Ugly.
Won’t ever make it.
Worst I’ve ever seen.
Pathetic.
He makes a mockery of football as a game of skill.
You can’t play the game like that.
I suspect every NFL fan recognizes those as recent statements by various football commentators and pundits about Tim Tebow. All of these men have a certain vision of what an NFL quarterback should be. For them there is a set of skills that anyone who wants to be a successful quarterback must have. There are also accepted offenses that can be successful in the NFL and by extension there are others that are doomed to failure if tried.
Football for these folks is a predictable sport—right skills with the right offense mean success and anyone who deviates will inevitably fail.
These guys recognize that Tebow doesn’t fit their predetermined concept of what an NFL quarterback should—must—be.
But the rookie quarterback has something that doesn’t fit into their nice, neat, predictable formula—he has a knack and a drive to win.
He is a winner—one who finds a way to make the football world bow to his talents and more importantly, his will. Despite all the predictions of failure, he wins.
Certainly Tebow isn’t the only individual who seems to be able to will success. There are many in every field—including sales.
Unfortunately many times these natural winners end up losing. Not because they can’t win but because their coaches and managers try to force them to conform to what they believe a quarterback—or salesperson—should be.
They try to force them to work with a process or system that the individual’s skills can’t support. They try to make the individual win pretty according to the industry accepted definition of pretty, and thus destroy the individual’s ability to be successful.
I’ve seen many sellers who had an unconventional sales style (unconventional, not unethical) fail because their manager forced them to work within a system that they were unsuited for.
Process and systemization is currently a hot topic within the sales field. I’m a big advocate of process. I have a disciplined, proven process for almost everything I do. I think most of us need to work within a system that gives us order and as much control of the outcome as possible and every company should have a universal process for their sales team.
But I also recognize that there are some—a few—who are more comfortable and more suited working within their own unconventional, seemingly haphazard system. Their sales style may be ugly. It may not make a great deal of sense to the more conventional sales mind. It may break all the “rules” of selling.
So what?
If it is ethical and the seller is meeting the needs of the prospect without shortchanging or cheating his company, what difference does it make?
Why managers can’t recognize a winner when they see one—as it appears the football commentary world can’t recognize an unconventional winner when they see one—is beyond me.
Why must we try to force everyone into the same box just because it works for the majority?
Is it a misguided need to treat everyone the same? Well, folks, not everyone are the same.
Is it a need for the manager to be in control?
Is it a trust issue that if the person is successful outside the “rules” he or she must be doing something unethical?
Is it just laziness since it’s easier to treat everyone the same instead of dealing with individuals?
To date, Tebow’s coaches are giving him enough freedom—at least at the end of the game–to be himself and do what he knows how to do—win. Time will tell if he can continue to will wins from a weak team.
Hopefully those managers who have a Tebow on their team will learn the lesson Denver is learning—not everyone is conventional. Not everyone needs to be.
This is out of Gallup’s latest book Strengths base selling based on decades of Gallup’s research into high-performing salespeople.They studied 250,000 sales representatives and 25,000 sales managers.”The key to success,salespeople are constantly told,is to follow specific steps and techniques.Just heed the advice of this guru or that speaker,and you’ll be the best.
Well,that approach just doesn’t work for most salespeople.And it probably doesn’t work for you either.The most successful reps,Gallup has determined from decades of research,understand their innate talents and strengths and use them to sell more effectively.
The truth is,no two great sales reps are alike:You might thrive on fierce competition,while a colleague wins by being a super analytical problem solver.Or maybe you have a tremendous talent for building relationships,while your fellow top performer is a brilliant strategist.What’s most important is that you win business your way.
There’s no right way to sell.Salespeople get the best results by building on who they already are.
You can also get more info about this in Gallup 2003 book “Now discover your sales strengths”.
This is what Gallup say about one of many sales myths.The right sales approach myth:We are constantly surprised at the dissimilarities of the sales approaches of the best people we have studied.Within the same industry,and even with the same company,we find very different and yet equally successful approaches to the sales process.Yet companies assume that a certain style of selling is more conductive to their industries than other styles.But is there one right sales approach?Yes,but this approach is build around the sales person’s strengths,not on the industry or products or what someone else is doing.the best salespeople often have highly idoisyncratic methods,but these are right methods for them.
Comment by Johan Oosthuizen — November 18, 2011 @ 11:02 pm |
Loved this post
Thanks
Comment by Pinny — November 25, 2011 @ 10:11 am |
Paul, great article which reinforces what I’ve believed for a long time – there is not ‘one right way’ to do things. The end result is more important than the route you took to it, providing that you are acting ethically, morally and legally.
I also think you’ve hit all the correct reasons of control, trust and laziness. In a previous company’s management meeting I was told that it’s just too difficult and time-consuming to find out what motivates every individual so we will apply a ‘one size fits all’ policy. That company no longer exists.
Keep up the good work!
Comment by Neil Fletcher (@NeilJFletcher) — December 21, 2011 @ 5:06 am |