Why One Senior Hire Can Reset a Company's Culture — Transcript

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1. 0:00I sell student housing software to
2. 0:02universities or at least I try.
3. 0:04>> [laughter]
4. 0:05>> Um my small part of our business did 1.6
5. 0:08million last year or a little bit less.
6. 0:10Uh trying to get to 2.7 this year.
7. 0:12>> Amazing.
8. 0:13>> Uh so I've got a very specific challenge
9. 0:15which is a recruitment challenge of a
10. 0:17sales person where my gut and my head is
11. 0:20fighting uh with each other every day.
12. 0:23>> Your what to your head is firing?
13. 0:24>> My gut.
14. 0:25>> Oh, your gut to your head are fighting.
15. 0:27>> from
16. 0:28>> Got it.
17. 0:28>> England. Uh
18. 0:30>> [laughter]
19. 0:31>> You don't say. Yeah.
20. 0:34>> Um any questions about that I'll tell
21. 0:36you later.
22. 0:36>> Yes.
23. 0:37>> Um
24. 0:38So,
25. 0:39what it need So, we're entering a new
26. 0:40geography, right? 8 months ago there
27. 0:41were no universities in the United
28. 0:43States buying student housing software
29. 0:45from us at all.
30. 0:47>> All right.
31. 0:47>> Um and so to disrupt this marketplace
32. 0:50that has an incumbent that's kind of got
33. 0:52it sewn up uh for the sake of argument
34. 0:54um I need sales people.
35. 0:56>> Uh-huh.
36. 0:57>> and for me every fiber of my being
37. 0:59believes I need a proper new business
38. 1:01hunter. Someone's going to go out and
39. 1:02bang down doors, ask questions, not make
40. 1:04statements, fire in the belly, hunter.
41. 1:07>> And I've just recruited one of those.
42. 1:09>> Okay.
43. 1:09>> But I've got another guy in front of me
44. 1:10that's an opportunity for me.
45. 1:12And I'm wondering if I don't give him
46. 1:15the job, if I'm getting in the way of
47. 1:17what is actually the right decision for
48. 1:19the business.
49. 1:19>> Uh-huh.
50. 1:20>> So, this guy's been in the industry that
51. 1:22we're in for 25 years. Uh a huge gap in
52. 1:25our business in North America is we
53. 1:26don't understand the US marketplace. Um
54. 1:29which is having we're having a go and he
55. 1:31does.
56. 1:32Um and he's got a demonstratable track
57. 1:34record of selling student housing
58. 1:35software in the US.
59. 1:36Um but he's not a hunter. He's a farmer.
60. 1:38He's probably not going to go out and
61. 1:39bang down doors. He's He's got a strong
62. 1:41work work ethic. I've no doubt of that.
63. 1:44But it it the opportunities will need to
64. 1:46come to him. He's also a teller and not
65. 1:49a seller which makes me die inside. Um
66. 1:53so, my question is what's best for the
67. 1:55business? Do I get a raw sales person
68. 1:58and I still have a huge gaping hole in
69. 2:00our knowledge and understanding of our
70. 2:01marketplace?
71. 2:02>> Mhm.
72. 2:02>> Or do I get this person that can sell?
73. 2:05>> And you only have the money to hire one?
74. 2:07>> No, I've already got one and this will
75. 2:09be the second, so we budget it for two.
76. 2:11So, do I bring this guy on um or do I
77. 2:14you know, go with my gut, get a hunter,
78. 2:15but then still have that gap of
79. 2:17knowledge that would benefit
80. 2:18>> like you like desperately need this guy?
81. 2:21>> Uh
82. 2:22desperately need this guy or need a
83. 2:23sales person.
84. 2:24>> This guy?
85. 2:25>> Um I I don't
86. 2:27>> the pain of filling This is literally
87. 2:28the example you're just giving like pain
88. 2:29of I really need a sales person versus I
89. 2:31have to have this guy.
90. 2:34>> No, I don't feel like I desperately need
91. 2:36the guy. No.
92. 2:37>> Okay.
93. 2:39>> I do need the knowledge and
94. 2:40understanding that's in the business,
95. 2:42which is quite a unique thing to acquire
96. 2:44now.
97. 2:44>> He sounds unimpressive though.
