Propeo Executive Search

In our experience, all businesses struggle to find enough people with the ability to sell at senior executive level.  Not only are good dealmakers hard to find, but how they go about creating their success is often poorly understood.  Hence the term 'rainmakers', which has crept into corporate vocabulary in recent times - such people are seen to have magical powers of selling, like the powers of someone who can conjure up rain.

Clearly, not just anyone can sell successfully.  If you have experienced the 80/20 rule (80% of your company's revenues being driven by 20% of your salespeople), you will already be particularly aware of this.  The job of selling gets much more complex and more demanding when you need to do it at executive level, and it is notoriously difficult to find professionals who have a proven track record in boardroom selling.  Because the role of rainmaker is so visibly critical to success in many businesses, and because the requisite skills are in such short supply, compensation plans for executive salespeople start in the low six figures, and go up from there, often without stopping. 

Propeo Executive Search handles search assignments for executive-level sales positions, and we have some views to share. 

Clearly it takes a special kind of person to gain a true understanding of a sophisticated client's needs - both tangible and intangible, to respond with appropriate proposals to meet the range of needs, to have the courage and the tact to ask assertively for the order, to provide ongoing value-add inputs to a key account once it is landed, and in addition to all that, to overcome the inevitable daily dose of rejection and special challenges that come with the job. 

So who then are these people who are successful in this job every day? 

Speak to any VP of Sales and you will hear them speak of qualities like persistence, product knowledge and listening, and a long list of others.  So, which are most important?  Where do you put the emphasis?  Does it depend?  If so, on what exactly?  Given the staggering cost of mistakes in hiring at this level, employers must reduce the margin of error, and must therefore begin by developing a clear understanding of the make-up of an effective executive sales professional. 

We are fortunate to have a solid bank of research on which to base views on this issue, and there is significant consistency in findings over the years.  Back in 1964, David Mayer and Herbert Greenberg wrote a classic article entitled 'What makes a good salesman' for the Harvard Business Review.  Now, over four decades later, the article ranks as one of HBR's most requested reprints, and in our view, Mayer and Greenberg's conclusions are still entirely valid as guidance for employers. 

Here is the bottom line…

ALL high-performing salespeople always demonstrate a combination of two fundamental qualities - Empathy and Ego-Drive.  All else is secondary! 

It is helpful to think of these as two foundation qualities, a platform on which specific 'skills' may be built.  They are different from skills in that these qualities cannot be taught at sales school, or even acquired by experience.  This is an important distinction and it relates to the debate on whether salespeople are born or made.  We in Propeo Executive Search believe that talents are born, whereas knowledge and skills may be taught.  If the two fundamentals in question do not already reside in the person, you are simply not going to have a high-performer on your hands.  Training is only effective where the correct raw materials are present.  So then, to state the obvious, in searching for and selecting senior sales executives, you must first ascertain the existence of both these two qualities. 

EMPATHY

Empathy is the ability to accurately sense the feelings, motives, perspectives and reactions of others, and to recognize the cues and clues they provide, not just verbally, but in their body language, moods and actions.  This allows one to relate effectively to the other person.  It is to be stressed that empathy is quite different from sympathy, which is simply expressing pity or sorrow about another person's feelings or situation. 

The person who has highly-developed empathy is not constrained by a prepared sales pitch, but can sense the prospect's reactions and creatively modify and refine the approach as necessary.  Empathy is demonstrated in strong active listening, excellent probing, and a habit of constantly testing receptiveness and customizing one's approach. 

The salesperson with poor empathy is unlikely to have the guidance system to zone in on what is the real bull's-eye - as that is often buried deeper inside the client. 

EGO-DRIVE

This is the deep inner personal need to be successful.  Ego drive should not be confused with ambition, energy, aggression, or hard work.  The ego-driven person wants to be successful in persuading others, not because of material rewards, but as a means of personal fulfilment.  And this is derived from success in persuading a top executive, one-on-one, to do something that the person had not intended to do.  Ego-drive is a basic human characteristic that feeds a person's feelings of self-worth, and it is this more than money that motivates the sales pro.  It is also interesting to observe those with this trait in their reaction to failure, as it leads to them becoming even more motivated as a result. 

COMBINATION

When put together, these two qualities create a dynamic fusion in a salesperson, and this is the basis for success.  While empathy and ego-drive are separate traits, they are both required to create the winning formula.  Ego-drive will provide the fuel for the salesperson to launch into the selling situation, and empathy will guide him or her accurately to the real needs, and enable the linking up with the prospect.

The salesperson with high ego-drive and low empathy will lose key sales through failure to connect with all the needs in the situation, and tailor the approach accordingly.  Such a person may come across as single-minded and perhaps pushy. 

On the other hand, the salesperson with high empathy and low ego-drive may be considered a pleasant and nice person by clients but will lose key sales from failure to take the necessary steps to follow through to closure.

It is clear therefore that empathy and ego-drive balance and temper each other, 

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