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.
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.
You just went through the painful process of interviewing for a new sales manager position and have finally scored a great position. Throughout the process you made promises and presented your capabilities persuasively. Now you’re sitting at your new desk and you realize it’s time to put your money where your mouth was. Oh crap!
You receive an email from your direct manager that you’re up for a annual appraisal of your work. Heart stops, anxiety sets in. The dreaded day comes and the performance reviews begin. You soon realize that any disagreement with what is being said is futile no matter how empathetic the manager sounds. Survival mode ensues and a “I just want to get through it” mentality takes over. Sound familiar?