Recruitment is a key component of any company’s initiative to build up talent in their organization, but without any clear guidance, leaders may end up overpaying for things that don’t make better sellers. What competencies should companies look out for in prospective sellers, and how can leaders leverage recent developments in generative AI to help them build their talent up?
In part two of the discussion between Mike Hoffman, SBI CEO, and Nick Toman, SBI Chief Strategy and Product Officer, join the conversation as they explore how important talent is to the core of any company’s GTM growth strategy.
Identifying Your Ideal Seller Phenotype
A seller’s performance is more than what’s on their CV, and what makes them effective also varies from industry to industry. The key to success, then, is being able to identify the ideal seller phenotype your company needs to drive growth.
“For those who aren't familiar with what that word means, we just think of that as sort of like a collection of attributes that define people, that you can kind of go look for, hire and it looks like an archetype.”
Through a comprehensive data analysis process augmented by machine learning, SBI has helped other companies with identifying their ideal seller phenotype. In one company, the analysis highlighted three seller competencies that are crucial to commercial success:
“But what we found for this organization, five plus years of experience, 3 to 5 years of experience within their company, so it didn't need to be in a commercial world, but they knew the company, they knew the product set, and they had very high levels of competence in negotiating, generating referrals, and utilizing marketing programs.”
“They're really good at leveraging marketing programs and putting really good thought leadership in front of the customers and using that to help the customer navigate the purchase process. And that's what we found for this organization drove very significant gains in quota attainment.”
The key takeaway? You already have the data that you need to help your sellers succeed. Identify the key competencies and skills that matter most to your business, then train and recruit to those competencies to bring everyone up to their highest potential to help push the needle across your entire sales organization.
Once there is a robust talent profile, leaders can move to leverage developments in AI to help their sellers go further. A simple way to start? Ask questions about your customer:
“Really understand what's happening, why is it happening, what's the customer doing about it? What's going to be hard about that? What's at stake and be that much sharper.”
“It's right there. And I think that's probably one of the most powerful use cases. And honestly, where I'd encourage the listeners to start with their sales teams is get your sales teams curious about the accounts they're working and using generative AI to explore those accounts in a way they've never been able to before.”
Tune into the rest of the conversation in the GTM Value Creation Corner Podcast here: Episode 11: Talent at the Center of Growth - Part #2
