I only Hire ‘A’ Players ?

By Scott Souter

2/23/2024

Introduction

This is a topical examination of commonly held beliefs and practices in Sales Management, in a series I call, ‘The Last Bad Idea - Topics in Sales Management.’ This article focuses on the popular notion, “I only Hire ‘A’ players.” ?

I only Hire ‘A’ Players

Sales Managers often say, “I only hire ‘A’ players!” ?How is that working out? Has this practice allowed you to beat the 80/20 Rule, wherein 20% of the salespeople produce 80% of the revenue? Are you still stuck with just a couple of salespeople pulling the wagon, others doing little? Either way it does seem logical to recruit and hire more ‘A’ players. That said, is it a best-practice to try and build a team of all ‘A’ players? Or is this practice another popular idea in Sales Management that does not really work?

Bottom Line Up Front

Build a “A Team of High Impact Players” instead of trying to “Only Hire ‘A’ Players.” ?

‘A’ Players on the Sales Team ?

We recognize ‘A’ players as the elite few in the 20% group that sell 80% of the stuff. You have a couple of salespeople on your team that fit into this ‘A’ player classification.

Here is a common scenario. You have a couple ‘A’ players who have been on the team for a long time. They have two or three marquee accounts. They generate the bulk of team revenue. They receive rewards, recognition, and high compensation.

Others struggle, come, and go or need to go. This puts you, as Sales Manager, in the position of performance ‘Managing Up or Out;’ fighting to hit budget with open territories and in a constant state of trying to recruit and hire the next ‘A’ player.

The success of top performers underscores that an elevated level of sales attainment is possible. It becomes frustrating as Sales Manager when the remainder of the team produces much less in terms of revenue, pipeline, and even basic sales activity. If only you had a couple more ‘A’ players, who knows, you might achieve Presidents Club and much more! Replacing struggling players with ‘A’ Players is a logical response. ‘Manage Out and Hire Up’

I only want ‘A’ Players on the Team?

When I hear, “I only want ‘A’ players on the team,” I say to myself, “Why didn’t I think of that”? Are you ready, willing, and able to manage ‘A’ players? Will you put them in a position to win and let them play their game? Will they want to play for you, and will they perform for you? How do you know they are ‘A’ players?

Further questions to consider. Why would an ‘A’ player want to leave where she/he is successful? Why would an ‘A’ player want to be on your team? ‘A’ players typically do not move laterally, they move up in title or earnings, where they are. Jumping for a salary bump is a ‘red flag.’ ?Those with W2s that reflect ‘A’ player success find it hard to leave. That said, salespeople do flee toxic organizations, cultures, and managers. Top performers on the other hand, are usually more immune to that toxicity, by way of mindset and treatment.

Is your company and product so great that a top performer will want to leave and start over pursuing long sales cycles? On occasion there is a winning rationale to do so. Other times, there is something wrong. A skilled candidate will provide a reasonable explanation. Some explanations you will accept, some you will not.

Defining and Identifying ‘A’ players

No matter what your formal hiring and interviewing process prescribes, you as the manager will accept as satisfactory, answers to questions in this realm of inquiry if: ?The candidate has a job title that matches the one you are hiring for, has sold in a matching territory, sold the same product or service and is skilled in ‘mirroring’ you in the interview. This candidate will advance in the hiring process.

The Hiring manager classifies the candidate as an ‘A’ player if they show evidence of strong sales performance and high earnings; throw around the names of relevant contacts, use sector jargon, talk about big accounts and their role in Enterprise Sales Agreements won by the company they work for.

What do Sales Managers perceive as the benefit of hiring ‘A’ players?

Hiring ‘A’ players is a perceived ‘shortcut’ to success. It anticipates that ‘A’ players have superior knowledge of enterprise selling, the product/service offering and customers in the territory. The Sales Manager sees this as a fast path to results without need for heavy ‘handholding,’ training, and coaching.

The Sales Manager with this hiring mindset typically says, “I am hands off. I like to hire the right people and let them do their job. All I ask for is a forecast once a week and we will also have a one-on-one and team meeting each week. I just ask that you keep CRM up to date.” ?To an ‘A’ player this sounds good. So, could anything go wrong?

What can go wrong Hiring ‘A’ players?

Typical scenario. As Sales Manager, you have a couple ‘A’ players that have been with you for years. They serve you well. Through intensive effort to ‘manage up or out’ you have open territories. You successfully ‘got rid of the dead wood.’?

Working hard and committed to ‘hire up,’ you are hiring an ’A’ player from your competitor. You are excited building a team of ‘A’ players. Like your top performers, the candidate hired managed the largest accounts at the company she came from and produced the majority of revenue. This looks promising.

You welcome and introduce her to the team. You tell the team about her success and tell her about your top accounts. Then tell her, go call on the other accounts the team lost or never had. “See if you can get us in there.”? Her territory has no discernable account base and no pipeline or records in CRM.

The ‘A’ players are too busy to help her. The ‘B’ and ‘C’ players have little motivation to help, or any best practices to pass along. You the Sales Manager, as promised, are “Hands Off.” ?

She is fundamentally a ‘net new’ hunter, with the same quota and performance metrics as the top performers who are farming and reaping revenue in two or three accounts. The daily narrative recognizes and supports the success of the existing ‘A’ players and provides only pontification and prescriptions for the others.

These existing ‘A’ players get a pass on activity because they have large revenue projections. After new hire orientation and training, usually around week 6 or 7, the new hire’s progress becomes a concern to management. Her pipeline and sales projections do not look like the stuff of an ‘A’ Player. The numbers pale in comparison to both the existing ‘A’ players on the team and to the past performance she talked about.

