Want more sales? Focus on the Highest Probability for Success!

Let’s face it, not all sales people are created equal. And, not only are they not created equal, some are successful regardless of the process or plan you have in place, and some fail, regardless. Identifying the sales people with the highest probability of improving will net you big results. So the question is, “Where do you start in determining who these reps. are?”

Start with what might not seem so obvious; your “B” players. Leave the “A” players alone for the time being, and focus primarily on the “B” players and up and coming “C” players and you will ultimately see better results faster. Within the “B and C” players, there are many reasons why they can’t seem to move up or ahead but they are often not obvious reasons, and focusing your energies here will help you determine what is holding them back. Many articles, white papers, and books may give you the holistic answer on solving your overall sales problem, but in a short answer, don’t try to solve the overall problem with one approach. Take a closer look at where your highest probabilities of success exist, and start there in determining how you are going to get them to sell more.

The main reasons salespeople fail to perform are due to lack of direction and little to no accountability. Salespeople, no matter how professional or how experienced, need direction and should expect accountability. Your “B” performing salespeople can be your best asset if managed properly. Here is some thought on where and how you might want to focus:

Create a process where your managers have access to key data that will open up selling environment. Make information easily available to the manager, track who they are spending time with and if they are coaching these sales people. The sales manager must take responsibility for the success of each and every sales person independently. They are leading the charge on the front lines and many managers will simply “hope” that things will miraculously turn around in the broad scope. Sales managers must provide leadership and support to the salesperson and senior executives or business leaders must provide the framework for success. Providing the necessary outputs, expecting “one on one” coaching, tracking the progress, and holding each manager responsible to the success of each person openly will help you zero in on the opportunities.

Sales people must know exactly what is expected of them, but unfortunately most managers fail to communicate expectations clearly to their salespeople. It is common for salespeople and managers to think they’re doing fine, but, the company is considering them as underperforming and frustration begins to build at the senior management levels. Communicate expectations, such as what is expected for sales activities, customer meetings, product knowledge etc. in addition to sales revenue, and document this on a consistent basis through the use of sales performance management tools.

Your salespeople have a quota for a reason. Why on earth would you risk not attaining revenue by not knowing who has the greatest opportunity to make the number? It is one thing to rant and rave about accountability, but another still, to dig deep into what you are holding people accountable to. If you are only holding managers and sales people to a number, they will never get to the number. It is necessary to hold them accountable to getting to the number. How many deals are in play, how deep in the prospect is the sales person, what is the predictability of the sales person’s ability to deliver? Hold your managers accountable for knowing this. Weekly team meetings are great and necessary to understand the sales pipeline and sales activity, but go deeper to find out what is really happening. Find out if your sales manager really understands what is occurring during the sell cycle. Don’t wait until it’s too late, track each and every individual salesperson and discuss their performance ongoing against expectations; don’t wait for the weekly meeting or monthly performance review. Where you have poorly performing salespeople, they should be on a plan to achieve small milestones within a specific time frame.

Often times, companies think that will drive the end result with just an aggressive compensation plan. If your “B” sales person is happy with a certain income, no compensation plan in the world will motivate them to sell more. Again, it is imperative to know and understand each and every sales person and set standards at their level for performance. Annual reviews will not help this either. The review process must be a day to day process and your managers must be actively involved with each and every underperforming sales person and this process must be tracked to determine the manager’s ability to get the sales person to perform.

Start by simply identifying and focusing on the sales people with the highest probability for success. Take this step first and use technology to track the process and you will begin to see better, longer lasting results before you know it.