The Sales Gig Dichotomy

Back in November '22, of Elon Musk's many 'first 100 days' decisions which grippingly broke out beyond the Twitterverse - and several were superbly transparent live A/B testing actions - one which struck me was the short-term hiring of apparently renowned hacker and coding maverick, 32yo George Hotz aka 'geohot'.

Realities did not though, appear to match expectations. As he resigned just before Christmas. Around four-ish weeks into his twelve week stint. Citing that he "didn’t think there was any real impact I could make".

Although observers noted that "the two things" he was tasked with fixing seemed improved. Perhaps his own desired yet declined 'project creep' into restructuring the app's entire code caused him to seek challenge afresh elsewhere?

I couldn't help think on the Sales parallels. For a profession so pioneering in use of freelance resource - sales agents, skills coaching, tender/proposal writing and more were all accepted play when I was a cubrep three decades back - it verges on the bizarre that we as a trade do not seem to be taking advantage of the vast 'contingent workforce' talent a mere click away.

Reasons for this paucity in selling-related 'work for hire' are manifold.

Maybe because task-orientated sites linking projects to providers are awash with rubbish? Maybe the activity you want completed doesn't tally with any search terms nor candidates? Maybe you just feel that it'll take too much time to manage and you'll end up better off either doing it yourself, or not doing it at all as time shifts the sands?

Yet none of these doubts hold back our exec overloads when they seek help in fields such as finance, governance or strategy. Nor hamper our tech cousins in their design, development or testing ambitions. And certainly not our marketing brethren with all manner of once-off or foundational, creative or mechanical output.

There are so many areas where real intervention, actual expediting and true fillip can reap Sales rewards.

My own experience moves me to major on new product input/launch/rescue, proper process audit and reshaping, and nowadays live video calling, as areas ripe for bolting on proven specialist resource for a short while.

Granted, the reputation providers of such wonders as a 'sector' have is perhaps not as high as you'd like. The term 'consultant' often applied as a pejorative. Echoes of 'no quota, no use' - akin to the jibe, 'Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. Those who can't teach, consult.' - misleadingly persist.

And good luck finding someone specific. Let alone with whom you can work.

But be reassured they are out there for the area you want to address. Dip your toe in the water. Like Elon and geohot. Even the briefest of partnership can bring worthwhile improvement. After all, I should know...