Work with weak sales performers before
you give them their walking papers
MARCIA GAUGER
For SBT
Question: I think my manager has been watching too much of the television show The Weakest Link. He has requested that I fire my lowest-performing salesperson each month based on their sales volume. Is this a common practice? It seems unfair to me.
Answer: Firing the lowest-performing salesperson is a practice that some embrace. Is it common? Not necessarily. It depends on your view of what works in terms of motivation and performance improvement. Many managers that adopt such an approach do so because they feel that intimidation and fear is a way to motivate others to action.
While it’s not the most positive means of developing people, weeding out the lowest performers based on sales can be efficient in certain circumstances. For instance, in larger organizations, the numbers usually play out. The organizations stay fresh and lean. With smaller sales forces (say, fewer than than 50) that is not usually the case. If you adopt this model you risk losing some potentially good talent and a larger percentage of your overall salesforce, making recovery difficult. Additionally, I question your manager’s direction to fire the lowest performer on a monthly basis. Anyone can have a bad month.
I don’t disagree with your manager regarding getting rid of dead weight. Besides diluting your sales quotas, you risk sending the wrong message to your people if you hang on to people that are allowed to be unproductive. However, I do advocate a more positive approach to performance evaluation and improvement. Here are some ideas that may appease your sales manager and help you develop the performers that you really need.
1. Set the bar – It’s important that your salesforce understands what the measurement is. Ask your manager how he would evaluate success. Then, hold everyone to the standard. Is it possible for everyone to achieve success? Sure. And, as a manager, that’s really what you want, right? I liken this to the grading system in schools. My son is graded on a curve in most of his classes, which means that only a certain percentage of the students will get A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s and a certain percentage will fail. My son has fairly consistently achieved B/C status. When asked what it would take to achieve an A, the teachers have told me that he is a C student and that’s good for him. I don’t accept this diagnosis and you shouldn’t either. Once you set the bar, your goal as a manager is to help your people reach it.
2. Manage people, not just the numbers – How you help your people reach the bar should be a very individualized process. Start by identifying the skills required to meet the sales objectives. Look at your top performers to determine the skills, attitudes and behaviors that make them successful. Then, evaluate how each of your people does in regard to each of these. You may use a number of methods for accomplishing this. Two of the most practical means are through observation and through skills testing. Use your “best performer model” as a hiring guideline. In doing so, you will raise the standard of those you hire and you will eventually eliminate the need to cut low performers – you won’t have any.
3. Set individual plans – You may uncover some universal deficiencies that you will want to address with your group as a whole. For instance, if your group is struggling with objections, you may opt to conduct some group training sessions to enhance their skill levels. Most likely, there will be variances in performance from one skill to another based on individuals. This presents opportunity to structure development programs unique to each. Ask the salespeople to evaluate themselves and develop a plan for increasing their effectiveness. Make sure you give them the resources to do so. For instance, one may choose to attend a class, another may choose to ride along with another top-performing salesperson who is proficient in the areas that he or she is not.
4. Realize what the real performance issue is – Before you implement any performance improvement plan, and certainly before you fire anyone, make sure you understand what the real issues are. Many well-meaning coaches and managers pump training dollars into salespeople hoping they will improve, only to see no improvement at all. While training is a very viable means of developing people, it only addresses one of many of the potential performance issues. Here are some of the most common performance issues and what to do about them:
Types of CausesPossible Solution
Lack of knowledge/experienceTraining, coaching, communicate goals
Not aware of what’s expected
Negative attitudeExplain consequences of behavior. Help them see that a negative attitude will inhibit their growth.
Difficult personalityHelp to see need for changed behavior. Reinforce improvement. Explain consequences of continued behavior.
Lack of motivation or interestFind out what’s important to each individual. Manage according to behavioral style. For instance, with some it may be praise or recognition. For another, you may need to add other interesting elements to the job.
Lack of abilityTake more time to train. Require extra effort by the employee. Transfer them to another job.
You are the problemBe honest. Own up; discuss openly and look for courses of action.
Off-the-job/personal problemsSuggest other outside sources of help.
Marcia Gauger is president of Impact Sales, a training and performance-improvement company with offices in Mukwonago and in Arkansas. Small Business Times readers can contact her in Mukwonago at 262-642-9610, or via fax at 501-964-0055. Her column appears in every other issue of SBT.
Aug. 17, 2001 Small Business Times, Milwaukee
