“A”, “B” or “C” Players?
What’s the difference between an “A”, “B” or “C” player in senior living sales or in any sales profession?
“A” Players
- Produce 80% of the work
- Are always positive
- Good self image
- Find or create solutions to challenges
- Embrace strategizing sales
- Top sales performer in the company
“B” Players
- Do more than “C” players and way less than “A” players
- Are equally positive and negative
- Average or okay self image
- Need help solving challenges
- Tolerate strategizing sales
- Consistent low to average volume of sales
“C” Players
- Do 20% of the work, but act like they do way more
- Whine and complain a lot
- Poor self image
- Are usually a part of the challenge
- Resent strategizing sales
- Say it’s not their fault that they don’t have sales
Here is the good news! Congratulations if you are lucky to enough to be or have some “A” players on your sales team. Resources and coaching support can help some “B” players become “A” players. Others may remain good consistent “B” players. “C” players need to be evaluated to determine if they have any hope to improve. If they do not, let them go, because they don’t really want to work for you or anyone else.
Are you willing to share whether you or your senior living sales team mates are “A”, “B” or “C” players? What other factors contributed to your decision?
Photo Credit: © Jim Barber – Fotolia.com
Please share your strategies, successes, failures or comment below to join the conversation and interact with other senior living professionals on what is currently being effective to increase occupancy on a nationwide basis.
Diane Twohy Masson is the author of “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” available at Amazon.com with a 5-star rating. The book is required reading at George Mason University as a part of its marketing curriculum. Within this book, the author developed a sales & marketing method with 12 keys to help senior living providers increase their occupancy. Masson developed this expertise as a marketing consultant, sought-after blogger for senior housing and a regional marketing director of continuing care retirement communities in several markets. She has also been a corporate director of sales and a mystery shopper for independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled care nursing communities in multiple states. Currently, Masson is setting move-in records as the regional marketing director of two debt-free Continuing Care Retirement Communities in Southern California – Freedom Village in Lake Forest and The Village in Hemet, California. Interestingly, this career started when she was looking for a place for her own mom and helped her loved one transition through three levels of care.
Haley Gray
Chief Extension Officer, Extension of You Home Care, Inc
I really think that a couple of “A” players can do more, better, faster than an entire team of “C” players. Better to let the “C”s go and find more A’s. B’s are harder, but I’d say that they should also be let go, in favor of finding those “A” players.
Haley, in a perfect world we would only have “A” Players. It takes coaching to develop potential “A” Players to become a true “A” Player.
Steve Wittman
Director of Operations at Link-age
Diane’s post offers some great points with regard to evaluating your sales team. It is important to identify the “C” players quickly and then determine their ability to improve. As Diane points out, cut your ties quickly with “C” players that cannot improve.
Lorie Eber
Personal Wellness Coach at Lorie Eber Wellness Coaching
Top Contributor
Diane,
My experience as a boss is that you will always have “A” “B” and “C” employees. I found it extremely challenging to “change” any of their work styles. But, sometimes when they bond as a team it lifts all boats. Working toward a common goal in a supportive atmosphere helps some. Have you had any success?
Yes, the key is having someone who is willing to learn and grow. I have turned “C’s” into “B’s” and “B’s” into “A’s”. If “C” don’t want to learn or try to improve, it is hopeless.
Lorie Eber
Personal Wellness Coach at Lorie Eber Wellness Coaching
Top Contributor
That sounds similar to my experience working in a law firm environment.
Joyce Simard
Director,Preferred Health Care Services
Diane,you are right on target,unchagable C’s become dead wood,and poor influence on other team members.
Joyce, dead wood is a good analogy.
Scott Greenberg
president at ComForcare Senior Services
One should always be upgrading their weakest links. Keep doing that and you’ll ned up with all “A’s”
I like the idea of “grading” sales people but the criteria should be objective and mutually agreed upon. In place of self image, finding solutions, or embracing sales, I would use standards such as number of leads, quality of leads, closing for tours, lead generating events, closing for contracts, etc. Then, for sales managers, one of the objectives should be developing C players into B players (or removing them), developing B players into A players, and retaining A players. This takes a specific set of skills. I have a set of standards that can be used and a program to develop sales people.