In this article, we will explore a comprehensive approach to mitigating these risks, focusing on the use of assessments, market research for pay and benefits, and understanding the hiring company's needs.

Symptoms:

Brian just made a proposal to a buyer and received the same response he has heard so many times recently. "Thanks for the proposal. Appreciate you coming in. We'll give it some consideration and let you know."

Symptoms:

Amanda was working through her list of live opportunities after putting her pipeline through a “kill it or close it” exercise. She set up appointments to move her sales process along with several of the live opportunities. She was steadfast in naming her meetings, sending homework, and even let some her more notorious feet draggers know these were decision meetings. She was ready to do what she had to do to start meeting her sales goals for the quarter.

Symptoms:

Bob was exhausted after seeing over 15 accounts in the past week. He had talked about football, politics, family and even some industry news in order to get the client engaged in a conversation that might give him an opening to pitch his latest and greatest widget.

One of the things I think that we can't ever speak too much about, and I'm sure I've spoken about this topic a few times, but I'm going to bring it up again just because I think there's so many things that are part of our cultural existence for a lot of us, not everyone, but I think it's a topic that when we look around the world and we see the things that are successful or more successful than other things, the ones that tend to have the greatest track record or produce the best results have some element of accountability.

You know what we do here at Growth Dynamics!  We help people develop and create the best possible personal and professional experiences that they can have, to make their lives as rewarding as possible, to give you the power, the belief, and the support to challenge yourself and really take control of your future.