Winning From Failing: Build and Lead a Corporate Learning Culture for High Performance

Josh Seibert, Sandler Training®

What I realized – what maybe some other managers responsible for sales teams have realized – is that simply telling salespeople what to do doesn’t work.

That’s not learning, and it’s a mistake to pretend it is – not just for salespeople, but for anyone in the organization.

Learning is about optimizing performance. Sitting someone down and saying, “Next time around, just do what I did, and…” is not supporting the performance or the learning process. Again: It does not work.

Even if your intentions are good, telling doesn’t work. Even if the technique you are passing along is sound, telling doesn’t work. Even if your product/service mix is great, telling doesn’t work. Even if you give people a written test afterward on what you’ve told them to do and they pass with flying colors, telling doesn’t work. Even if you hire people with a good self-image and a positive attitude on life and work, telling doesn’t work.

Why doesn’t information transfer work?

Two reasons, and I hope you’ve figured them out by now.

The first is that telling people what to do doesn’t take into account how people acquire ownership of important new skills: through trial and error. If they don’t have a safe place to apply a new tactic, fail at it, and try again, they will not attain mastery of that tactic. They will always go back to doing what they’re comfortable doing instead.

The second reason is that just telling people what to do doesn’t address their innate human need to grow and develop as people. People are wired to learn, but only in the direction that supports them in their unique growth path. People learn for their own reasons, not for anyone else’s. The only reason people commit to improving their personal Success Triangle – their behavior, attitude, and technique – is that doing so connects to a goal that matters deeply to them on an individual level.

True confession:

I didn’t know what was important to each of the team members I started supervising at Prudential so it stands to reason that when I sat down to tell them something (“Next time around, just do what I did…”), they weren’t all that invested in the discussion. Even though sometimes they nodded and said, “Sure,” their behavior didn’t change. They always reverted to what they were most comfortable doing, and the results were lackluster at best.

I have a feeling I am not the only executive facing challenges like this. Does any of this ring a bell for you, your team, or your organization?

Telling isn't enough

Alice, a recently promoted-from-the-ranks sales manager, was just wrapping up a meeting in the conference room with her team when she got word from her assistant that she had a call from Sophia Larmar.

Instantly, Alice broke into a broad grin. Sophia had been Alice’s biggest client before her promotion, and Alice knew what the call was about. “I’ll take it right here,” she called.

There was a brief moment of uncertainty from the team as the call was transferred. “Is the meeting over?” one of them asked.

“Nope, watch and learn, friends,” Alice told the assembled team. “I am about to close a 15-unit deal in record time. Mark my words. What you are about to hear is how sales is done.”

Alice took the call and asked whether Sophia minded if she put the call on speaker. Sophia didn’t mind. The team listened in, as instructed. Ten minutes later, Alice hung up the phone, looked around the room, and asked, “What do you think?”

The salespeople all smiled obediently. “Congratulations,” said the most recently hired of the group.

“Thanks,” said Alice. “Now let’s get moving on those prospecting calls so you can find your own Sophia Larmars!”

Everyone nodded. Alice clapped her hands and said, “Let’s go!”

But as the meeting concluded and the salespeople left the conference room, Alice heard what sounded like grumbling.

The next day, Alice picked up through the grapevine that a few of the salespeople were complaining about what had happened at the end of the meeting. They thought the account should have been assigned to one of them. Alice couldn’t understand why. What was she supposed to do when calls like that came in? Tell prime customers to deal with someone they didn’t even know?

The answer? Yes. Then, facilitate the introduction personally. The first thing sales managers should do after being promoted from the ranks is to immediately turn over their client list to one or more salespeople. The clients should be properly informed of the change, and the sales manager should firmly redirect any sales calls or visits to the appropriate salesperson. No sales managers who wish to have a group of salespeople respect them should ever take any action that says, in effect, “I don’t trust any of you enough to turn this over to you – none of you are good enough.”

There’s another important point to be made here. Alice had a great opportunity for a coaching moment – and she did not take advantage of it. Suppose she had used the conversation with Sophia to move the discussion forward – letting the team listen in – and had given credit for the sale to the right member of her team? Then suppose she’d asked questions like: “What went well?” “What could I have done better?” “What didn’t happen that could have happened?”

Suppose, after that debrief discussion, Alice had then said to one of the salespeople in the room, “OK, now it’s your turn. You make the next call. Let’s see how it goes.”

Instead of doing any of that, Alice put on her Superman cape and proved what a great salesperson she was. What message does that send to the rest of the team? “You queue it up and I’ll come in and close it for you.” Nobody learns anything!

Excerpted from Winning From Failing: Build and Lead a Corporate Learning Culture for High Performance by Josh Seibert © 2017 Sandler Systems, Inc.

Josh Seibert is the president of Training & Development Solutions, Inc., Sandler Training located in the Piedmont Triad. He can be reached at 336-884-1348 or www.training.sandler.com.

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