If you are currently not testing in this way then I believe that you will be experiencing a higher churn rate than is necessary, and at a significant cost. I expect you will already have lost people who, in my opinion, should have not been brought into your organisation in the first place. At first glance, it will look like they just found it hard and struggled to really go for it. You may have vaguely put it down to a poor attitude, lack of killer instinct or lack of drive. In my opinion, in a lot of these cases, high internal dialogue will have been a significant contributing factor, and something that could have been predicted during the selection process.

So what is internal dialogue? Well, we all have it, it’s that voice in our head. However, from my experience as a trainer I have seen the extent to which internal dialogue dominates a consultant’s thinking will vary significantly from person to person. The important point here is that although I have seen people with high internal dialogue become good consultants, in my opinion they are much less likely to than those with less dominant internal dialogue.

We all know the significant costs of taking someone on who ultimately does not work out. I therefore strongly recommend to all my clients that they filter out, or at least flag, people with high internal dialogue during the selection process.  So how do you currently select your new recruits – is measuring for internal dialogue somewhere in the mix?

When I’m training, I can usually tell whether someone will respond well to the training within a few minutes.  I get a sense of it, mainly through observation. Are they externally exhibiting a genuine excitement about the process ahead, or can I see them carrying concern? When under pressure, are they happy to just have a go (I often start training with a recorded role play)? Do they struggle to think clearly? Are they OK with failure or do they also carry this heavily? Do their lips move ever so slightly (as they mime out what they are saying internally)? Is their body language locked? Do they carry a general demeanour that implies they are under pressure?

Demonstration of any of the above can be very subtle, so you will miss the signals if you do not believe that they are that important relative to the plethora of other things you will be looking out for. I have become very sensitive to this as it can have a significant impact on how they will perform, and this is ultimately how I am judged as a trainer.

So how do you test for it? Well putting a person under pressure will often give you some clues, and a role-play is a good way to do this. You should also then feedback to the candidate and re-run the role-play to see the extent to which they are able to incorporate this feedback into the next round.  Remember, we are not simply testing to see how good they are. They may not put in the best performance, but they could still be the best candidate to hire.  Are they up for it and able to learn quickly? Over a very short period of time the person who is able to change and adapt will outperform those who cannot, irrespective of the starting point.  A person with high internal dialogue will often struggle to adapt quickly as they are under more pressure (self-induced) and trying to manage other conversations (internally) at the same time as undertaking the role-play externally.

You could also ask some competency-style questions such as:

Can you give me an example of the thought process and planning you would undertake prior to making an important call to a potential new employer?

Please provide an example of a time when you struggled to maintain your drive to achieve a certain goal?

Give me an example of when you over-thought a problem and this held you back from reaching the right solution?

How do you motivate yourself under pressure?

Give me an example of when ‘self-doubt’ and your ‘inner dialogue’ held you back?

Tell me about a time when you were stressed regarding your potential performance – how did you deal with it?

Again we are not necessarily looking for the ‘best’ answer here, but for clues as to what is happening internally. Are their answers introspective or are they always focused on making external changes for example. There obviously isn’t a test that will conclusively give you the information you need. However, going through some of the elements above and looking out for pointers within the candidates’ responses should at least give you a heads-up and allow you to drill down further if the signs are not looking good.

I would also recommend that whatever strategy you adopt, this is tested against the high flyers within your organisation. This will validate the strategy to some extent and also provide a benchmark against which the potential new recruits can be compared.

I hope the above is of help and gets you thinking. Always happy to discuss further if you want to make contact.

Kind regards,

Nick Broughton.
Co-Venture Limited.

How much do we really want to succeed?

Most people can turn up, make some calls, seemingly be busy all day and generate an income that pays the bills, just. But what about delivering more than that? What about actually delivering your best, and building a successful desk or division that dominates your niche?

To do this, we need more commitment. We need to want success more.

But it’s not about simply putting the hours in, although it certainly is at the start. As Albert Gray famously said in his book, The Common Denominator of Success, ‘The successful person has the habit of doing the things failures don’t like to do. They don’t like doing them either necessarily, but their dislike is subordinated to the strength of their purpose.’

In recruitment, this will often mean having an effective approach to planning, having the determination to deliver on our plans, monitoring our own performance and being organised; none of which tend to come naturally to salespeople.

It also means regularly stepping outside of our comfort zone. Making the hard calls, asking the hard questions and generally doing the things that you know you should do, but don’t necessarily feel comfortable doing.

To work in this way, you need to really want the success that this will bring. The sad truth is that most of the consultants I come across do actually want it deep down, they just haven’t fully admitted it to themselves consciously. Most people will happily say that they want to be successful, but if you really listen, what they are actually saying is that they hope to be successful. It’s a bit like saying they would like to win the lottery, but very much like the lottery they don’t really believe it will happen.

