In John Marshall’s book AI Supersales, he discusses the importance of sales DNA and why it matters more than skills.
I have always been in search of the elusive holy grail DNA that makes a salesperson unique.
John believes that when it comes to hiring or developing salespeople, most leaders look in the wrong place.
They obsess over skills, CVs, and whether someone has “experience in the industry.”
But here’s the truth: potential is everything.
A good trainer can coach and teach skills, and we all know experience can be gained.
But potential, or what we now call “Sales DNA”, sets the ceiling for performance.
If you don’t measure potential, you’re already six months behind.
Why potential comes first.
I have worked with John’s Self-Management Group for a few years now, and they have assessed millions of salespeople worldwide.
To help you identify, evaluate, and predict top sales talent. Their data is second to none:
Across millions of assessments worldwide, the data is precise:
Only 17% of people have the natural DNA to thrive in sales at the highest level.
About 66% fall into the average zone. At best, they’ll deliver average results.
And 17% are in what I call the caution zone. No matter how much you invest, they won’t perform as expected.
That means most companies are spending vast amounts of time and money developing the wrong people, and then blaming training, culture, or the market when results don’t improve.
This data is what they refer to as the talent trap.
Here are two simple prompts you can use today to rethink how you approach hiring and development:
Prompt 1: If skills and experience could be trained into anyone, why do I still see so many “experienced” salespeople underperforming?
(This forces you to acknowledge the limits of training without potential.)
Prompt 2: Am I investing my coaching time into people with the potential to excel — or am I just trying to fix average performers?
(This helps you reallocate energy towards those who can actually move the needle.)
If you are a sales manager reading this, take a walk around your organisation and ask yourself, “Do I have 17 percenters that are at the highest level or 83% that are average at best.
The Takeaway
Potential is the foundation. Skills are built on top. If you get potential wrong, no amount of training will make it right.
That’s why I use tools like the POP7 Sales DNA assessment— because they tell me who has the will to prospect, the ability to close, and the fit to stay.
If you want to build a high-performing sales team, start by asking:
“Do they have the DNA?”
Everything else comes after.
Have a great week, Selling your Stuff:
Mike
P.S. Be into Win 3 POP7 Sales DNA assessments and a coaching manual valued at $1295. Just hit reply with the word ‘Win’ and you are in the draw.
(Plus, whenever you are ready… here are three ways I can help you grow your business.)
1. Grab a Free copy of my book
It’s the sales roadmap to attracting prospects, building, and making more sales in your business without coming across as salesy- Click Here.
2. Join the Sales Mindset Inner Circle and connect with salespeople like you.
It’s our new Facebook community where salespeople learn to get more income, enhance their ability, and get access to exclusive content- Click Here
3. Join –“Sales Mindset Blueprint: (INVITATION ONLY) Elevating perspectives, boosting confidence, driving results and not coming across as salesy. Reply to SALESY, and I will get you the details.
It’s one of the most straightforward but most powerful habits you can bring into a sales team.
Here’s why:
If all you do is chase wins, you miss the chance to improve.
If all you do is dwell on mistakes, you kill confidence.
So every week, I ask my teams I work with for one win and one learning from the past week.
I’m not always good at it, and often the people present don’t think about it until they are asked.
But the truth is, it doesn’t matter if it is big or small; we acknowledge it and then we move on.
Try it this week. Keep it short, keep it honest, keep it moving.
Have a good week selling your stuff.
Dedicated to your Sales Success.
Mike
PLUS, whenever you are ready…here are 3 ways I can help you grow YOUR business.
1. Grab a Free copy of my book
It’s the sales roadmap to attracting prospects, building, and making more sales in your business without coming across as salesy- Click Here.
2. Join the Sales Mindset Inner Circle and connect with salespeople like you.
It’s our new Facebook community where salespeople learn to get more income, enhance their ability, and get access to exclusive content- Click Here
3. Join –“Sales Mindset Blueprint: (INVITATION ONLY) Elevating perspectives, boosting confidence, driving results and not coming across as salesy. Reply to SALESY, and I will get you the details.
In the media, and lots of products that have a life cycle, this is a common concern that clients have.
When I first landed in the US in the mid-to-late 90s, selling long-term advertising solutions for radio stations in South Carolina, they had never heard of an offer that would span over any more than 13 weeks.
Here was this Kiwi with a weird accent called Mike (Everyone called me Mark)
selling the concept of a 12-month advertising contract.
Our first gig was in a small town called Greenville, South Carolina. The station was called 93FM Country.
They had changed the format mid-term of our planning and threw us a dog basically.
The Chairman of Ideas and I had convinced the owners of this station, which had about 3% market share, to sell advertising offers using seminars. They thought we were mad.
After a few weeks of planning, we launched and sold $300k in a week. Yip smashed it.
They could not believe it. We went on to run a successful business in the US for many years. Thanks to a couple of smart guys who knew the market.
So, what happens when you get this sort of question?
“I don’t want to commit to a long-term contract.”
Get into a conversation:
Try this:
“That’s completely fair. Would you be open to hearing if there is a flexible option that might work better?”
PLUS, whenever you are ready…here are 3 ways I can help you grow YOUR business.
1. Grab a Free copy of my book
It’s the sales roadmap to attracting prospects, building, and making more sales in your business without coming across as salesy- Click Here.
2. Join the Sales Mindset Inner Circle and connect with salespeople like you.
It’s our new Facebook community where salespeople learn to get more income, enhance their ability, and get access to exclusive content- Click Here
3. Join –“Sales Mindset Blueprint: (INVITATION ONLY) Elevating perspectives, boosting confidence, driving results and not coming across as salesy. Reply to SALESY, and I will get you the details.
In these days of trying to stand out, here is an idea that might just get your proposal directly onto the decision maker’s desk.
What’s the next best thing to face-to-face?
Here’s my tip for this week and it’s about standing out with your clients.
I talk to a lot of my clients and a lot of their salespeople see a client, draft a proposal, and then they send it out by email.
And guess what?
They don’t have the opportunity to present face-to-face.
However, the more important thing is they don’t have the opportunity to stand out in front of the client.
Now I accept that sometimes a client will need some sort of proposal sent to them after you’ve made all the agreements, which tends to be the way that I operate.
To make that proposal stand out a little, here is an idea.
Envelopes that sell
Why don’t you use one of these?
Envelopes that are specially printed to look just like a priority courier pack.
Here’s a couple of examples.
Imagine taking your finished proposal and placing it in the envelope, then addressing it directly to your client.
What do you think’s going to happen?
Do you think if that landed on your desk, you would open it?
You bet you would, and that’s the secret!
That’s the way to get in front of people more effectively.
Standing out with an envelope that sells, is a much better option than a plain, boring, old white envelope.
Even worse an email.
And, that’s my tip for this week.
Have a great week and I’ll talk to you again soon.
Whatever career you decide to take in sales, it’s always good to get some help.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
