When I asked to try-out for the University of Pittsburgh’s Division 1 Wrestling Team having never wrestled a day in a my life, the head coach warned me that “natural athletic ability isn’t good enough to be successful here.”
I was insulted. I proclaimed that I had no natural athletic ability (true but perhaps not the wisest choice of words). I told him that everything I had accomplished athletically came from hard work, dedication and self discipline.
He let me join the team saying, “If you come to every practice and work hard, you’re on the team.”
Success!
Or so I thought.
Giving It My All
Not only was I the only walk-on, I was also the only wrestler who didn’t live on campus. Every morning, I’d wake at 5AM, grab my huge hockey bag loaded with my day’s supplies and hitch a ride from my mom to campus. I’d stand around shivering in the predawn cold until the team showed up at 6AM for our morning run.
Then I’d attend class all day, squeezing in studying during breaks. In late afternoon I’d be back in wrestling practice for 2-3 hours. After practice, I’d catch 2 buses home. Twice a week, I’d head out to see my girlfriend. The other nights, I’d study until I fell asleep – totally exhausted.
I loved wrestling. I learned new skills every day. I improved by leaps and bounds. I arrived early and stayed late to practice techniques that were second nature to my teammates but new to me.
I worked harder than anyone I knew. I had no free time, but I was on the wrestling team and was making good grades in class.
When the season started, we had “wrestle-offs” to determine who would represent our team in that weekend’s matches. Although I could occasionally hold my during our long grueling practices, in wrestle-offs my teammates effortlessly pinned me in seconds.
No matter how hard I worked, I never came close to winning one so I couldn’t even compete in our real matches.
Hustle Wasn’t Enough
It wasn’t until we had a few days off over Christmas break, when I finally realized I’d never catch up to my teammates who had been wrestling since grade school. Their years of experience (and natural athletic ability) were too much for me to overcome.
I asked myself, “Why am I doing this?”, “What am I trying to achieve?” and “Is this how I want to spend the next 4 years?”
I had accomplished what I set out to do – make the team and give it my best shot. The reality was that I’d never be good enough to wrestle in Division I.
I quit the team a few weeks later.
Today many sales teams proudly embrace their “hustle culture”. This is especially true at startups and tech companies with a younger sales force.
They say:
- “We will not be outworked by anyone!”
- “We do whatever it takes!”
- “We are family!”
If all goes well, this works for about 3 years.
Then reps start burning out as they realize that there’s more to life than just work.
The culture, once a source of pride, morphs into high-volume cold calling, spamming, overly aggressive prospecting, and sketchy sales tactics as reps struggle to meet “hustle metrics”.
Sales flatline or decline.
In desperation, sales managers double down on KPIs and micromanagement to force reps to hustle harder – make more calls, send more emails, perform more demos and create more opps.
Turnover increases.
Pretty soon, the hustle culture that made the sales team great is gone.
You’re now just like every other mediocre sales team – except worse because your managers micromanage the reps and make their lives miserable.
How To Go Beyond Hustle
Hustle is good. Working hard and giving your all for a goal bigger than yourself is something everyone should experience.
But what should you do when hustle isn’t enough? The answer, surprisingly, is to slow down.
Schedule a few days offsite for a small team. This needs to be somewhere away from your workplace.
At this meeting you should have:
- All of your Sales Managers
- All Sales Execs (VPs, CMO, etc.)
- Some “old-timers” – reps still around from the good old days
- Some top reps, bottom reps and new hires
Turn off cell phones and laptops. Explain that nobody will be working on day-to-day work while at this meeting.
In order to get honest input, you’ll need to be transparent about your intentions. Admit that what you are doing is no longer working and that you need their help to get things back on track.
I recommend spending time reflecting on these questions:
- What is our mission? Is this what it should be?
- What are we really trying to achieve?
- What used to work but no longer does?
- What can we do better?
- What activities should eliminate?
If you encourage participation and solicit input (especially from your quietest and/or lowest ranking attendees), you may be surprised at what you hear.
It may get uncomfortable.
But have an open discussion, take notes and then take action to move your team back in the right direction.
I guarantee your experience will beat getting slammed onto the wrestling mat and pinned in 10 seconds.
Good luck and good selling,
Steve