Not fully believing that they are capable of stepping up and being brilliant is obviously part of the problem. And if you don’t fully believe it, you are scared of trying because you are expecting to fail. (see my other blog here regarding our attitudes towards failing).

We snap consultants out of this fog by getting them back in touch with what they really want and showing them how to get it. After all, who doesn’t want to be successful? I’ve yet to meet anyone, certainly anyone in sales, who would prefer to fail.

The way we do this is multi-faceted and too long to explain in detail in this blog, suffice to say that it involves working with consultants in the following areas:

• Beliefs
• Knowledge and self-awareness
• Connection back to what they really want.

Not standard stuff for recruitment training, but then we have never wanted to deliver standard training or get the standard performance improvements that would result. And neither should you if you want a team comprising individuals who are internally motivated and driven to deliver their best. If you would like to find out more about our approach to training, please do give me a call or send me an email.

You may also want to click here to watch a video. It’s an American guy that they call the Hip-Hop Preacher telling an often-told story of wanting success (this version is slightly extreme and focuses on money rather than success, but you’ll get the idea). We tell a similar story in our training. It only takes 5 minutes out of a usual 9-10 hour training day, and can really bring some drama to proceedings and get consultants thinking.

Has this blog got you thinking about what could be possible in your business?

Kind regards,

Nick Broughton.
Co-Venture Limited.

It was fabulous to meet James and hear him speak. I’ve seen him before and he is a fantastic speaker, as were many of the others there that day. James has achieved so much, yet when he recounts his story it always seems so incredibly straightforward and obvious.

In fact, this is what struck me most about much of what I learnt that day; that most of what we learn (beyond school) are simple things we already know.

They are often just core truths we have always known. Maybe it’s because we’ve heard them too many times before that we stop hearing them or believing that they really are that important?

For example, in recruitment we all know that we must focus and have the right mental attitude (mindset) to really do well. It’s the same outside of recruitment; it’s just a core truth that we will get more of what we focus on.

Sometimes, we just know them because they make sense to us at a deeper level. And sometimes the reason why we have overlooked these simple basics is because our thinking has become too complex.

Again, we find this in recruitment and in life generally. One of the speakers Guy Levine, acknowledged as a thought-leader in everything internet, gave some fantastic advice. Rather than seeking to blind us with science like most supposed experts in social media/SEO, Guy’s advice was incredibly simple, pointing out truths that most of us had overlooked because they were so very obvious.

When I think of the training we do, I often feel that it is also relatively simple. After all, recruitment is not rocket science (although some trainers will have you believe otherwise). It’s a people business and we know that if we are able to perform the simple things well, we are on course for success.

To Guy, what he was telling us was obvious to him. He was just letting us also see the obvious truth. And he showed us in such a way that we took it on board and were motivated to action (our web design team have already been given their instructions so watch out!).

As a parallel in recruitment, we all know that we should fully listen to our clients and candidates. It allows us to gather richer information and develop deeper rapport, enabling us to get more from each call in the form of referrals, CV’s, meetings, instructions and so on. But if it’s so obvious then, why is it that I am yet to train a consultant that does fully listen?

During our training we use specific role-playing techniques to train consultants to fully engage with their target audience and be comfortable having a dynamic conversation that unfolds moment to moment. Once mastered, consultants then get to experience the benefits for themselves, achieving far greater output for the same number of calls.

It would not have been enough to just tell consultants that they need to listen.

As you will appreciate, they get told this all the time (the 80:20 rule, you have 2 ears, 1 mouth etc) yet do not embrace it. Like me with Guy, they need to be shown in such a way that they can fully buy-in and be motivated to change.

When you think about your own training programme, are you getting the results you would like? If not, I think that it is always a good idea to ask yourself the following questions:

What are the core basics in your business?
Are there any core basics that could have a big impact, but have been overlooked from a training point of view?
Are these skills being taught in such a way as to change a consultant’s behaviour, as opposed to just their understanding?

I hope that is of help to you?

Kind regards,

Nick Broughton.
Co-Venture Limited.

This got me thinking; why is it that as young people we can get so much pleasure from failing, but as we get older it becomes something we fear so much? When do we stop enjoying failure and at what cost?

Obviously, we need to stop being so flippant with our bodies to avoid a life in plaster casts, or indeed to be able to walk away from the ice rink, but do we need to be quite so careful in everything we do?

When training, I find the consultants are often so used to doing things their way they become scared to try it any other way.

Now that’s less of a problem if you really are at the top of your game, but even then, we know that the game is always changing. So if we want to be the best we can be, we must be open to changing the way we do things. After all, if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you will always get what you’ve always got.

This industry is littered with consultants whose billings have leveled off, and some who are frighteningly early in their careers.

And most of us want more; it’s human nature to want a better outcome for ourselves and our loved ones, and to fully experience what life has to offer. So we don’t just need to be willing to try new ways of doing things to keep the status quo, but to actually get ahead.

