Are You A Record Label Or Music Venue?

When it comes to sales leadership, are you a record label or a music venue? If you’re confused on what this has to do with sales, get imaginative with me for a minute. Throw on your favorite playlist and let’s talk about…

“Rockstars”

Now both record labels and music venues rely on rockstars to make money but they have a much different approach in how they do it.

Record Labels

Record labels pride themselves on being able to identify talent before they become famous. Talent scouts scour the ends of the earth and internet looking for promising musicians who have only achieved limited success. Once signed the musicians are given access to additional resources, development, mentorship, and a team that will help them launch their career.

Over time, these musicians transform into the TPain’s of the world while both they and the management companies win win win. This works because record labels are intentional in their process from end to end. They have experts responsible at each stage to make sure the high-potential artists develop into rockstars. Sometimes this happens very quickly.

Music Venues

Venues, on the other hand, look for musicians who have already achieved rockstar status. They don’t want the kid singing at a flea market in front of 15 people. They offer big money in hopes of attracting mega starts to their arenas to achieve a massive ROI. Yes, they might include some perks, but their only true competitive differentiation is the money they can commit. It is a purely transactional relationship.

While the well known places with massive budgets have an easier time booking talent, most venues are left with little chance of securing the best artists. Worst of all, these venues are one bad experience away from the musicians never coming back.

Does this sound familiar?

Your approach to hiring salespeople is similar. I spend five minutes on Linkedin and everyone is “looking for rockstars!”

Everyone wants rockstars but fewer companies want to develop them. Why?

The two biggest reasons why leaders focus on hiring rockstars are to save time and because they just aren’t capable of developing them. Most leaders are really just managers who want to stand on the sales team’s shoulders and call themselves tall. It is not always their fault though as they probably weren’t developed either. It’s a vicious cycle that promotes mediocrity at best, failure at worst.

Yes, you can try to hire top performers but you will be competing with everyone else and if you’re a small company you will struggle to attract the best people. Not to mention, top performers are not a sure thing.

Most companies can not afford to act like a venue so take this as a challenge to start thinking like a record label.

My Approach

I used to operate like a small time venue but at Jake Wolpert Records, my success as a sales leader is directly attributed to my ability to build sales teams. I know how to identify high-potential people and create a system that turns them into top performers.

From identifying and evaluating to onboarding and developing, everything is done intentionally. I don’t just look for rockstars, I try to develop them.

While some companies are out here trying to book Taylor Swift, I’m in 2006 discovering Adele’s demo on MySpace.

Keep in mind, the biggest difference between talented musicians and rockstars is access. The business world is the same. Many high-potential, tenacious sellers out there are waiting to be developed.

Who Do You Want To Be?

Do you want to be the person who books the talent or cultivates it?

If you want to lead the best sales teams, become the best sales leader. Roll up your sleeves and be the person who initiates the transformation from rising star to rockstar.