Who Would You Rather As A Salesman - Maverick or Goose?

David Kurlan at Understanding the Sales Force has an excellent post on mavericks in your sales team.

If you recall some earlier posts here and here, one maverick I managed taught me more about selling than the hundred others.

David's ideas on managing the maverick work:

I would want the maverick to know that as long as he performs and behaves he can do his thing. As soon as the performance fails to meet the expectations, he'll have to fall into line like everyone else. I would also want to make sure that he isn't around the office when the other salespeople are there. I wouldn't want him at meetings or group events.

I would add a couple of other points:

• Mavericks love a challeng and love to challenge. They will challenge every boundary and push others to do the same. Its the others that you need to watch. Mavericks can make members of the support (operations, finance, HR etc) team uncomfortable.
• You need to communicate clearly to the rest of the team that the maverick has the license because of their results and not the reverse. They need to be aware of that while its not the 007 licence, you still need to earn it all the same. They must also clearly understand the circumstances in which it gets revoked.
• You need to watch them like a hawk. Strangely, no matter how black and white your polices on pricing, fulfillment and service might be - they still manage to discern avalable shades of grey.

Mavericks are good. They're our internal entrepreneurs and they can pioneer new markets, channels and drive the business further. But sometimes every silver lining has a cloud.

Maverick or Goose - are you a risk taker?

Jason Wenn

Bold Advocates - The Story of Mr Hyde

In my last post I told a story about Patrick - possibly the best salesman I've worked with.





Patrick had an ugly side. He had a substance abuse problem (alcohol, cocaine and speed), was bankrupt and three children from different women. Consequently around 60% of his income was subject to a garnishment order by the courts for his children and his creditors. One of the other salesmen gave him some old suits and, there were times when we were convinced he was living out of the office.





Patrick had an anger problem and when under pressure, honesty came a distant last. There were times when he would stand nose to nose screaming at me. The combination of the implicit violence, body odour and bad breath made me nauseous.





He would rage and yell when his lies were exposed or whenever I took a firm line on pricing, service or sales resourcing issues.





But he was still our best - by the proverbial country mile. And Senior Management team were very keen to retain his services and his sales.





Consequently I was left to manage a personal time bomb - a risk to the safety and sanity of myself and other team members. Needless to say, I learnt many valuable lessons. One of those is the key to this blog.





What do you think was the common element to his life of erratic success?





Patrick was a risk taker. In every aspect of his life, Patrick would take risks. With his partners, business, managers, health and customers.





The key lesson for me was the greatest trait a salesperson can have is their capacity and willingness to take risks. Patrick is an extreme case in point, but indeed the most powerful lessons come from the simplest stories.

Give me a salesperson who:

• prospects without fear of rejection
• asks the hard questions that others won't
• presents challenging ideas
• closes at every opportunity
• negotiates without unnecessary fear that the customer will walk
• "pushes the envelope" internally and fights for the customer
• who isn't afraid of "no"

and I give you a great sales person. Indeed I give you a Bold Advocate.





Jason Wenn

Bold Advocates - The Story of Dr Jekyll

Why is that every time we face the worst that life can throw at us, there's always someone there to say Well, at least it's something you can learn from...

I've managed, trained and worked with hundreds of different sales people. But it took one and only one to teach me a fundamental truth about great sales people.

Let's call him Patrick (a fictitous name - the reason for which you'll find out shortly).

Patrick was (and is) quite possibly the most amazing salesman I've come across.

He had a great belief in himself and his abilities. No arrogance, just conviction.

Patrick had a great instinct for a deal and was tenacious in his pursuit. But more than anything it was what he asked his prospects that set him apart. Patrick would ask the HARD questions. Questions that helped him qualify the prospect - questions that made the prospect think - questions that made the prospect change...

He had some balls, did Patrick. In some meetings he'd be brutally frank about the prospect's business, needs - even ideas. He'd call it as he saw it.

And everytime he got that bit close to winning.

As his manager I wished I could "bottle" his methods. If only I could get the rest of my team asking the same hard questions.

But to Patrick there was an ugly side. Very Ugly.

NEXT: Bold Advocates - The Story of Mr Hyde

Why Advocates?

advocate: noun:1 a person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy. verb: to speak or write in favor of; support or urge by argument; recommend publicly.


We're all advocates - for something. Persuasion is ultimately about belief - belief by them in us and our ideas.

This blog is about selling.

NEXT: Why Bold Advocates?