{"id":1683,"date":"2008-07-30T12:45:10","date_gmt":"2008-07-30T17:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/07\/the-brilliance-of-b-players\/"},"modified":"2008-07-30T12:34:56","modified_gmt":"2008-07-30T17:34:56","slug":"the-brilliance-of-b-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/07\/the-brilliance-of-b-players\/","title":{"rendered":"The Brilliance Of B Players"},"content":{"rendered":"

Great article from BusinessWeek.com titled Let’s Hear it for B Players<\/a>.\u00a0 I realize “B Players” is difficult to define, but these are the:<\/p>\n

…competent, steady performers far from the limelight.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What I like about this article is the fact that B players can consistently deliver for a sales department without demanding star treatment.\u00a0 Unfortunately, their approach can cut against them also as they tend to be overlooked at times.<\/p>\n
Here is their value stated clearly from the article (my emphasis):<\/p>\n
B players, by contrast, prize stability in their work and home lives. They seldom strive for advancement or attention\u2014caring more about their companies<\/cite>‘ well-being. Infrequent job changers, they accumulate deep knowledge about company processes and history. They thus provide ballast during transitions, steadily boosting organizational resilience and performance<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Yes they do.\u00a0 Some B players will move up to A player status which is a sign of good sales management.\u00a0 Others are content in their role and will excel within the sales dept albeit in a quiet manner.\u00a0 They are typically lower maintenance than the A players and they rarely make mistakes like the C players.\u00a0 Their consistent, if not eye-catching, performance provides the foundation for a strong sales department.<\/p>\n
One thing the article does not mention is that A players are typically well-known in your industry and often are recruited out of your company.\u00a0 They can develop a prima donna complex and become as difficult to manage as an A-list celebrity.\u00a0 Every sales team needs A players to drive the big deals and close the marquee accounts.\u00a0 But the B in B players should stand for bedrock.<\/p>\n
The authors close the article with 4 strong suggestions for nurturing your B players:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Accept differences.<\/strong> We’re all tougher on people who differ from us. If you’re an A player, avoid the temptation to undervalue B performers. Ask what they want from their careers, then match them with mentors who’ll help them get it.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Give the gift of time.<\/strong> Track your communication patterns to ensure you’re not ignoring\u2014and thus alienating\u2014solid performers.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Hand out the prizes.<\/strong> Since B players are promoted relatively infrequently, reward them in others ways. Even handwritten notes of appreciation can make them feel valued and motivated.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Give choices.<\/strong> Rather than grooming only stars, allocate scarce resources\u2014compensation, coaching, promotions\u2014to high-potential B players. Promoting sideways can provide appealing career alternatives.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Great article from BusinessWeek.com titled Let’s Hear it for B Players.\u00a0 I realize “B Players” is difficult to define, but these are the: …competent, steady performers far from the limelight. What I like about this article is the fact that B players can consistently deliver for a sales department without demanding star treatment.\u00a0 Unfortunately, their approach can cut against them also as they tend to be overlooked at times. Here is their value stated clearly from the article (my emphasis): B players, by contrast, prize stability in their work and home lives. They seldom strive for advancement or attention\u2014caring more about their companies‘ well-being. Infrequent job changers, they accumulate deep… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,11],"tags":[907,909,908],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-r9","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1683"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1683\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}