The Gladiators aka The Sellers that Bring In the Big Deals
A goal for every sales org is to make sure you have some Gladiators on your team. What I mean by this is a handful of sellers who bring in the big deals - consistently. As a leader, you need to have people who are managing the top deals in the pipeline. You just can’t be in every conversation for every strategic deal. You have to be able to trust the seller to bring in the whale deals.
To use a sports analogy you need to have some hitters in the middle of your lineup that can smack a ball over the fence. Or to use a Top Gun analogy… every team needs a Maverick. Big deals bring in more revenue which moves the line forward. Now these folks don’t fall into your lap. You might inherit a team that has some established sellers but more often than not you have to groom them.
You want to put them in positions where they can have the freedom to use their talent…but give them the structure and advice needed to get better. Some leaders believe in the tough love method of coaching.
That was never really effective for me…it just made me not want to work for that leader. I preferred honest feedback with positive reinforcement. I’ve found this to be the most effective way for nurturing talent. When looking for my heavy hitter there are 4 traits I look for:
They are incredibly coachable
Extremely intelligent & personable
Great work ethic
Naturally curious
These are the ingredients that when stirred properly result in a fantastic seller. Each of these traits just accelerates their ability to manage more revenue and make your life easier. We’ve all had a month or quarter when a single deal can make or break you. The more you can fill your team with these types of sellers then the better off you are.
Incredibly Coachable
Selling is hard. Anyone who has done it understands this. The expectations are extreme and you are constantly being held accountable for things that go wrong in the deal cycle. The stress is real. The stress can put some folks into a negative state of mind.
Be able to offer advice to take your Sellers out of this death spiral. The weaker ones will be resistant but the great ones will be all ears. They’ll understand that you are trying to help them be better. They will also take your ideas and make them even better.
The more success they have from absorbing your guidance the better they become. Pretty soon they are able to be on an island with little assistance needed. The roles will switch where you are serving them rather than them serving you. It’s the best.
Intelligent & Personable
The easiest way to spot this is how easy are they to talk to? The easier it is to exchange information then the higher the potential is for learning (in my opinion). Also, their ability to hear advice once and immediately apply it is very powerful. You won’t have to say it twice which is huge. I have too much going on and I can’t remember every little thing. Take it off my plate…the great ones do this.
Being able to come to me and tell me what is needed for a deal, understand why you are asking and have a course of action is when the intelligence factor comes in.
“I need to get approval on this discount. Even though it’s outside our norm they have shown me the allocated budget for this project. This would allow us to fit within the budget and get the deal in. I’ve already drafted the email approval for discounting and I just need your thumbs up to send it in.”
This actually happened to me in real life. This would be an example that demonstrates incredible command of the situation and an easy way for me to digest the information. I’m not getting fire hosed here… the information is concise and to the point.
I also appreciate the intelligence of getting to see the budget amount to justify the ask. As long as the discount is within reason this seems like a no brainer to get done.
Great Work Ethic
I’m not just talking about working long hard hours. Rather, how efficient are those working hours? Here’s an example of what I mean… When I started as a Rep I used to wait for my manager to start the 1:1. About halfway through my career I switched this around.
The 1:1 was for me to make sure of the manager’s time. It was MY meeting and I was in charge of this. I would set the agenda and have my specific points I wanted to address. I had complete command of my forecast and I knew where I needed deal assistance. I would be able to concisely discuss this and my sales pipeline was immaculate. All fields, next steps, activities logged, etc.
I’ve seen the great AEs and AMs apply this. They are working all week to get this information as polished as possible. They aren’t slouching, not late getting info into the opportunity or have a story on what is happening with the opp.
They work hard, communicate effectively and command the room.
Naturally Curious
I think this is the most underrated aspect about these sellers. If something intrigues them then they want to know more. It’s a great mechanism to use when something is out of whack. Buyers will BS you or withhold information. If you are curious then this will become obvious.
Asking questions to understand all the potential scenarios that could happen only comes with curiosity. If you aren’t curious (and a little paranoid) then you can get caught off guard. You can also anticipate questions your internal leadership team would ask.
The last thing you want is to get surprising news when your leadership is on a call. Leaders hate surprises. Great sellers minimize this and are prepared if something does come up. They bail everyone out of the deal and get it back on track. They have command of the revenue and you are just in a supportive role to help.
Final Thoughts
When looking at talent for hiring (internal or external) these are the types of hires you want to make. Spotting them can be hard since 90% of sales folks are very smooth talkers. Asking them hard questions, asking for examples of huge successes as well as seeing how the demo a solution helps.
In other scenarios you can discuss how they would collaborate with their resources? Also, what are some examples of how they’ve done it? If you’ve done your work and drafted a hiring profile then you can see if these traits align with what you want.
You want to build a roster where you have this type of experience as well as “up and comers” who will be your next class. These sellers eventually get promoted and you need to backfill their skillset.
Gladiators are hard to find. Once you do find them, enjoy the ride and get the h*ll out of their way. Let them do their thing.