98. 2:47>> It Well,
99. 2:48by by what I believe a new business
100. 2:50hunter to be, I'm not impressed, but he
101. 2:54has got the data of where he's been
102. 2:56successful in our marketplace before.
103. 2:58Um
104. 3:00So, yes, it's tough one.
105. 3:01>> Well, I mean, there's also there's
106. 3:03there's different ways you can structure
107. 3:04this. Like you could just say, "Hey,
108. 3:05would you like to consult for us?"
109. 3:07That's an option.
110. 3:08>> Currently works for a competitor.
111. 3:09>> Okay.
112. 3:11So, is he going to bring over some of
113. 3:13those accounts?
114. 3:14>> Um
115. 3:15So,
116. 3:17he has a black book. I don't really care
117. 3:20though.
118. 3:21>> Okay.
119. 3:22Isn't that like the major advantage of
120. 3:23him?
121. 3:24>> Um
122. 3:25>> I mean that genuinely.
123. 3:26>> No, no, that that arguably is an
124. 3:28advantage to him. There's a number of
125. 3:29reasons for that. The software he sells
126. 3:30is probably 10% of Well, 20% of what we
127. 3:34sell our software for. Um so, slightly
128. 3:36different segment of the audience. I
129. 3:38think that's a short-termist mindset um
130. 3:40is to bring someone for that particular
131. 3:41reason. And I've got a team of A players
132. 3:43to protect and I think one of the
133. 3:45reasons A players leave businesses cuz
134. 3:47they have to put up with a C player. So,
135. 3:49is he a C player? Uh and I back the team
136. 3:52>> like he's a C player? You're like,
137. 3:53>> not
138. 3:53>> I'm not saying that he is. That's what
139. 3:54I'm trying to determine in my mind is is
140. 3:56that
141. 3:57>> even thinking he's an A player, I'm
142. 3:58already like kind of
143. 3:59>> He's not what I deem as a new business
144. 4:01hunter, but does that matter?
145. 4:02>> But is that his job?
146. 4:04>> Um his job is to make sales, yeah.
147. 4:08>> New new sales?
148. 4:10>> New business sales, yeah.
149. 4:11>> Yeah.
150. 4:12>> [laughter]
151. 4:13>> Yeah. Right. So, I mean, like So, this
152. 4:15this is actually this is interesting cuz
153. 4:16sometimes you'll you'll find somebody
154. 4:17you're like, man, this person's great,
155. 4:18but that's not really the opening I have
156. 4:20right now.
157. 4:21Um and then you have to make the call of
158. 4:22like, do I want to basically just bring
159. 4:23someone on because I think they're great
160. 4:25and they'll like we'll be able to find a
161. 4:26way for them to provide value, or do I
162. 4:28have them like do I try and find
163. 4:29somebody who fits the role?
164. 4:30>> I think he'll make sales. I just think
165. 4:32to create the opportunity in the first
166. 4:34place.
167. 4:35>> He'll make sales. Will you lose money on
168. 4:36him?
169. 4:37>> No.
170. 4:38>> Okay. Will he cost you in culture?
171. 4:42>> Maybe.
172. 4:43>> Okay, well, then no.
173. 4:47Like you we could have just started with
174. 4:48that one.
175. 4:50Well, like sales team culture is what
176. 4:52manages performance. Like it is the
177. 4:54spoken and unspoken rules that govern
178. 4:55behavior. Like that's what I define
179. 4:57culture as. And so, if somebody comes in
180. 4:59and has is allowed to do many things
181. 5:01that I don't want any of my existing
182. 5:03people to do, I then reset the culture
183. 5:05to say that this is not like this guy's
184. 5:07older and experienced, he is what
185. 5:08success looks like, and now all of you
186. 5:10everything that you've been doing that I
187. 5:11want you to do, you should stop doing
188. 5:13that because I clearly don't care. Yeah.
189. 5:16So, yeah, like the thing is is you had
190. 5:18me at like I don't really want him. Like
191. 5:20then just find another one.
192. 5:21>> Yeah, that's my gut, but
193. 5:23>> Well, then trust your gut.
194. 5:24>> Okay.
195. 5:24>> Like the thing is is that like
196. 5:29It's a it's a rush issue.
