RAB Insights

RAB Research Archive

Finding Great Sales Talent or Creating It…



Diamonds are the hardest naturally forming material on Earth, known for their beauty, strength and durability. Their name comes from ancient Greek (ad?µa? – adámas) meaning unbreakable or invincible.

Contrary to popular belief, diamonds do not come from coal. They form beneath the Earth’s crust, from pure carbon. Over time, pressure, combined with intense heat, creates diamonds. The rough material then has to be polished and cut to perfect shape before it’s attractive enough to be a girl’s best friend.

Great salespeople, like diamonds, take time to reach their full potential… and are not easy to find. The single most significant problem facing businesses today is finding, creating and retaining top talent.

Good people and great sellers solve most problems in any organization. Sales is a profession that can’t use robots, automation or systems to replace talent. Sure, systems can maximize performance, but people — talented people, make any system work.

Hiring mistakes are very costly to any business. Here are some shocking statistics: Over 80% of resumes contain false or misleading information. Half (yes, 50%) of your candidates will lie or exaggerate their accomplishments. There are even websites devoted to perpetuating fraud: www.nextdaydiplomas.com.

Are great sellers born or created through time, training and pressure like diamonds? The short answer is yes. We do believe some people have a more natural predisposition to becoming successful sellers, and I believe there are those who no matter how much you work with them, will never become great sellers. In my experience, there are five fundamental traits that help predict a person’s potential to become a great seller. Diamonds have their four Cs; I believe sellers need five Cs:

Compassion - the feeling of empathy for others

Curiosity - an insatiable desire to know more

Competence - expertise

Creativity - the ability to solve problems

Communication Skills - verbal, nonverbal and written

Finding great sales talent can be like digging for diamonds. You must get your hands dirty. Not all candidates will be diamonds when you meet them. Identify the must-have traits and competencies to be successful on your team. Then with a little polish (training), experience (time) and competition (pressure), you will create diamonds and solve your number one problem.

Our next one-day sales training event, Sales Essentials, is one week from today, and we have a few spots left. Yes, there really is a capacity so that we can keep the course highly interactive and engaging.

Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development. You can reach him at Jeff.Schmidt@RAB.com. You can also connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Source: Jeff Schmidt, RAB