I am pretty sure every sales executive has contemplated the above question. Why do some people excel in their roles while others struggle? After all, you trained them the same way. You on-boarded them the same way and you manage them with the same sales managers. Consider the following scenario:
Acme Software Company has 88 sales people in the USA, managed by 10 regional sales managers, all reporting to you, the VP of Sales. Twenty-two reps are achieving or exceeding their sales targets, forty-one are between 50-90% of their target, and the remaining twenty-five are below 50% of plan (including the eight new reps hired in the past six months to replace reps who left the company). (Did you really just add up the numbers to make sure it totaled 88? I thought so!)
As the VP of Sales, you feel as though all of them have had sufficient product and sales training and just “don’t get it”. Your reps are as frustrated as you, and certainly do not enjoy struggling every day at work. They are looking for guidance and you want to help them improve.
You cannot continue to carry the seventeen reps that are below quota, but with turnover rates already at 20% per year, the thought of a self-inflicted increase to nearly 40% will kill any chance you have of hitting your number in the next two quarters.
So what do you do? You could train them again…you could initiate marketing campaigns to increase their lead flow…you could fire their manager…you could fire them…you could manage their activities more closely to make sure they are working…you could apply more pressure to them to sell more. All of the above are try-it and see actions. “Let’s try this…OK, now let’s try this.” All the while, time and money is flying out the window.
The story you have just read is true, the names have been changed to protect the innocent. The answer to the above scenario is not simple, nor is it typically corrected by one or two actions. There could very well be several reasons for the issue. Maybe the people are trying to do a job they are not hard-wired to do…their DNA may not be suitable for the role. Or, they could be matched with the wrong type of sales manager. Possibly, the systems you have in place may cause stress for some of the reps, while others don’t worry about making sure every little detail in the CRM system or SAP back-office system is accurate. Maybe the metrics you use to measure them are driving behaviors in conflict with your desired goals and objectives. Their previous employer may have utilized team selling and now the rep must act more independently. Maybe they had one specific solution to sell and now they have four options which causes issues. I could go on and on here, but my guess is you are frustrated enough by now.
So what is the answer? It depends on the actual problem or problems your team is facing. It probably boils down to one or more of the following areas:
- PEOPLE – You may have the wrong people trying to do a job they are not capable of doing.
- SYSTEMS – They may be too complex or salespeople don’t understand “what’s in it for me.”
- METRICS AND REPORTING – When you measure everything, you measure nothing.
- SALES TOOLS – Salespeople never have the right tool for the specific situation before them.
- KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES – Not all of the salespeople have the KSA’s to perform.
- SALES & MARKETING DISCONNECTION – Marketing develops content salespeople ignore.
- BUYER & SELLER MIS-ALIGNMENT – Sellers are not selling the way buyers want to buy.
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