Super-Salesman Silverman Speaks.
Animal: Now, Craig, yesterday when we were having our chummy conversation, you said, that when you teach adults you try to get them to remember what it was like to be a kid because kids refuse to take no for an answer.What you're saying is that a real salesperson has a conflict-oriented view of the world. And I want you to know that I agree. After all, isn't one of the most profound maxims in selling: "The sale begins when the customer says no."?
That speaks volumes about what the sales person is thinking. She goes to work in the morning looking for a fight. Not a mean fight. But, all the same she's ready to rumble. Isn't that true, Craig?
Craig Silverman: Yeah, we could hire the Girl Scouts if we were just going to make calls and everybody goes, "Yeah, send me three" and there's no sales talk involved. Good salespeople have to meet "No's" and objections and see them as potential buying signals and get excited by the thrill of the hunt.
Animal: The hunt. They go out to fight with people. They are different than the average guy. Isn't that true?
Craig: It really is. Top sales people are often the number one earning people in the company and it's because that job is really hard.
So what happens is, Animal, people want to be in a high earning sales role but the truth is that getting into the heat of the battle for most people is a nauseating experience. I have seen people get physically ill from getting into a sales chair and trying to either cold call or convince somebody to do something. So, it does take a special breed and part of that is baked into you. It's in the genes.
Animal: Yeah, but the point I'm trying to make is that sales people are people who like to fight. Now, Craig, you train recruiters don't you?
Craig: Yes, I've trained a lot of recruiters. On my own teams, I trained a thousand or so....
Animal: Just a yes or no, Craig. Please.
Craig: Okay, I won't steal your microphone.
Animal: You said that sales ability is, in large part, baked into your genes. So I have a question. Have you, in your training history, ever had a My Fair Lady type story or something like Pretty Woman in which you were able take someone who is totally out of her league in a sales situation and turn her into a stupendous success?
Craig: Yeah, it's happened quite a few times. There's a lot of people out there who really don't know about the tiger that they have inside. And it takes somebody to give them a little bit of training or a little bit of motivation. Not necessarily to tell them how to do it but to take them out into the field and show them. And then they can emulate you and roleplay that and practice, practice, practice and get better at it and learn that it is something that they love.
I've had people who went to school thinking that they wanted to be a dietitian in an old age home and they get into that job and they hate it. They're miserable. We've been able to take people like that who might be a little bit shy or meek when we first meet them and show them how to turn their ability to communicate and deal with people into a revenue generator for the company and a money-maker.
Animal: I don't get it then. If the person looks meek and we're saying that this sales attitude is born into you, how can you turn them around? How can you tell who is good material to hire if the meek guys can turn into super-sellers?
Craig: First what you have to do is know what your hiring profile looks like. So I have a very detailed hiring profile that I teach all of my managers and this year I've gone all across the country sharing that with hiring professionals in the staffing firms to help them determine who are the best people to bring on board. And it's not only one component. It's multi-variable. So when you understand the complexities of the individual, you can look for more than just this one thing. There's a lot more to the recruiter.
Animal: Are you on a speaker phone, Craig?
Craig: I am on a cell phone.
Animal: Okay. Sounds a bit distant. I hope that people can hear you in the recording. Let's move on.
Answer Alert:
1. Did Craig tell us how people who first appear meek can actually have the sales hunter mentality baked into their genes ready to be unleashed by the right guide? If they are hunters why would it not manifest itself spontaneously? Not yet.
2. And what are the characteristics of the only apparently meek person as opposed to those who are truly and fundamentally meek?
Source: 6.20 minute mark, The Recruiting Animal Show, 07.10.24