What do you need to understand when hiring salespeople?
Is potential everything in sales recruitment?
Here is my latest article from “Sell With AI (with a Human Touch)”!
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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.
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