Frogs

There were two frogs sitting on a lily pad when all of a sudden, a fly came along. One frog put out his tongue, ate the fly, and started laughing. Soon the other frog put out his tongue, ate a fly, and started laughing. As the day went on, both frogs sat and ate fly after fly. Each time one of them caught a fly, the other frog would burst out laughing. A third frog hopped up to the first two and asked "What was so funny?" The first frog answered "Time." "Huh?" asked the third frog. The second frog explained "Time's fun when you're having flies."

In every job there are three elements that can make it fun or suck the joy from your life. First is the environment. Second is behavior. Third is the payoff.

If you're a frog, your environment is simple: you get to sit in muddy water all day. The behavior is also simple. You have to want to stick out your tongue regularly and frequently. Finally, the payoff is that occasionally you're rewarded with the chance to eat a fly.

If you were hiring frogs, you would need to make sure that you were talking to creatures that like to sit in muddy water, enjoy sticking out their tongues, and love the taste of flies. If any of those three is not a match, your potential frog candidate is most likely not going to succeed.

If you are hiring a salesperson, it is also important to think about these three elements. Do the people you are talking to sound like they would enjoy spending time in your office with your team? Are they going to be willing to go out and prospect for new business? And if they land a client, will they like the way the relationship tastes? Not all animals are frogs. And not all of the people who claim to be sales studs are right for your company.

The single most important thing I have learned as a sales trainer is that not everybody should be in sales. And that's ok. We help our clients figure out if they have the right people, the right strategy, and the right structure to succeed. And then we help them get better at execution.

Trying to figure out if your people enjoy catching flies? Contact Matt Nettleton, Sandler Training, DTB at matt.nettleton@sandler.com or 317-695-8549.