“Drill” Below the Surface to Energize Sales Performance

Danita Bye

3 Tips to capitalize on the hidden talents of your sales team

My family ranch in NW North Dakota sits on top of the largest oil reserve in the U.S. – unfortunately the lack of the technology and equipment required tap into that huge reserve of oil did not exist until five years ago. Little did we know how much our world would change when engineers finally figured out how to tap into to the oil reserve sitting just 2 miles below our family’s ranch.
Today, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates 3.65 billion barrels of oil in the “Bakken oil reserve” are waiting to be tapped by the breakthrough horizontal drilling techniques developed in the last few years. This year, interest in the region exploded as new wells began producing over 2,000 barrels of oil a day. Innovation has unlocked the vast potential of the Bakken Zone oil fields, leading the USGS to recently increase its 1995 estimate of recoverable black gold by 25-fold.

As a leader of a Sales Team:

• Have you focused on the potential energy that lies beneath the surface of your sales team?
• Are your strategies aligned to utilize the talent reserves of your staff?

A leader trying to thrive in a challenging economy must ensure that their sales people are creatively and fully engaged in meeting company goals. Like oil companies seeking to tap the black gold 2 miles under ranch country bedrock, your organization must develop talents, encourage risks, and reward the innovation of your people.

Tip 1: Recognize Talent

Everyone knew the oil was there. What they didn’t know was how much it was or how to reach it. The Bakken oil reserves were hugely underestimated. It took visionary leaders to look deeper, recognize the potential, and develop the techniques that would eventually enable the oil’s extraction.

When you underestimate what your people are capable of doing, you limit the growth of your own company. Your sales team has reserves of skills and talents that are not being fully leveraged.

• Are you allowing your team members to utilize their capabilities?
• Are trying to get them to produce results using a process that does not fit their talents?

Start by professionally assessing your team to gain an increased clarity about their hidden talents to develop training and a process that will work for them. Which assessment is right for you?
I personally like to start with a detailed assessment designed to measure 66 key sales beliefs and skills. Then I build on that with the Strengths Finder assessment that focuses more on professional skills and passions (my discovery that I was a “Maximizer” led me to a career dedicated to helping strong sales teams become exceptional ones). Other popular tests include measuring emotional intelligence (IQ tests) and motivational assessments (Disc assessments). Both help sales people understand how to utilize their strengths to produce higher results.
What are the unique, untapped talents on your sales team?

Tip 2: Encourage risk-taking

My rancher-turned-oil-man dad says that the oil exploration engineers “were like blind dogs in a meat shop; they could smell it, but they just couldn’t get their teeth into it.” Knowing that the rewards were plentiful, oil exploration companies gave their best and brightest petroleum engineers the latitude and freedom needed to test their ideas. Many of those ideas failed; however, some began to show promise.
Your people will take risks when they know that you are supporting them 100 percent. If you want your sales team to sell with passion, create an environment where they are safe to brainstorm and test new ideas. Require three solutions for every problem a person brings to you. Allowing people to take risks in solving problems turns excuses into opportunities. During a difficult time at a medical device company, I needed salespeople who would engage in breaking comfort-zone activities. Each week I asked, “What’s one thing that you did in the last week that was uncomfortable for you?” and “What’s the biggest risk you took this week and what happened?” I praised the risk taking and helped the employee learn from their success or failure.
What steps are you taking to encourage risk-taking?

Tip 3: Reward Creativity and Innovation

In an environment of encouragement and safety, the engineers discovered the new horizontal drilling and pinpoint sub surface fracturing techniques that are now used to tap the vast Bakken oil reserves. One company, Petrobank, combined new drilling techniques with innovative testing strategies. Their first four wells produced over 1,500 barrels a day/well in the first three months.
A thriving sales organization during these tumultuous times has a culture where creativity and innovation are rewarded. In a recent corporate culture study, Waterstone Human Capital found that only 8 percent of senior executives interviewed said they reward innovation and creativity. Often, leaders focus on the bottom line and ignore the behaviors that lead to the bottom line results.
Embed innovation in your company culture by creating an Innovation Performance Appraisal, building upon intrinsic motivators and external rewards. As part of our Quarterly Sales Business Planning, I implemented Innovation Performance Plan and Review. At every meeting, I asked, “What’s the most creative and innovative thing you’ve done this quarter to help the company be more successful?” The answers ranged widely – from a plan to develop client loyalty to a promotion that launched a high margin product, gaining client penetration that was impossible before.
Is innovation encouraged on your sales team? What steps are you taking to reward it?

CONCLUSION

The Bakken Zone has over 500 wells pumping today because of the willingness of exploration companies to recognize the potential, willingness to take risk and encourage innovation. The oil was underneath my North Dakota childhood home all along. It took a group of people aggressively searching for an answer to unlock the potential beneath the rock. The same is true for sales leaders. To unlock and release the potential in your sales team, you need to recognize talents, encourage risk-taking, and reward creativity and innovation.
The result will be a sales team that overcomes all obstacles to excel in these tough times.