Another Look at ADHD in Sales
In April we published a column–“Is ADHD Affecting Your Sales Results?”–about how ADHD might affect some salespeople, their managers, and their productivity. A number of readers told us they were surprised that the prevalence of ADHD in salespeople may be twice that of the general population.
Others felt they had just looked into a mirror.
A manufacturing CEO–who is also his company’s primary business developer–called excitedly and said, “That article seems to be written about me!”
Among the behaviors associated with ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) are difficulty with focusing, prioritizing, starting projects (or finishing them), and others. About nine million of 234 million adult Americans–four percent–are thought to be affected by ADHD, reports the Attention Deficit Disorder Association.
Since I was about to board a plane, I could take only a few minutes to reassure him: Increasing his consultative selling skills and developing a customized sales process would structure his sales calls, enabling him to stay focused during a sales call.
Within weeks he enrolled in our consultative selling course, FOCIS®. He now tells us he is putting it to work in the field with great success. He has longer meetings, receives compliments on his preparation, gets more advances (that is, prospects committing to “advance” to the next step), and, most important, is winning significantly more new business. And by that we mean 30 percent more in business closed and scheduled for 2013.
Key Point: Our article appeared just six months ago.
We are not experts in treating ADHD. But we are experts in building consultative selling skills and creating a sales process that improves both efficiency and effectiveness. The good news is that FOCIS®, our consultative selling course, works for people with or without ADHD. Nearly anyone can face ADHD-like roadblocks in their work.
Deadlines or other stressors , for example, can bring such behaviors to the surface, says Dale Davison, an executive coach in Wilmette, Illinois, who works with salespeople and others experiencing ADHD:
” ‘Choking’ under pressure can happen to anyone-on the golf course or in the board room.” Her Website is www.dale-davison.com .
More good news is that recent research tends to support the notion that some of the most disorganized people can be the most talented and creative. Testing has shown that individuals with ADHD tend to think in so-called creative ways, explains Duke University researcher David Rabiner, Ph.D: “That means they may be especially well suited for entrepreneurial pursuits and careers that place a premium on divergent thinking skills.”
But, warns Dr. Julie Schweitzer, “Raw energy is not enough. Achieving success requires skills. Traditional routes are hard for ADHD people so there are benefits to coaching.” Schweitzer is an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at the UC Davis MIND Institute.
What can sales managers do to support a salesperson with self-sabotaging ADHD-like behaviors?
- Provide a customized sales process that keeps them on track while developing new business. (We can help with this one.)
- Set up and support an accountability structure emphasizing time management training, supervision, and incremental deadlines. Poor “executive functioning” skills, commonly the result of ADHD, can lead to underestimating how long a project will take or, on the flip side, overestimating how much time is left until a project is due.
- Take workplace dynamics into account . In traditional office environments, ADHD’ers in sales should have less open space and less distraction. Headphones, work-break schedules of 25 minutes on and five minutes off, limiting disruptive e-mail traffic-each of these tactics and others can be encouraged. Although sales managers can’t control home office environments, they can-and should-suggest that home offices are quiet and void of distractions.
But in our increasingly attention-deficited society, it seems, keeping anything quiet and void of distractions is not so easy.
How bad is it?
In one small, Time-Warner study, “digital natives” (Millennials in their twenties who grew up with digital) switched media venues 27 times per non-working hour. That’s roughly 13 times in 30 minutes or during one episode of The Office. “Digital immigrants,” who grew up with old-school technology and adapted to digital, switched media venues 17 times per non-working hour.
Keep in mind that by 2020 Millenials (born from 1982 to 2004) are expected to make up nearly half the workforce.
Does this mean society and selling are on a collision course with ADHD? Possibly, but it also just might mean that the number of sales people will keep growing because selling can be a great profession for ADHD’ers and others who like to change their focus 27 times in 60 minutes.
One thing I’m fairly certain of, however, is that Millennials won’t just be calling me after looking into the ADHD mirror. They’ll be calling and e-mailing and texting and tweeting and . . . whatever. I guess I’ll just have to stay focused myself.
As for any questions you might have about consultative selling, please communicate with us any way you want, though phoning at 847-446-0008 might be easiest. But no matter how many media venues you use we’ll still read or listen to or watch only one venue at a time. That means you’ll have our full attention right away.
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