Select Winners For Success by Mitch Axelrod THERE ARE FOUR CRITICAL ELEMENTS TO MEASURE when you select someone for your sales team. First is core intelligence. What abilities does this person have? What mental toolbox does this candidate carry to the job? Many carpenters have bright, shiny tool boxes with all the latest equipment, but they sit on them all day because they can't figure out how to use all those wonderful, sophisticated tools. Then a carpenter walks in with an old, beat-up toolbox, and whips up a house in nothing flat! It's not about the quality of the tools, it's about the quality of the person and the willingness to use the tools that are available. Core intelligence is can-do. It can definitely be measured. Second is a person's value system. Just as selling has become a science, we now also have the ability to measure values with precision. One of the most important developments of this century is axiology, the science of values. Axiology was developed over several decades by Dr. Robert S. Hartman as a means of allowing us to evaluate our decision making processes and learn to improve our valuing capacity. The capacity to make "good" value decisions is determined by our ability to see and understand the relative value of three distinct value levels: 1) Intrinsic Value (Motivation), the capacity to be in touch with oneself and others through feelings and intuition; 2) Extrinsic Value (Method), the capacity to do what needs to be done in practical, tangible, concrete actions; and 3) Systemic Value (Mind-set), the capacity to think about and understand what you want to accomplish, and to plan for potential consequences. Everyone who> leads or works with people will benefit from the powerful insights provided by this> science; it has already made a profound difference for me. The third element to measure in selecting someone for your sales team is behaviors. The best way to predict future behaviors is to study a person's past behaviors. When someone comes to you for a job interview, he may tell you he eats cold calls for breakfast, because he'll say or do anything to get the job. But six months later, what happened to all that killer instinct? Somehow the urgency dissipated once the job was landed, and real behaviors emerge! The fourth element to evaluate is attitudes, a person's state of mind. Psychological studies have shown that most people's behavior patterns are extremely well ingrained by the time they're eighteen years old. In fact, when we employ the Value Profile we can tell with objective and scientific certainty what a person's attitude is toward selling. Keep in mind that when people are interviewing, they will do almost anything to land the job. Their true beliefs, expectations, level of empathy, and other attitudinal measures will be shielded and often moderated by what they think they should say to impress the interviewer. But upon closer examination, and with the added objectivity provided by the Value Profile, we can clear the smoke and know with certainty their real attitudes toward people, work, and the selling process. When we begin to open our eyes to the incredible precision with which we can actually measure thinking, attitudes, values (will-do), and core intelligence (can-do), we will make a quantum leap forward in the quality of people we select and hire, and the representatives we put in front of our clients. This tool can be worth millions of dollars to any company visionary and open-minded enough to install it. Knowing this information can dramatically enhance recruiting and selection, hiring, and training. In fact, it can immediately impact sales production by identifying the management style to maximize the effectiveness of each agent already in the field. ZERO IN ON A PERSON'S VALUES WE NEED TO BECOME MUCH SMARTER about how we recruit and train people. We tend to hire them because they look great, they seem friendly, they pile up the prospects--and then we wonder why they don't go out and convert all those prospects into sales. We haven't bothered to spend time finding out their top values, how they get their psychological payoff. When we take time to understand the values of the people we hire and train--when we speak to them in their own language--then we give them the mind- set and motivation to maximize their sales results. Remember, you're dealing with a shrinking employment pool; people aren't as interested in this career opportunity as they once were. So what you have to do is change the way you present the opportunity. For example, when I entered this business in 1978, I was told I could have freedom, independence, money, my name on the tote board every Monday morning. But for me, all of these weren't the right motivators. Although I value freedom and independence, my highest values are benevolence, humanitarianism, and sociability, with economics farther down on the list. However, could you have framed the same opportunity to help me reach my top values? In fact, you can come up with just about any mix of values that this career can satisfy. That is what makes this career so appealing. Your job is not to tell me I can make lots of money, be competitive, or get recognition. Your job is to ask me what I value in life. So one of the first questions I would ask a new recruit is, "What's really important to you about a job? What kind of intrinsic value do you have to get out of it?" If the job candidate says money, money, and more money, I would frame the job opportunity in terms of making a lot of money. On the other hand, if the person talks about wanting to help people and contribute to their well-being, then I frame the job opportunity in terms of service and humanitarianism. Measure a person's will-do first, and the can-do will fall into place. As long as you know what values your people are committed to, where their hearts lie, and what their attitudes are--and if you seek out the technology to improve the quality of their skills consistently--you can offer them a package that gives them the best opportunity to succeed. Mitchell Axelrod, CFP is a nationally recognized expert, consultant and sought after speaker on training and client acquisition. He has given more than 1,500 training workshops, seminars and lectures to tens of thousands of insurance, banking and brokerage professionals and financial executives from 20 countries. America's largest financial services organizations, including MONY, Met Life, Prudential, John Hancock, Paine Webber, Republic National Bank, Citibank and dozens more have tapped Mitch's expertise and are using his training strategies, methods, principles and approaches to increase sales and profit. FREE SPECIAL REPORT How to Bring Your Highest and Best Value to the Market Place, and Increase Your Income for Years to Come... Scientifically! How to apply the science of axiology to increase your market-ability and value-ability with the steadiness and pinpoint precision of a expert marksman hitting a bullseye. This report explains how we can tap our greatest strengths, increase our market value, add thousands of dollars to our income, and re-energize our livelihood and life. Click the link - http://axelrodlearning.com/careersuccess.htm to learn more about the only tool on the planet that combines the mathematics of calculus and the science of value logic to measure our personal values as a thermometer registers temperature. To read a few of the thousands of personal stories of how people benefit using the Value Profile, go to - http://axelrodlearning.com/valueprofiler/page2a.htm. Copyright 1998 by Mitchell Axelrod - All rights reserved.