The improvement expert decided
to increase the salesperson’s confi- dence by showing him that he was part of a larger team, rather than pun- ishing him for non-performance. “I offered to partner with him,” he says. Whether the rep needed someone to bounce ideas off of, to accompany him on sales calls, or to role-play negotiations, the improvement expert offered to fill the role. This helping-hand approach worked: A month after the interven- tion, the rep had closed five new deals – an increase of 500 percent over his total performance from the previous six months combined.
PROCESSES AND STRUCTURE One sales trainer for a distribution company with a sales force of 200
Another View
When looking at sales team performance, one top con- sultant to the sales field agrees that there are differing strata. He has divided sales teams into three distinct groups. The top group, the Jazzed, are the “profession- al’s professional,” says the consultant, while the Jaded are the perpetually cynical who, “in essence, should be dismissed.” The third group – the Jobbers – are tread- ing water between the other two groups. The consultant agrees with the common wisdom of devoting resources to your top performers, not the bottom. But that doesn’t mean you stop hoping for top-to-bottom improvement. In fact, with a little dose of reverse psychology, you may find the Jaded stepping up the pace. Here’s the consultant’s prescription: Determine company values and rules. It’s critical to understand the written and unwritten values of the manager and the company, so you can know what’s important to the hierarchy, says the consultant, and what “good performance” actually entails. Very specifically define the behaviors you want to
see. “What behaviors are the top performers demon- strating that are different from the bottom performers?” he asks.
Ask where you’ve been focusing your attention.
We tend to get more of what we focus on, so ask your- self how much time has been spent on the top perform- ers versus the bottom members of your team. “Funda- mentally, the focus should never be on the bottom 25; it
agrees with the importance of priori- tizing process. “I think processes and structure are very important,” she says, and it’s the first area she looks to when developing a plan to bring sub- par performers up to quota. “When I think back to reps I worked with, getting back to the basics is really important. So much comes back to the basics,” she points out. Her recommendation for managers working on bottom-of-the-barrel mo- tivation is to start with two key tools: the team’s sales process and the individual’s business plan. The sales process is something that, ideally, the upper management should create and continually adjust to ensure it meets the current products, custom- ers, markets, and industry. The business plan is a working
document created at the rep level. While the manager should create the outline, the rep should fill in the details. “It’s really important for the sales rep to develop it, and it’s really important for the sales rep to work it, because the sales rep is going to live with it,” says the trainer.
This essential document should
present a marriage of the company’s products with the rep’s customers. The trainer recommends starting with the salesperson’s customer database and matching opportunities to the ap- propriate products – rolling up to get to the salesperson’s year-end quota. “Fit products to prospects and get to your end goal,” she says. The manager’s role is to provide the business plan’s backbone to the team, to offer a reality check on the ever-
should be on the top 25,” he says. Even when managers know this, they often spend much of their time holding hands, listening to excuses, and calling the poor per- formers on the carpet for their errors – all of which takes time and energy away from focusing on what’s working. Lay out the expectations. Tell all team members
what’s expected of them, and keep the team’s focus on that. This puts the individuals in the bottom quartile “in a very interesting place,” says the consultant. Suddenly, their hands aren’t being held and they’re not getting tons of attention for being the team’s “problem children.” Don’t expect to motivate them to success. “You
don’t motivate anybody,” says the consultant. “You can inspire them but, with motivation, as soon as the catalyst is removed, they go back to doing what they were do- ing.” Instead, you’re asking them to make a choice to perform at a different level, and “choice is powerful,” he suggests. “People do things not for others’ reasons but for their own,” he adds.
Identify your team members’ potentials. Fig-
ure out who is capable of meeting the new, higher performance expectations – and who needs help. If there are personal issues or skills issues that can be addressed by coaching or training, arrange for the appropriate resources. Cut loose the dead weight. If the individual has the capability but is not performing, “a different conversation needs to happen,” warns the consultant. “People will rise with the water level or choose to get off the boat entirely.”
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