Why do people think they need a “hungry” sales team?
Julius Caesar said ” He had a lean and hungry look”. This theme of hungry sales teams came around on LinkedIn once again this week. It’s a tried and tested cliché. But what does it actually mean?
It’s such an ambiguous expression that we dedicated chapter 6 of “Untangle Your Sales” to Sales Myth #6: I need a hungry sales team.
The cliché is an old one, popularised by 1990s Hollywood. Men in big suits chasing even bigger deals. If you treat your sales team mean and offer them fat commissions they they’ll land you the big deals you’re hoping for.
Keep them lean, treat them mean.
Let’s be honest, you can keep your dog hungry. But you’ll just end up with an angry and aggressive dog. Why would you do that to your sales team?
What is a “hungry” sales team?
It’s a word that’s never appeared in anyone’s job description, and that’s a big part of the problem. Everyone knows that in sales you get what you measure. And you can’t measure being hungry.
If you run a sales team where it’s not clear what good behaviour looks like then you’ll end up with a team where you’re only employed if your face fits. There are no objective criteria on which people are recruited or promoted. It creates disaffection.
What you might find in sales job descriptions are words like “proactive”, “initiative” and “resilient”. These are great qualities to look for in sales people and we’ve supported clients structure interview processes to identify these things on many occasions.
If you recruit against these criteria and then build your sales coaching and training to reinforce how these behaviours show up then you’re building a sustainable sales capability. That’s something that grows over time, giving you consistent performance from great people.
Why do you only want sales people to be hungry?
This is one of the more curious aspects of this description. If what you really want is for your sales people to be proactive and enthusiastic, then why doesn’t the term apply to people right across your business?
Surely you want people in marketing or finance to be proactive and show initiative. It doesn’t really explain how the hungry sales cliché came into being.
After all, customer experience is delivered by everyone in an organisation. It’s no longer the case that a customer’s perception of you is defined just by having a friendly and reliable sales rep. It’s about how your marketing, supply chain and finance are coordinated by your sales team.
One of the most damaging things you can do to sales morale is to create “sales prevention departments” in your business. After all the hard work of finalising a deal the sales person ends up explaining to a customer why their delivery hasn’t turned up on time, or their pricing is wrong.
Letting down customers and expecting sales people to fix it is a sure way of putting a sales team on a crash diet.
Being proactive and showing initiative should be the price of entry for getting on your payroll. For every function, not just sales.
Are hungry sales people good sales people?
The more you strip away at the hungry sales team description the more flaky it seems.
It’s well established that the best sales people are good at asking questions, listening to clients and building empathy.
If you think building yourself a “hungry” sales team will achieve this you’re probably wide of the mark. Yes, you need them to show initiative and be proactive. There’s an energy you get from a high-performing sales team that’s a real cultural asset to a business beyond them just being the people who bring in revenue.
But if you push too hard on the hungry angle you risk creating a team that feels the need to look busy. Chasing small scraps makes the boss think you’re hungry. It doesn’t necessarily make for good business decisions.
It’s no longer enough for sales teams to be chasing headless around the country. Businesses are only too aware of the increasing costs of employing sales people, with overheads like offices, transport, NI and bonuses adding to the equation. Targeting the right customers and focusing sales resources carefully is the new normal. It’s more menu planning than just plain hungry.
What’s the alternative to having a hungry sales team?
It might help clarify what you’re really after if you think about choices:
– You don’t want a passive sales team. But you probably don’t want one that’s barking at potential customers either
– You don’t want a sales team that misses opportunities. But you don’t want one that’s chasing every lead, regardless of value or fit. You can’t afford that
– You don’t want sales people who are falling short of target. But you won’t build a business if you run a hire and fire culture where nobody knows who’ll be at their desk next week
What it brings you back to is that a successful sales team is one that builds over time. It has a buzzing culture, with consistent skills and an industry-leading client experience. That’s a long way from just being hungry.
You’re more likely to achieve that if you focus on recruiting the right profile of sales person, then give them:
– Single-minded strategy and goals
– Clear personal growth and career progression
– Consistent coaching and development of selling skills
– Trust
– Systems and tech that works first time, every time
Why does the hungry sales team concept live on?
There are so many oddities about the hungry concept that this is a key question.
It’s probably a combination of a lack of knowledge and a lack of confidence.
If you’re a business leader who’s not a sales expert (and that’s maybe 90% of leaders) then it’s easy to fall into thinking sales success comes from pushing harder.
Sales figures are falling short because not enough leads are being converted. People are too comfortable and not working hard enough. More activity means more revenue.
It’s much harder to spin the question around and ask how your leadership is negatively impacting sales performance. Yet in most cases missed sales targets are a result of flaky strategy and inconsistent leadership.
If you don’t have the expertise it’s genuinely difficult to figure out how you build a high-performing, successful sales team.
That’s a much harder tangle to unravel.
Final thoughts
We hear from business leaders over and again that it’s difficult to recruit good sales people. There aren’t enough of them out there and when you find one they come with a heavy price tag.
It’s a neat shortcut to say you’re recruiting people who are hungry. But be very careful to set out exactly what that means and how it helps you achieve your business goals.
Don’t recruit for hunger. Recruit for measurable behaviours and attitude.
If you want a good return from your sales people then don’t keep them lean. Put them on a balanced, nutritious diet. Take the Untangle Your Sales scorecard today and unlock the potential for sales success. or get in touch for a chat.