Sometimes, despite everyone’s best efforts, a salesperson just isn’t cutting it. The approaches to solve this vary, but they tend to be extreme on both ends of the spectrum: either too harsh, or too soft.
When it comes to dealing with subpar performers, the best approach is usually to get to the point and act quickly. Leaving these guys to do whatever it is they do all day will drag the morale down of those who are producing, and you will look weak as a leader if you don’t do something about the situation.
With that being said, chopping off heads is rarely called for in sales management. Instead, be firm while also injecting some humanity into the process. Sure you are disappointed, but try to keep your negative emotions out of the conversations.
Here are some tips to help soften the blow when dealing with salespeople or even an entire sales team that needs a boost.
Establish and Consistently Enforce Expectations
You can’t hold your sales team accountable if they don’t know their goals. Without a firm set of goals, quotas and performance metrics, you have no way to benchmark performance accurately. Before you can apply sales management best practices, you have to have something to manage towards — which means goals everyone is aware of.
• First, make sure that goals are achievable, considering both the people who work for you and the business climate. While pressure helps drive performance, nothing demoralizes a team and creates stress like impossible goals and constant criticism.
• Update them with current metrics frequently so your team members know exactly where they stand without the need to wait for dreaded performance reviews or one-on-one meetings.
• When you detect a demotivated salesperson who won’t meet goals, begin with frequent, light pep talks which encourage EFFECTIVE SALES ACTIVITY rather than big, serious meetings that focus on what will happen if they don’t meet quotas.
• After a while, if they still don’t make the cut, then it’s time to move onto either training or discipline or both.
Discipline vs Training
Understanding when it is best to discipline and when additional training might solve the issue is a tricky task.
The first question to ask is: does this person have a natural aptitude for sales?
For an unbiased determination of whether someone has “what it takes,” consider formal sales aptitude testing. A few hundred bucks could save you hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue by retaining a bad hire.
But you can also tell a lot by how they interact socially. Observing how they deal with the opposite sex, even a server while ordering lunch, can provide a clue as to whether they have the charisma necessary to be great in sales — no joke!
Those that do have a knack can usually be salvaged with a bit of sales training and coaching.
If someone does not, then it is best to have an honest sit-down and suggest a different career.
Be Fair
When evaluating personnel, you have to consider what stage they are in. Newer salespeople take longer to get going, so give them little wins here and there to keep them motivated and willing to produce for you.
After a few weeks, put the stragglers in performance improvement plans (PIPs) so that they know what production expectations have to be met. In this way, termination is not a surprise and can even be avoided if they pick up the pace of closings.
Don’t blow smoke — outline any consequences of failure and the conditions of success clearly, but do so with compassion. Believe me, salespeople are already quite stressed and hard on themselves when they aren’t making any money.
This talk should be a conversation, not a lecture. DESIRE for the salesperson to succeed, and be on their side.
The PIP should list quotas for tangible actions which they are capable of performing and measuring:
• Calls made (and a log should be kept)
• Marketing emails sent
• Appointments made
• Presentations performed
• New accounts captured
• Volume in Dollars
• Etc.
Training should be part of the PIP, with an emphasis on correcting the subtleties which might be throwing off the performance of an otherwise good sales process — such as sounding disinterested on the phone, or fumbling when in face-to-face meetings.
By controlling their activities, results will come. Those who are incapable or unwilling to do these activities are not performing the basic functions of sales, and would be better off doing something else.
Other tactics to consider at this stage include:
• Reduce quotas for a few weeks: Hitting smaller, achievable numbers will give them wins which will raise their confidence to hit higher quotas.
• Mandatory role-playing exercises utilizing your sales leaders: These team members know how to hit their numbers. Let them challenge newer or weaker team members and show them how it’s done.
• Invite suggestions: If effort and ability are there but the numbers just aren’t adding up, ask them for suggestions on how to improve their performance. This gives them ownership of the solution and their fate. Lack of access to additional resources, minor flaws in the sales funnel or a simple change in routine could be all that is holding a weak performer back.
• Take time off: Some time away from the office might refresh them — or decide that they really aren’t enjoying the sales profession and quit. Either way, you’ve solved the problem.
• Offload: Sometimes you just need to wish them well and send low performers them on their way.
When it is time to have “the talk,” schedule a meeting with your team member, state the problem using the performance metrics delineated in the PIP, and get to the point —professionally.
It’s important to be completely impartial and let clear numbers speak for themselves. These are best pulled right from the CRM.
Soften the blow —the way you say things counts for a lot. As an example, you could say something like “You are an ‘A’ player. However, we are playing basketball while you are playing football. You can be an ‘A’ player on a good football team.” Encourage them to find a position they can succeed in.
Prioritize
One big warning: most sales managers spend all their time trying to fix low performers. This is a HUGE mistake. Remember the old maxim: “Spend time with your eagles, not your crows.”
Your job as a sales manager is to get your eagles to soar higher — OVER the mountains — not to deal with crows picking crumbs out of the dirt! So the above should not be taking up your entire day. Helping your high producers make even more money should.
Put the low producers on a PIP; get them trained; demand production and sales activity from them; offload when outcomes are not met in the time frame specified.
This is fair. This is sane. And this can all be done with humanity rather than intimidation.
Although it is important to hold your team accountable, how you interact with your team is a crucial part of maximizing potential. By bringing respect, honesty and compassion to the table, you can ensure that morale remains high and that your team trusts that you will lead them to success.
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