What does it mean to be driven? To have drive? Is it important to sales success? Where does it come from? Can it be taught? One of the hardest challenges as a sales manager is hiring great talent. Even after multiple interviews, sales evaluation exams, and impeccable references contacted a less than hire can still happen. What makes them less than? I can sum this up in one word, Drive.
Business owners, managers, and sales professionals can be blind to a changed market and new competition. In relying on their small group of influence they miss the big picture many times. Ego can also stand in the way. Small successes continue to reinforce small thinking. It’s like the frog standing in the pan of water and stays there as the heat is turned up until boiled alive.
For most of my career I have been involved in technical product sales. This is an ever changing market with some serious training challenges. Train a sales staff on a product today to only have that product change drastically next month and your efforts negated. This is one of the reasons why I believe that true sales success can never be based on product knowledge alone.
As a member of this elite group I thought it might be time to voice a slightly prejudiced opinion on the subject. I have always, and am currently; self training, putting in long days, and I always become the “go-to” guy for answers and solutions. I am a highly competitive sales producer and wrap my arms around the latest in technologies and offerings to help me win. So why is there hesitancy to hire a senior sales professional? Isn’t this the prerequisite of the ideal candidate typically? Am I so different? Are you?
