Toward the beginning of the movie A River Runs Through It, Norman is narrating the story of his and his younger brother’s childhood in Montana. After describing the beauty, he then stated: “It was a tough world, too. Even as children, we understood that. And of course, we had to test that. I knew I was tough because I had been bloodied and battled. Paul was different. His toughness came from some secret place inside of him. He simply knew that he was tougher than anyone alive.”
Some people just have it, like Paul. They’re born with it. They’re naturals, gifted, phenoms, etc. They know that they’re going to succeed. These people can help lead a team to victories or hold back the overall performance of the team despite their personal excellence. A common factor that determines whether the team will succeed or not is the leader – the coach or manager – not the talented person. This is the case with sports teams, musical groups, and yes … sales teams.
So, what can a sales leader do to realize their talented salesperson’s potential while also maximizing the team’s production? One of the best leadership concepts that I endorse is to define the minimum process requirements and clearly communicate these to the superstar. Here’s how it works:
Every sales organization should have their entire sales process defined – everything from prospecting to handing off closed projects to operations. However, not every salesperson needs to follow every detailed step of the process. Sure, some people need this type of guidance, but others just wake up and know what it takes to succeed. They’re like Paul … they just know from some secret place inside that they’re going to succeed. For these special talents, following every step might limit their performance. If Babe Ruth played for an overly controlling coach, there wouldn’t have been a Babe Ruth.
Since your organization relies on certain key pieces of the process, these steps must be followed. Let your superstars know that they must follow these defined minimum requirements of the process, but they don’t need to worry about all the other stuff. Your conversation can go something like this:
“Look, just keep doing what you’re doing. Don’t worry about all these details in our sales playbook. However, we need you to do these four things and here’s why… Other than those four things, just keep doing your thing and let me know how we can help you.”
Some examples of minimum requirements: attend every sales meeting, complete the scope documents, generate new customers, and present a forecast every quarter. If they don’t complete the CRM perfectly every week and that’s not going to damage the team, let it go.
