Warning – psychology babble coming your way from Fast Company.  I encounter this effect often with clients:

That judgment is what’s called, in psychology, the Fundamental Attribution Error. Meaning that we tend to attribute people’s behavior to their core character rather than to their situation. So when somebody cuts you off in traffic, you think, “What a jerk!” You don’t think, “I wonder situation he’s in that’s causing him to drive so crazy.” Even though in those times when YOU have driven crazily, it was almost certainly because of the situation you were in—you were late for a job interview or a date.

May I make a suggestion?  The use of assessments introduces objective measurement into the situation which helps to limit fundamental attribution error.  Limiting subjectivity generally leads to better hiring especially with salespeople.

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The nature vs. nurture debate is one for which I am most intrigued.  My Bachelor’s degree is in psychology and this topic was a popular debate topic in my courses.  Yesterday I came across this article from CNNMoney.com – Are entrepreneurs born or made?  As I look at the stats, I tend to interpret the result as saying entrepreneurs are made:

Shane and his fellow researchers compared the entrepreneurial activity of 870 pairs of identical twins — who share 100% of their genes — and 857 pairs of same-sex fraternal twins — who share 50% — to see how much of entrepreneurial behavior is genetic and how much is environmental.

The mathematics behind quantitative genetic modeling are rather complicated, but the upshot was fairly straightforward: Entrepreneurs, the researchers concluded, are about 40% born and 60% made.

The 40% is a significant number; one that ties into salespeople also.  The article contains an excellent example as to where it derives its significance:

But he doesn’t totally dismiss nature’s role. “For someone without aptitude, I don’t think those things can be taught,” he says. “I can’t make a librarian into a Broadway performer.”

I believe strong salespeople are nurtured and developed within the right sales environment.  Yet, there is a nature/born component to strong salespeople also – the 40% born and 60% made split seems accurate to me.  The critical factor in the “40% born” side is their aptitudes.  We describe aptitudes as intrinsic talents. These are talents that salespeople possess – they are not learned.  They can be refined, but they cannot be created.  Salespeople either have these intrinsic talents or they do not.

For instance, it is difficult, almost impossible, to make a successful salesperson out of someone who lacks the aptitude Handling Rejection.  Few territory reps are successful without having a strong Personal Accountability aptitude.  Hire a remote salesperson with low Initiative and you will have trouble.

One facet of our assessments is to measure a salesperson’s aptitudes in comparison to their present sales skills.  This comparison reveals areas where they may have underdeveloped sales skills today, but they possess the aptitude…it simply needs to be refined into a skill.

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How about this quote from Stephen King’s Danse Macabre (h/t JustSell.com):

… talent is a dreadfully cheap commodity, cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work and study; a constant process of honing. Talent is a dull knife that will cut nothing unless it is wielded with great force — a force so great that the knife is not really cutting at all but bludgeoning and breaking… Discipline and constant work are the whetstones upon which the dull knife of talent is honed until it becomes sharp enough, hopefully, to cut through even the toughest meat and gristle.

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Isn’t there an old sports axiom that states games are won or lost before you ever take the field?  Well, at least some form of that saying.  JustSell.com lists a handful of self-defeating thoughts from the sales world (email newsletter – sorry, no link).

Here they are:

• Defeatist (accepting, expecting, or being resigned to defeat)
• Cynical (contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives)
• Vindictive (seeking revenge)
• Blame/ Fault (who cares? what are we going to do now?)
• Wishful (do what you can to influence the deal and keep moving)
• Self-pity (get over yourself… complain less… especially to yourself)
• Worrisome (it won’t help, costs time, and can drag you down)
• Jealous (want it? earn it)
• Pre-argumentative (the imaginary argument you have to prepare yourself for the argument that may never happen)
• Post-argumentative (the imaginary argument you have where you’re quicker than you were in the actual argument)
• Procrastinatory (if you’re going to procrastinate, you might as well do something fun instead of thinking about how bad it is that you’re procrastinating… dummy)

I find that fourth one (blame/fault) to be especially common in sales…and quite detrimental.

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Good article here from Salesopedia.com titled Reject Me, Please.  Handling rejection just may be the most important trait of any strong salesperson.  Rejection is the key differentiation between sales and all other positions.  Salespeople have to be able to handle this topic well.

Excellent sales people realize it’s about the products and service, and not them. They may have represented the product poorly and answered questions about the services ineptly, but nonetheless, the opposition is about what’s being sold, not the seller. This ability to distinguish between the purveyor and the purveyed I call Separation Clarity.

Well stated and I am now a fan of the phrase “separation clarity.”  I tend to tell salespeople that sales is what you do, it is not who you are – almost like an actor in a play.

Here is the reason why this separation is difficult for many:

Successful salespeople have support networks. They do not rely on random others’ feedback, or approval, or validation, or even communication. They know who they are and are bolstered by their loved ones, colleagues, friends, and acquaintances.
      Personally, I’ve seen very few top salespeople who don’t have great loves in their life, or close friends, or family of some kind. Thus, this is the Appropriate Love Factor. You don’t need your prospect, client, or buyer to love you.

Exactly.  Too often salespeople confuse rapport with relationship.  The need is to establish rapport with the prospect and earn their respect.  It is not wise to target a personal relationship with a prospect since that approach is what leads to the difficulty in handling rejection.

