Imagine you are a VP of Sales with the following choice: You can have a great product with an average sales team or an average product with a great sales team. - but not both. Which way would you go?

I posted a similar question on several LinkedIn sales and marketing groups. Not surprisingly, this question generated close to two hundred responses:

-       - 56% of all responders went for the great sales team

-       - 64% of people with sales in their title opted for great sales team

-       - 61% of people with marketing in their title chose the great product

-       - 100% of CEO’s chose great sales team

People made the following points to support their choice:

-      “Great sales team. Products, no matter how good they are, do not sell themselves.”

-      “Depends on the industry. In the medical device space, great products win out.”

-      “Great product. It’s easier to build a great sales team than build a great product.”

-      “Look at Microsoft. Mediocre products that dominate markets.”

-      “Sales momentum can only last so long with an average product. Great sales people will get frustrated and leave.”

My take-away from this exercise – people’s opinion on the topic is influenced by what they have personally experienced.  In my career, I’ve had more exposure to great sales teams than to great products. I do believe however that it is easier to build a great sales team than a great product. (Of course I know how to build a great sales team but have less knowledge on how to build a great product.)

About five years ago, a well-known venture capitalist said to me “Sales people are useless. We only invest in companies that have products so good, monkeys could sell them.”

I recently checked his firm’s portfolio - no successful IPO’s or acquisitions since 2006. Hmm…maybe the monkey sales approach wasn’t such a good idea after all.

The day after the Tiger Woods story broke, I posted the  following question on LinkedIn:

What would you do ifyour top sales person pulled a “Tiger Woods”? Assume the person is married but not fooling around with people from the office…

I was curious to see how managers would deal with this situation. The question was posted before the full extent of Tiger’s exploits was made public.

The question generated hundreds of responses. People fell into three camps:

Fire immediately (20% of responders)

Try to help (20% of responders)

None of my business (60% of responders)

The majority of responders feel that employees should not be judged by what they do in their personal lives. As long as job performance is not affected, an employee’s extra curricular activities are of no concern.

On the other extreme, some people believe adultery is a character issue and equate it to cheating at golf. Since trust is such a large part of sales, can you trust a person who cheats on their spouse?

Many responders focused on the risk of not addressing the situation citing questionable behavior that becomes public may have a negative impact on the company. In addition, other employees may lose respect for management if the situation is not handled appropriately.

Three weeks after I posted the question, Tiger’s wife and  sponsors (except Nike) have left him. Tiger is still in seclusion and has not yet publically addressed themedia.

Much can be said from the old adage “messy personal lives usually spill over to professional lives”.  I fall into the be pro-active camp – if one of my top performers is engaged in risky behavior, I would address it.  Employers make an investment in their people and should take action to protect that investment.

I wonder if Tiger’s sponsors were aware of his activities? I find it hard to believe that a sponsor paying millions of dollars for image marketing would not conduct extensive background checks on a regular basis.  Accenture’s brand marketing revolved around the “Be a Tiger” campaign. How would you like to be the marketing person who came up with that idea? Yikes!

This summer, my 14- year old daughter set up a business selling used books over the Internet. She spent time researching what to do, gathered inventory, then launched the business. Within a few hours, she received the first order. I can still picture the expression of excitement on her face when she realized she closed her first sale.

Upon waking each morning, she races to her computer to check for recent sales. Every order brings the same reaction - a smile from ear to ear. My daughter is experiencing the thrill of sales.

I still get a thrill every time I close a sale - and I have been selling for 25 years. Where does this thrill come from?

Well, consider what must happen for a deal to close. You need to get to the right person, uncover needs, present the value proposition properly and overcome objections. An order acknowledges that a sales person executed the process the right way.

It is generally accepted that sales people are inherently risk takers. Unlike other professions, compensation is directly correlated to results. Work activity is self - driven with no guarantee of success. Great sales people are willing to get out of their comfort zones on a regular basis.

It's no wonder that it feels GREAT to be rewarded with an order for individual efforts. It is a thrill to get rewarded for taking risk - something my daughter is learning at an early age.