It Takes Grit To Win at Sales and to Take the Stanley Cup
We’ll admit it; in our office, we’re homers regarding hockey. We cheered loudly with the Washington Capitals finally winning the Stanley Cup. The funny thing about this year’s team, it was less talented than previous teams. T.J Oshie, a Caps forward, said, “Years past, it felt like we were like, ‘we’re going to win this year.’” He added, “This year, it was more so like, ‘We’re going to work this year, and we’re going to outwork teams.’” It takes grit to build the best sales team.
And they did outwork other teams. They had to out-hustle competitors to advance in each series. On paper, they knew they lacked the pure talent of last year’s team, but they had Grit. When several vital players missed playing time due to injury or ill-timed suspensions, other lesser-known players had to (and did) step up.
What type of sales team are you building? Are you collecting a bunch of show ponies with flashy pedigrees or a team of individuals with Grit? If you choose Grit salespeople, you are creating a built-to-win team.
It takes grit to build the best sales team
Research shows a person’s intelligence does not correlate to school, life, or work success. The most significant success predictor is Grit—the ability to keep pushing forward despite obstacles and adversity.
Consider Sales Grit in Hiring New Salespeople You must assess each applicant in three key areas to select a new salesperson based on Grit.
- Do the applicants get the job? Do they fully understand the job’s ins and outs?
- Do the applicants want the job? Are they very excited about the job?
- Are they capable of doing the job?
If they get it and are capable but don’t want it, they are doomed before they start.
Even if they don’t fully get it or aren’t yet fully capable, if they want it, they will do whatever it takes to get the job done! That is Grit and it’s needed to build the best sales team.
Get a copy of our Guide to Grit Questions for Interviewing Sales Candidates.
This guide provides a generic scorecard, which you can use when interviewing your sales candidates. Our scorecard also provides examples of how to score several of the questions in the Grit categories described in the guide.
Good luck in hiring your grit-based, winning sales team!