Notice I wrote “prospect.”  Close relationships can develop with customers over time, but that should not be the salesperson’s motivation.

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Derrick wrote a series on sales traits last year which transcends sales and applies to everyone.  I was catching up on my RSS reader from the Labor Day weekend and came across this perfect example to illustrate the lack of Attention to Detail.  According to this post from US News & World Report, employees of media agency Carat learned about a planned layoff by management through an email.  Because someone did not have an abundance of the attention to detail trait, an email meant strictly for management accidentally went out to everyone in the company.

This is why we stress the use of assessments to ”x-ray” a person’s hidden abilities and talents, or lack thereof.  Unfortunately these weaknesses often come to the surface in situations similar to the aforementioned example.  I’m sure that the Carat executives would like to have known if this employee had a natural trait for attention to detail before handing this task off to them.

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Persuasion is a key ability of any successful salespeople.  Think of the worst car salesperson or door-to-door salesperson you have encountered and you will know why this ability is so critical to success.  CNNMoney.com’s article – How persuasive are you? – interviews an individual who runs the Persuasion Institute who brought up this fine point:

Let’s take, for instance, how we handle objections, whether from a customer or some other audience, such as a boss we’re asking for a raise. Early on in life, we learn to perceive objections as opposition, so we get defensive. An unskilled persuader, often without realizing it, will show tension, uneasiness, or irritation when someone raises an objection, usually because the objection or concern stirs up the persuader’s own insecurities: “Aren’t I doing a good enough job explaining this? Didn’t I go over that already?” This way of thinking will only make matters worse.

By contrast, great persuaders who have learned new persuasion skills know how to welcome objections. Instead of seeing them as opposition, these persuaders see objections as a natural, and valuable, part of the process. They use their audience’s concerns as a way to open a dialogue, a chance to exchange ideas and discover new areas of common ground. Truly great persuaders may cut to the chase by addressing an objection before it’s even been voiced, just to get that communications ball rolling.

I say that is a fine point in that how salespeople handle rejection is key to their success.  We often discuss what traits are most important in sales and I think I would vote for handling rejection.  I think it is, in simple terms, the key differentiator between high-performance sales and mediocrity.

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I’ve been dealing with many different sales candidates of late and one thing that is starting to stand out – a candidate’s resourcefulness.  This trait comes shining through on some candidates and is little more than a dull luster on others.  The less resourceful a salesperson, the more wary you should be in considering their candidacy.

This trait has always been important in sales.  Resourcefulness feeds networking, prospecting, qualifying and competitive knowledge.  Recently I have encountered a couple of candidates who just plain lack this ability.

The lack of resourcefulness shows up in not finding email addresses or cell phone numbers.  One salesperson wasn’t able to recall the position for which he was applying (this makes for an arduous phone screen).  Another salesperson wasn’t able to research new leads due to ineptitude using online tools.

These shortcomings are severe weaknesses in the information age.  I’m not sure how to measure this ability though we can get close to it with our assessments (practical thinking and using common sense).  More than likely, this ability has to be experienced in the hiring process so pay close attention during the initial stages of sourcing sales candidates.

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Personality assessments, or “communication style” as I prefer, are highly valuable in the hiring process for one important aspect – communication.  How many office conflicts have you seen where poor communication was adding oxygen to the fire?  We see it in almost every office conflict.

One way to diffuse these situations is to assess candidates before they join your team.  Doing so allows the manager to know the preferred communication style of the new employee.  This knowledge can also predict potential conflict areas between two employees before any conflict develops.

However, there are still companies out there who harbor concerns about assessments.  One common concern is mentioned in this BusinessWeek.com article – Personality and the Perfect Job:

Isn’t there a danger that employers who use personality tests as part of the employment process stereotype individuals?

Enlightened employers consider personality as only one facet of the selection process. Finding the right “fit” between the job and the person should be a win-win proposition and should be a matter of discussion for any professional interview process.

Some of the personality traits to consider: Do you prefer a structured environment, or is a variety of tasks more important? Do you thrive in crisis situations or value consistent processes? Would you rather work primarily by yourself, or as a member of a team? Are you a big-picture thinker, or do you excel in making sure all the details of a job are completed? Knowing both your own preferences and the requirements of a prospective job can help you (and the employer) make a choice that will give good prospects for ongoing success.

The key point in there is to know what the job requires.  My concern with personality assessments is not that they stereotype individuals but rather that hiring managers think there is only 1 personality that can succeed in the position.  This reason is why I prefer to use the term “style” instead.  Personality is really more about style and how someone will approach people, problems, data, etc.  It is not indicative of skills, aptitudes and motivations.

This distinction must be made when hiring.  In the end, assessing solely for style is still better than not assessing at all.

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Today we wrap up our year-long Sales Traits Series with the final installment. This week’s trait is one that provides us insight into a candidate’s soft skills when relating to a prospect or customer.

Sensitivity To Others
The ability to be sensitive and aware of the feelings of others, but not to allow this awareness to interfere with objective decision making.

A salesperson with strength in this trait will respond to the concerns of others even if they do not relate to the situation at hand.

A weakness in this area is indicative of an inability to identify and relate with others on a personal level. Such a person has a difficult time empathizing with the needs and concerns of those with whom they deal.

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