The Assumptions Running Your Sales Team

You're in an executive leadership team meeting the topic shifts to sales.

Ramp times are too long. The last two hires didn't work out. Revenue is concentrated in a few veterans, and everyone knows that's a risk.

So you make some decisions. Training. A more experienced hire. A playbook.

Six months later, none of it stuck.

What went wrong?

Were you solving the wrong problem, or the right problem with the wrong solution?

Perhaps you didn't know the difference because you didn’t ask the right questions.

THE INSIGHT

Ask leadership why their best reps are successful, and you'll hear "relationships" or "they just get it."

Ask why customers buy, and you'll hear "service" or "quality."

None of that is wrong. But none of it is specific enough to act on.

What kind of relationships? Built how? What does "great service" actually mean to that customer?

If you can't answer those questions precisely, you're operating on assumptions dressed up as insight. And every decision about your sales team (who to hire, how to train them, what to coach them toward) is built on that shaky foundation.

It's like prescribing medication without running tests.

The full piece is here.

QUICK HITS

📍 I'm on Substack now. Same content, maybe with a little something extra every now and again, but through a different door. If that's where you prefer to read, you can find me.

📘 New ebook next week. Know Why You Win is coming. Short, practical, and built around the work I've been talking about for the last couple of months. I think you’ll like it.

📕 Focused. My friend Steven Rosen’s book is terrific. If you’re in sales leadership, you should think about picking it up.

📊 Stat I keep coming back to: Only 5% of salespeople actually know why their best customers buy. 15% would probably guess correctly. 80% are shocked by the truth.

THE SHOUTOUT

My #ThankfulThursday post this week was about Scott Ingram.

When I think of sales success, I think of Scott. I don't know anybody who's done a more thorough exploration of the topic. Not just through research, but by creating a community of sellers determined to learn from each other.

His podcast and events have evolved over the years, always with a focus on the value he provides. He's not just a great seller, but a great hang, and one of the all-time great dudes you'll ever meet.

I'm grateful to have him, and the dozens of people I've connected with through him, to help me navigate this career and this thing called life.

THE CLOSE

Before you sign off on the next training program, the next hire, the next "initiative," do some diligence. Ask the questions.

Get it wrong in a conversation instead of in the market.

It's cheaper. And a lot less embarrassing.

Cheers,
JB

P.S. Not sure if you've done the work or just think you have? I built something for that. 14 questions, 10 minutes, free.