When we are training, we ensure that people spend a lot of time out of their comfort zone trying out many new strategies and techniques. It’s something they almost get used to doing during the training. But we all need to be able to challenge our approach on a regular basis, not just when we are in training.

Fortunately, this is relatively simple. Whether you are the CEO or the most junior consultant in your team, it is always worth asking yourself a few questions:

What you could do differently?
What thoughts are holding you back from changing?
What is the ultimate downside of trying something new?

If you are feeling brave, you could also ask those who know you what they believe you could change to get a better outcome for yourself.

Breaking out of autopilot can yield some surprising and significant upsides and, in my opinion, is well worth the small investment in thinking time. Remember, if you don’t like what you find, you can always just keep doing what you’ve always done?

Kind regards,

Nick Broughton.
Co-Venture Limited.

In response to such questions as ‘do you just puff them up so they perform while you are training them?’ I am pleased to say I have an effective response. I simply give examples of people who I trained more than 12 months previous, and numerous references from owners and MD’s to back this up.

One particular example that I find myself referring to quite often is of someone who was underperforming for several months prior to undertaking 3 days of training with us. As the consultant was not new to the company he had also undertaken internal training prior to our arrival, which had obviously not had the desired effect. Following on from our training, however, not only was this consultant promoted, but he also received the quarterly Directors’ prize for his performance a few months later. That was 18 months ago and he has continued to be a strong and reliable biller every since.

The real questions here are why is some training more effective at doing this and how can we be so confident that our particular type of training will deliver the long-term change you require?

There is obviously a long and a short answer to this. The short answer is that we help them to take ownership for their results. It’s not the market, it’s not the company, it’s not any particular situation they are in. Often for the first time, they realise that it’s possible to do very well in this game, they know what they need to do and they know that it’s all down to them to get on with it. This can be an exciting turning point for many consultants and it is a point when they will often make a commitment to themselves to continue with a new approach. This new approach can include, but is certainly not limited to:

• Fostering a learning attitude, hungry for continual improvement;
• Sticking to plans and keeping focused;
• Maintaining the most resourceful mindset at all times;
• Following a system (including a monitoring system);
• Having fun.

We also teach all of the specifics of the recruitment process, going into as much detail as the brief requires, but unless the consultant has made a firm and far-reaching commitment to operate at a new level, this knowledge of the process will rarely have the long-term effects originally intended by the training.

Please call me or send an email if you are interested in discussing the long answer.

Kind regards,

Nick Broughton.
Co-Venture Limited.

If you’ve been in sales for a while, I expect you will have seen many times how the collective mindset (it’s hard to make fees in this recession!) can influence the mindset of the individual. Similarly, when you walk into any room you will be influenced by the collective mindset of the people already there. That’s life. You are not an island.

A few months ago I trained a consultant with 3 years industry experience. She had been with my client 5 months and upon starting had joined a team that had historically secured around 16 headhunts per head per month. Because the team had always delivered these sort of numbers this had become the mindset of the team; 16 is usual, 20 would be amazing, but you would never get 30.

Quite understandably my trainee had adopted this mindset and had herself delivered around 16 headhunts per month since joining. We then undertook some training. On her third day, this consultant secured 17 CV promises. She delivered in one day what she had previously taken a whole month to achieve! Naturally, this went some way to changing her mindset. It also went some way to changing the mindset of the team.

I have also been instructed by one of the leading national recruitment firms as a troubleshooter. One of their business units (2 offices) had been underperforming for some time and this had affected the collective mindset of both of the associated offices. The people in this business no longer believed that it was possible to bill consistently and significantly.

This was a big problem. It was like a sickness, and it couldn’t be cured by just bringing new people in, because any new people coming into the business would get infected and so it would roll on.

In order to change this ‘company belief’ the plan was to take a consultant from each office and show them how to bill impressively and consistently irrespective of the people around them. This we did, and now I have been told more recently that the overall feel in the 2 offices is starting to change, as people can no longer hold onto their belief that such performance is not possible (in this market, in this sector, on my desk etc) as they are seeing someone else doing so on a daily basis on a desk close by.

The point I am trying to make here is that sometimes the mindset of the team or company goes under the radar because everyone is thinking the same thing and it has become invisible. It’s easy to spot someone who has a different mindset to the rest of the team, but less easy to challenge a way of thinking that has to some extent become accepted by the group as ‘just the way it is’.

As a consultant, it is easier for me to spot this as I move from company to company. I have many times seen what constitutes normal behaviour or performance in one company that could be a sackable offence in another. Without exception, all companies have their own unique mindset and most are unaware of what it is or how it could be changed.

Becoming more aware of how you are thinking as a company can be very useful in explaining performance and indicating how the team will respond to changes in structure, the market, training and so on.

So what is your company mindset and how is it serving you? In what ways is it holding you back?

Kind regards,

Nick Broughton.
Co-Venture Limited.