Who struggles with recruiting? Who struggles with finding good reps? You’re probably thinking, “I can find them. They suck but I can get them all day.” Right? So, think about what makes a good rep. First off, who am I looking for? I'm not looking for spaghetti. Throw it against the wall and hope some sticks while the others are casualties in this endeavor. No!
Who do I actually want to team up with? Who do I want to mentor? OK. Well, for me, over these ten years of recruiting, I've noticed that there's only really one thing that I care about at all. I care about these other things maybe 5% but this is the thing I care about at 95%. Does the candidate know how to work hard?' Do they have grit? Grit is different, right? Grit translates to anything difficult that you're doing. Does that make sense? Like, whether it's physical, mental, social; if I'm digging a trench or if I’m out selling, if I have grit as a person, it translates into everything that I do. So, I want someone with grit.
Do I want someone that looks, you know, put together? Do I want someone who looks like they take themselves seriously. Yes! All of those things, of course, absolutely. But, you can teach them the exact words to say. You can teach them exactly how to say it through paraverbal communication, focussing their nonverbal communication and body language to make sure that they nail the conversation with the homeowner. You can teach them all of that. That should be your specialty. That's what I do as a sales manager at my company and that’s what you should be doing as the leader of your sales team. Now, what you can't teach them or just don't have the time to teach them… you don't have an incubation pod to control all of their elements and nurture internal grit. You need to find out if grit is a characteristic of their soul. That's tough. You know, you can't perceive that by just meeting them at dinner. Some people, when they interview, put on a really good show. You're like, “Dang! I did it. I did it. I found this stud. Oh, I'm gonna tell everyone about this person. This person is awesome.” And then they fold after three hours on the doors. You're like, “how could I have been so wrong about the character of this person?
Where do you find people who've shown grit and consistency? At the gym, right? Because what do they tell you by being at the gym? “Hey, I show up every single day.” I want the person who looks generally in shape, not the person who's getting into the gym. More power to that person but I know what I'm getting over here. I don't know what I'm getting over there. Here, I'm getting a lifestyle. There, I may be getting a phase. I want a lifestyle. So, this person is at the gym, they've shown that they know how to lead themselves. They get the concept. They get themselves out of bed. They show up to the gym. No one is forcing them. You know, like, Arnold's not there shouting, “Get it. Blaah!” They're just doing it themselves. That's Impressive. I want that kind of an element. That's some grit. That's some hard work displayed with consistency. I can see this because they look in shape to me. Is it judgmental? Absolutely. But, I'm just saying this is one of the ways, one of the ways, people, where you can find what you're looking for in candidates with the right characteristics.
Finding a good candidate could be as simple as finding a local gym where you go in and talk to the owner and say, “let me pay you some amount to set up a booth in the lobby. Now, I've done this many times. Set the booth. Put up your company banner. Set out some swag and drape your gear on the table. Some people will approach you or you can approach them as they come into the gym. You can work that out. Absolutely. You can even set up at a chain of gyms. Right? And so, when you see someone come in and you’re thinking, OK, you look good. You take yourself seriously and you’re in shape. But more importantly, you’ve noticed that they’re coming in every day. So, when you approach that person, you just gotta own it. In this situation, it's awkward if you don't just own it. And so, as they're walking up to you, just say,
“hey excuse me, who do you sell for? Who do you sell for?”
They're going to be caught off guard, most likely and reply with something like,
“What? I don't sell for anybody.”
“You don't sell for anyone? You're not in sales? Ah! Sorry, You just seem like someone who could be really successful in sales. Do you get approached? You must get approached, like, all the time. No?”
“Yes, no, not really.”
“Well, not trying to interrupt your workout but you strike me as someone who would probably be really good at sales. You definitely have the look. Is it something you’ve ever considered?
“Well, yes or no.”
“OK. Well, go get your pump on alright but let me take you to lunch tomorrow. It would definitely be in your interest. Let me show you a little bit of what I do. At least get the information. Whether, you know, it's a good opportunity for you, we'll find out tomorrow. But, I'm not gonna waste your time. You definitely seem like someone who would be good at this. OK? I won't waste your time. What's your number?”
And then look down at your phone and just wait. Get that number. Get the text conversation going. Set the meeting. Yada yada. Right? It doesn't have to be super complicated. That is just one of like 80 things you can do to get the ball rolling on recruiting.
Who has tried buying leads and it just didn't really pan out? Who would say, “hey, been there, done that?” Anyone? The big question is, “how do I get good quality leads and at the same time, maintain a high volume of leads? How do I balance these two things? We are going to expound on this quite a bit in the next part.
This article is an excerpt, Part 6 from the live presentation with Jake Bennington at Win the Storm 2021. Watch the full presentation by clicking on the button below.
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