Are You Hiring Race Horses or Plow Horses?

By Dr. Larry Craft

How many times have you hired agents with excellent sales skills and product knowledge who failed to generate enough commissions to justify their salary? And some of them even had excellent work ethic, but still failed. It's an experience shared by most sales managers. And most managers have an intuitive feel for why some agents fail and some succeed. They call it ego drive, fire in the belly, hunger, sense of urgency, passion, or goal-orientation. All these terms really fall under one category: Drive. And Drive separates the 'Race Horses' from the 'Plow Horses.'

'Race Horses' Have Quick-Start Motivation

I first discovered the differences between Race Horses and Plow Horses in the early 1970's. As a seven-year MDRT qualifier and a manager for both the Penn Mutual and the New York Life, I knew that sales personnel who quickly 'paid for themselves' all had a special dynamic which was a cross between high energy and impatience. I labeled them 'Race Horses' because of their quick-start motivation. Those who were unable to generate early sales were much more laid-back and easy-going. Because of their slow start and their lack of goal-oriented drive, I labeled them 'Plow Horses.' In my quest to hire more Race Horses, I developed a new personality questionnaire to measure the drive that separated Race Horses from Plow Horses.

Over the next ten years, I interviewed and tested thousands of sales personnel and validated my own personality questionnaire that is now used over 100,000 times a year in five countries. In 1981, I received my graduate degree in testing and measurement psychology and left my management position to devote full-time to helping companies hire more 'low maintenance' Race Horses.

Hire Order-Makers, Not Order-Takers

That same year, I had the good fortune to meet Mike Willis, President of a temporary staffing firm in Houston, Texas. Mike had a vision that involved a revolutionary change in his sales department. Rather than hiring more 'Order Takers' who were only capable of telemarketing customer support, he wanted to have 'Order Makers' who were highly driven toward making the sale. He had seen the industry become much more competitive and believed the plodding Plow Horses were incapable of maintaining the high sales volume necessary to survive. Over the next 10 years, he employed my personality test to hire only Race Horses who were goal-oriented toward the 'finish line' (the sale). His company, Talent Tree, became one of the fastest growing staffing companies in the industry. Ask Mike. He'll tell you CraftSystems contributed significantly to Talent Trees' unprecedented growth and success.

Used for Both Hiring and Development

A recent study regarding the test results on over 30,000 life insurance agents over a two- year period confirmed the significant difference between Race Horses and Plow Horses. Applicant test results using CraftSystems' personality profile found a statistically significant relationship between Race Horses and higher earned sales commissions. Just as important, the company reported that their selection system (developed by CraftSystems) contributed to tripling their LIMRA four-year retention rate since the system was implemented in 1996.

Major insurance companies, including MetLife, Penn Mutual, The Equitable, Horace Mann, Knights of Columbus, and Farm Bureau, depend upon CraftSystems not only for hiring more Race Horses, but also to help their sales managers more effectively develop each new agent. Scores on the 'Basic Eight' personality traits determine specific development techniques that the managers employ to increase sales effectiveness.

In today's highly competitive environment, you should seriously consider hiring a new breed of agent and move your Plow Horses to your customer service and training positions where they thrive. I sincerely recommend CraftSystems' personality profile as the least expensive screening tool to measure 'Race Horse' drive/motivation and to develop and supervise your sales personnel.

Assess the Assessment! If you are a manager with 10 or more employees, business owner, or a consultant, we invite you to complete our complimentary 10-15 minute CPQ personality profile and receive its personalized reports as well as a copy of Dr. Craft's "Developing HorsePower" audio cd. All information will be kept confidential and will not be distributed without your written permission.