If your sales quota is 100 units per month and the worst performers on your sales team bring in 65 or 70 sales per month, you should count yourself lucky rather than wanting. Any member of your team who consistently performs is worth keeping. Even if the performance is lacklustre compared to the rest. Consistent performance is key.
Making the most of the personnel you have is better than firing the worst and hiring replacements. This is Management 101 and speaks loudly of the costs and likely problems that come from bringing in new hires to replace those people you believe are not making the grade. Instead ask yourself these four questions and see if the answers can find performance issues and raise performance.
== Question 1: Has the sales rep seen proper training?
This may seem like an obvious question, but it’s amazing how often it’s left unasked. Did the rep miss a few days of training, come on board after a training camp was halfway through, or miss it entirely? If the sales rep did receive all of the training, what has been forgotten? Quite often, problems with underperforming salespeople are the fault of missed training.
== Question 2: Is this salesperson made for this job?
Sales is a unique business and not everyone is cut out for the role of salesperson. Further, different sales roles require different personalities and skill sets. The inside salesperson may thrive and then take a dive when in an outside sales position. Make sure the person you’re evaluating is cut out for the job.
== Question 3: What is the sales rep doing to get their current, consistent returns?
Often, the reason returns are lower than expected is not because the person isn’t a good salesperson, but because they are not focusing or honing their funnel. Salesmen who cast their nets too wide to find prospects or fail to properly and quickly narrow-down their leads will always lose out to those who do these things. Targeting is almost always the key to success for most sales.
== Question 4: What is the boss’ relationship with this salesperson?
This isn’t a leading question, it’s important. Whether you’re the boss or you’re the one evaluating for the boss, you should be able to look at the interpersonal relationships of the sales team and its leaders and understand how those might be affecting results. Next, find out what the salesperson in question wants out of a boss. Do they feel micro-managed? Left out in the cold? The manager’s goal should be to treat all salespeople fairly, not “the same.” Some people thrive on autonomy while others want the reassurance of interpersonal connections on a regular basis. Find out what your team members need and provide it.
Quite often, if the sales team, including yourself, works together, things will improve quickly. Sometimes, the problem isn’t the salesperson, but is instead the team or the boss. Be honest in your appraisal and fix what needs repair rather than approaching the problem with a hammer in hopes of finding a nail.