What's this episode about?
Minnesota needed Andrew Wiggins to be a star. Golden State gave him a smaller, clearer job, and two years later he was an All-Star starter and an NBA champion. This episode uses his trade to show what a large sales meta-analysis found drives performance: knowledge, adaptiveness, and a role that's clear, which is the part the employer controls.
Want the research and the steps? Read The First 90 Days Decide Whether Your Sales Hire Sticks: A Sales Onboarding Plan on Field Notes.
Key takeaways
In Minnesota, Wiggins was the would-be star. In Golden State, Steve Kerr said, “we're not asking him to be a star,” and two years later he was an All-Star starter and a champion.
Across 268 studies of almost 80,000 salespeople, selling-related knowledge and adaptiveness predicted performance best (Verbeke et al., 2011).
Role ambiguity pulled performance down by almost as much. In the authors' words, “when role expectations are clear, the salesperson performs better.”
Some ambiguity comes with every sales job, so hire for adaptiveness and stop making new reps guess.
Write what winning looks like in month three before you post the job, and say the role out loud on day one and again in week four.
Full transcript
Last week I promised you what actually drives sales performance... and why some of it is your job, not theirs. So let's start with the part that's yours.
Here's my call. Before you blame the rep, check whether anyone ever told them what the job was.
Let me tell you about Andrew Wiggins.
Number one pick in the 2014 draft. Rookie of the Year in Minnesota. One season he averaged almost twenty four points a game. He signed a max extension. And the knock on him never went away... talented, but not great. In five and a half seasons, the Wolves made the playoffs once.
February 2020, Minnesota trades him to Golden State. And Steve Kerr says something you could put on the wall of every sales office in Ontario. "Minnesota needed him to be a star. And we're not asking him to be a star. We're asking him to play a role on a team that already has some star players."
So what happened? Two years later, Wiggins is an All-Star starter. In the Western Conference Finals he guards Luka Dončić, yes, the same Luka from last week. In the Finals he averages about eighteen points and almost nine rebounds, puts up twenty six and thirteen in Game 5, and the Warriors win the title in six. Kerr said he couldn't have played that role any better.
Same player. Different job description.
Now, to be fair, Minnesota didn't have Steph Curry. Better teammates help. But Golden State gave him a smaller job, and a clearer one. Guard the other team's best scorer. Rebound. Score when it's there. Nobody needed him to save the franchise.
Now you're the GM of a company that sells commercial HVAC.
Your last rep lasted nine months. In the interview you said, "We need someone to grow the business." Then, in month two, you asked for new accounts. In month four you asked them to look after your three biggest customers. In month six you wondered why the pipeline was thin. Whose fault was that?
Here's what the research says. In 2011, Willem Verbeke and his colleagues pulled together 268 studies covering almost eighty thousand salespeople. What predicted performance? Selling related knowledge came out on top, knowing your products and how your customers buy. And yes, a lot of that knowledge is yours to teach... that was last week's point. Close behind was adaptiveness, reading the buyer and changing your approach to fit. And right there with them, pulling the other way, was role ambiguity, a salesperson not having enough information about what's expected to do the job well.
Their words: "when role expectations are clear, the salesperson performs better."
The numbers are modest... these are averages across a lot of companies, and no single factor explains everything. But role confusion sat right alongside knowledge and adaptiveness in size. And unlike the other two, you can fix a lot of it before the person even starts.
Now, the researchers also say some ambiguity comes with every sales job. Buyers change, deals shift. So you still want someone who can adapt. A separate review by George Franke and Jeong-Eun Park found adaptive selling raised real results, not just how good reps thought they were.
So two things are true. You hire for adaptiveness. And you stop making them guess.
So what do you do Monday?
One. Before you post the job, write one page on what winning looks like in month three. Which customers. Which products. What number. Who they call when they're stuck. If you can't write it, they can't do it.
Two. In the interview, test adaptiveness. Run a buyer scenario, then change the buyer halfway through. New decision maker, new objection. Watch who adjusts and who keeps pitching.
Three. Say the role out loud on day one, and again in week four. What you're asking for, and what you're not. "We're not asking you to be a star" might be the kindest thing a new rep hears all year.
If you're down to your last two and want a second set of eyes on who'll do this job, the one you actually wrote down, that's exactly what our Final Candidate Review is for.
Next week: what does top performance actually look like... and why copying your best rep is the wrong place to start.
Write the role. Then judge the player.
This episode is general information, not legal advice. Before you change how you hire, check with an employment lawyer.
Frequently asked questions
What drives sales performance?
In Verbeke and colleagues' 2011 review of 268 studies, selling-related knowledge and adaptiveness had the strongest links to performance, and role ambiguity had a negative link of almost the same size. These are averages across many companies, so no single factor decides it.
What is role ambiguity in sales?
It's when a salesperson feels they don't have enough information about what's expected to do the job well. A rep asked to hunt, then farm, then explain a thin pipeline is a common example.
How do I make a new sales rep's role clear?
Before you post the job, write one page on what winning looks like in month three: which customers, which products, what number, and who they call when they're stuck. Then say the role out loud on day one and again in week four, including what you're not asking for.
Work with us
Not sure which finalist will do the job you actually wrote down? We help Ontario owners pick the right sales hire. Our Final Candidate Review validates the match before you make the offer, using documented, job-related evidence, and it’s covered by our handshake guarantee.
References
Castillo, J. (2022, September 9). Why Kerr views Wiggins, Warriors as 'perfect marriage'. NBC Sports Bay Area. https://nbcsportsbayarea.com/nba/golden-state-warriors/why-kerr-views-wiggins-warriors-as-perfect-marriage/1430804
Franke, G. R., & Park, J.-E. (2006). Salesperson adaptive selling behavior and customer orientation: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marketing Research, 43(4), 693-702. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.43.4.693
Johnson, D. (2022, December 9). Wiggins' Finals vs. Celtics should serve as JK's study guide. NBC Sports Bay Area. https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/bayarea/warriors/andrew-wiggins-2022-nba-finals-should-be-jonathan-kumingas-study-guide
Powell, S. (2022, June 1). Reborn and renewed, Andrew Wiggins savors Finals journey with Warriors. NBA.com. https://www.nba.com/news/reborn-and-renewed-andrew-wiggins-savors-finals-journey-with-warriors
Quinn, S. (2020, February 7). Warriors' Steve Kerr says Andrew Wiggins doesn't have to be a superstar for Golden State. CBS Sports. https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/warriors-steve-kerr-says-andrew-wiggins-doesnt-have-to-be-a-superstar-for-golden-state
Verbeke, W., Dietz, B., & Verwaal, E. (2011). Drivers of sales performance: A contemporary meta-analysis. Have salespeople become knowledge brokers? Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 39(3), 407-428. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-010-0211-8
Disclaimer: This episode and page provide general HR and business information, not legal advice. Employment law turns on the specific facts and changes over time. Before acting on anything here, confirm it with an Ontario employment lawyer.
