Whatever happened to the “C” students?
WMMM #020 - This week is a “tweener” week and I offer you a popular blog post I published in September 2018.
Jeff Keplar Newsletter June 10, 2023 3 min read
This week’s story takes place on the final day of one of those Oracle Annual Sales Kick-offs.
For those subscribers familiar with selling for Oracle, the first of June rings in a new fiscal year. Memories of this time of year include recovery, from dragging yourself across the goal line that is year-end just a week ago. They also include uncertainty, as Oracle is famous for reorganizations in the sales force at the beginning of the year. But most of all, and in particular on a weekend such as this one (June 10-11), preparing oneself to depart on Sunday for a week in Las Vegas, the former home for the famous Oracle Annual Sales Kick-off.
This week’s story takes place on the final day of one of those Annual Kick-offs.
Whatever happened to the “C” students?
I have had the privilege of working with some outstanding sales leaders. I hope I never took it for granted and I know that I picked up some things from them that continue to benefit me today.
One such example is a national sales meeting I attended almost 15 years ago. The host was an excellent sales leader with a terrific sense of humor. As he took the stage and looked out upon the audience, he saw his sales organization, a collection of individuals seven hundred strong.
We were near the end of three days of sales meetings to kick-off our new fiscal year. We had just exceeded our company’s annual “stretch” quota, meaning we out-grew the industry by double digits. We were an accomplished sales organization that had worked together for nearly five years, an unusual run for the company. We were highly paid by any measure, most reps making mid-six figures and some making seven-figures in compensation.
We were weary. Non-stop slide-show presentations and late-night team-building had sapped our strength and attention span. We were now preparing to listen to a couple more hours of recapping the strategies and messaging we had been receiving for the past two days.
Our host had other ideas.
He chose to forego all corporate messaging. He was dialed into the room. He reached deep into his bag of tricks and began to lead us in a chant that we had used in a team-building exercise a few years back. It was simple. It was silly. It reminded some of high school locker rooms, but we loved it.
As our first chants rose to a dull roar, a side door opened and some of our legal and finance team poked their head in, looking to see if our auditorium was the location of their next meeting. Our leader, ever fast on his feet, directed them:
“you guys are in Salon B, that’s where the smart people are meeting.”
As the door closed and our surprise guests left for Salon B, our leader turned to his audience and announced:
“Are there any more smart and talented people that are in the wrong place?”
The room erupted with a chorus of good-natured boos. He implied that we weren’t smart.
“Oh, c’mon gang…’ he responded. ‘We are a room full of “C” students.”
The kids that got “A”s and “B”s aren’t in here. They became doctors and lawyers.’
The room roared again, and he resumed control of the meeting.
I will never forget that.
In honor of that moment, that memory, that lesson, I offer you 10 Things That Require Zero Talent.
As sales professionals, we should never feel insulted when we hear or see such characterizations. It’s a badge of honor, so wear it with pride.
Thank you for reading,
Jeff
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