A big question mark arises in the mind of management and her too. The Sales Manager and peer level parrots express concern and reinforce doubts. Is she really an ‘A’ player? She too has doubt, “why did I come here? Then she rereads her offer letter to see how long she has to stay employed in order not to pay back the signing bonus and guaranteed draw.

Was your Hiring decision wrong, or right?

The reflexive answer is, “We got it wrong! We need to do a better job sourcing, screening, and vetting to find real ‘A’ players! She is not an ‘A’ player.” ?Then managers and colleagues will add disqualifying characterization about the individual to ease the sting of her quitting the team. Did you get it wrong, or did you get it right? You got it right. You got what you asked for.

Why did you Hire an ‘A’ player?

You identified her as an ‘A’ player because she managed two or three of the largest accounts at her past company, generating the bulk of her team’s revenue, just like the two ‘A’ players on your existing team. So, you hired her.

Wait, did you need someone to farm your two or three largest existing accounts? Or did you need someone to hunt? Did you interview to determine if she has the ‘skill and will’ to go hunt for net new accounts? Or did you simply endeavor to hire what you call an ‘A’ player, believing it a shortcut to success and to make your job easier?

Restating what Sales Managers typically Identify as an ‘A’ player.

We identify an ‘A’ player as the candidate that has a job title matching the one you are hiring for, has sold in a matching territory, sold the same product or service and is skilled in ‘mirroring’ you in the interview. They have evidence to show strong sales performance and high earnings; throw around the names of four or five relevant contacts, use sector jargon, talk about big accounts and their role in Enterprise Sales Agreements won by the company they come from. It is hard to get beyond this isn't it? It makes hiring easy. Do you think it might be useful to redefine 'A' player?

Does this 'A' player definition bring any value whatsoever to the position you are hiring for? Is this ‘A’ player term useful or misguiding in hiring for success? Restating, is this notion of hiring an ‘A’ player useful in filling every territory or building a winning team?

Did you interview carefully and describe the territory challenges, opportunity, and specific job requirements for success in that territory? Or did you see ‘A’ player and sell her on joining the team because it was easy ( and not too smart)?

Teams do not win with just ‘A’ players.

A Super Bowl Champion team is not all Quarterbacks, Wide Receivers and Running backs with the best passing, running and touchdown records. A Stanley Cup team is not twenty-one top goal scorers. These are marquee ‘A’ players, ( equal to your sales 'A' player definition. No, it is not more sophisticated than that. These are big point getters, who make big money and receive recognition.

The critical point is, they do not win championships alone. A winning team has a cadre built around the leaders of the team. All player are critical and equally important for success. A coach needs a total team effort and multi-faceted contribution from every position. Everyone needs to play a position and execute against a game plan.

A Sales Manager needs everyone to score goals. Every player is in a different position. Each salesperson has a unique territory and needs to operate and execute differently. Each player’s unique territory opportunity requires resourcing, supporting, and executing different strategies and tactics for success. This will generate revenue growth and shareable best practices across the team.

Various positions require different players and different skills. A Sales Manager must recognize and build to this, not just ride on or behind the ‘A’ players. Find the right player for every position and position them to win.

In Sales Different Positions require Different Players

The embedded and accepted 'A' player definition and mindset is limiting and self defeating. The STAR interview processes reinforces lateral movement and hiring of failure.

Hiring the individual, we call an ‘A’ player to ‘hunt’ usually does not work. They can answer a STAR question, however they may no longer have the ‘will or skill’ to do the job at hand. A top performing Inside Sales Representative moving to the field may be the better fit, given the job at hand.

Same thing in terms of the associated management assignment. Do not hire a a struggling Sales VP, hire a top performing sales person to lead the go-to-market effort in the target area of opportunity. Certain hiring conventions may identify such candidates as ‘C’ players. Perfect, hire the ‘C’ players.

Same thing, another territory may call for someone that can hunt and manage growth accounts. A Sales Manager may classify this as a ‘B’ territory. The ‘A’ Player may not have the focus or time to hunt. The ’C’ player may not have the skill or experience yet to do both at the same time. Who will can and will do that job. 'Can do, Will do'.

Another situation is a territory needing someone with strong technical, contract or company process knowledge. Again, this may require hiring someone that has a completely different skill set than your legacy ‘A’ player.

Suffice to say, hiring an ‘A’ player, may not make sense in terms of the opportunity, task and skills needed in an open territory. Define more carefully, less generically and less anecdotally what the needs of the territory are and hire for fit.

Bottom line, lateral moves and recycling failed Sales People and failed Sales VPs as a standard pre-screening criteria is bad hiring. There are no 'A' players among them. They were let go, or are quitting and looking for work! Find the fit! Find those who are at a place in their career that they are want to come work for you and will make a high impact.

High Impact Players

Incorporate a High Impact Player hiring mindset, culture, and language.

As Sales Manager, rather than trying to hire ‘A’ players to make up your team, focus instead on building an “A Team of High Impact Players.”

Be courageous. Retire the term ‘A’ player. Establish a culture and practice of hiring, competing, and winning with an “A Team of High Impact Players.” ?We are a team of High Impact Players! Value every member and find a way to get them in the game. Position them to score. Position the team to win.

Be realistic about the opportunity you are hiring for. You can classify territories as A, B, C or create another taxonomy. More importantly, figure out what the requirements of each territory are, get past generic job descriptions and ‘Hire for fit.’ ?Train skills and resource accordingly. Inspire confidence and forward action by reinforcing expectation and belief in your newly hire High Impact Player.

Recognize effort and execution against specific objectives and the small wins in a given territory. Over-celebrating ‘A’ player wins creates divide on a team. Celebrate High Impact Play instead. This will build an “A team of High Impact Players.

Build a “A Team of Hire High Impact Players.”