197. 5:31It's like if you wait it's kind of like
198. 5:32like realtors wait longer to sell their
199. 5:34homes on average and sell them for like
200. 5:3510% more than, you know, people who when
201. 5:38realtors represent themselves, right?
202. 5:40They sell for a little bit more, they
203. 5:41wait a little bit longer when they put
204. 5:42their house on the market. And so, it's
205. 5:44kind of reverse for us when it when
206. 5:45talent comes in, which is that like
207. 5:47we're in this immediate pain, we talk to
208. 5:48three people, and then we marry one of
209. 5:50them, which is also how the vast
210. 5:51majority of people date. And so
211. 5:56Anyways. [laughter]
212. 5:57Uh
213. 5:58Like there's a huge advantage to to
214. 6:00having to to to to go on more dates.
215. 6:03Right? It's like how many people did you
216. 6:04interview for this extra salesperson?
217. 6:07>> Um I've probably seen
218. 6:09for this particular role maybe 20 so
219. 6:11far.
220. 6:12>> Yeah, you probably just need to talk to
221. 6:13more people. And you talk to them like
222. 6:15to give you context like for us
223. 6:18we will it'll probably for if we want to
224. 6:20fill one role that's solid we'll work
225. 6:22from like between 500 and 1,000 resumes
226. 6:25>> Yeah.
227. 6:25>> to get one.
228. 6:26>> Yeah. Oh, resumes tons more than that.
229. 6:28>> Right. No, I'm just get So just in terms
230. 6:29of like, okay, 500 to 1,000 resumes then
231. 6:32translate into call it I mean, Frank
232. 6:35will be able to give you the metrics
233. 6:35better than I can. Um but a lot of
234. 6:37conversations that then lead to like
235. 6:39three qualified candidates and then
236. 6:40we'll pick one. And the idea like the
237. 6:42objective for the recruiting team is I
238. 6:44want I tell them, I need you to give me
239. 6:46a very hard decision.
240. 6:47>> Mhm.
241. 6:48>> I was like, if it's an obvious decision,
242. 6:49it means that you didn't bring enough
243. 6:50good talent.
244. 6:51>> Yeah.
245. 6:52>> So yeah, I mean, I
246. 6:54>> We're just get the right fit.
247. 6:55>> Yeah. Like you're going to keep
248. 6:56ping-ponging this. You just need to
249. 6:57decide.
250. 6:58>> Yeah.
251. 6:59>> And I think that you will decide really
252. 7:00easily if you just keep dating.
253. 7:03>> All right.
254. 7:03>> Cuz as soon as you find that other
255. 7:04person, you'll be like, "Oh my god,
256. 7:05thank god I went with this guy."
257. 7:07>> I'll tell my wife I need to keep dating.
258. 7:09Thanks very much.
259. 7:10>> [laughter]
260. 7:11>> He's from the UK.
261. 7:12>> Thank you.
262. 7:12>> Yeah.
263. 7:13>> Thank you.
264. 7:13>> There you go. If you are the best
265. 7:15salesperson in your company, then your
266. 7:17company will be always capped by you.
267. 7:20And this is what the two-day workshop is
268. 7:22for. Now, let me be clear before I get
269. 7:23into what it is. This is for
270. 7:25million-dollar plus businesses that are
271. 7:27trying to scale their sales team, where
272. 7:29you are still probably vast majority of
273. 7:31the magic, either you're literally
274. 7:32taking calls or you are big percentage
275. 7:33of the revenue, or you have to be
276. 7:35constantly on the sales team in order to
277. 7:37get this to work. If you're in any of
278. 7:38those settings, then then is absolutely
279. 7:40for you. And so if you are tired of your
280. 7:42sales relying on you and want a sales
281. 7:44system that scales beyond you, then
282. 7:46apply. That's the deal. And so, if it is
283. 7:48a fit, we look forward to seeing you out
284. 7:49here and it's a great time. We're
285. 7:51talking about sales stuff. Like, how
286. 7:52could you have a better time? But, don't
287. 7:52take my word for it. Here's what other
288. 7:54people are saying about workshops.
289. 7:55They're
290. 7:56premo. And yeah, can't wait to see you
291. 7:58out there.