Isn’t it about time we stop throwing our sales people and sales managers in the deep end and expecting them to swim – or sell and lead with no support or training in this case? Isn’t it about time that we had frank conversations with our potential recruits about what sales and sales manager roles really entail and make sure our recruits really do have the skills, mindset and knowledge to take on the role in question and not just take their word that they say they do?
There is enough information informing and instructing us on how to recruit, induct, train and coach our sales people and sales managers yet too many businesses still take too many short cuts. Many organisations: managers, CEOs and business leaders are still throwing people in to these roles with little preparation expecting them to succeed and then wonder why they feel really annoyed and frustrated when these people don’t make it.
Foundations For Success
What is the cost to us and our businesses of not putting in place the right foundations first? Well frankly the costs are astronomical. Let’s just start with the obvious: cost of a new recruit failing (at least 5-6 times their total employment costs within 6 months), obvious financial impact on sales, erosion of team morale, and poor customer experiences to name a few which eventually leads the more subtle issues: poor perception of a company’s brand, loss of staff and further impairment of recruitment which further erodes company reputation in the eyes of current staff, potential recruits and buyers. And all this of course, impacts a business’ financial success.
We lose so much when we leave our sales capability, our sales engine, sales talent, and sales results to chance when we throw our sales people and sales managers in the deep end. Admittedly some do make it but not by design and then the cycle repeats itself. Your new recruits learn bad habits and when they become managers they endorse “sink or swim” all over again with the new recruits.
I plead with you and I beg you please consider the consequences of expediency and opportunism. Weigh up the need for immediate results at the expense of solid sales foundations. Consider relevant recruitment practices, proper training and coaching, clear goals and internal proper support.
The damage to people, let alone your sales results and reputation, is devastating. We meet sales person and sales managers who have been thrown in the deep end and are struggling to make it, often breaking under the pressure. Instead of transparent, adult discussions about sales performance based on clear criteria we see, all too often, avoidance or bullying behaviour or both by managers when dealing with poor sales or sales management performance issues.
A number of these sales people and sales managers are suffering from depression or sustained anxiety and wondering why they are a ‘failure’ which further erodes their ability to recover and perform. Others are coping by going into denial blaming their entire lack of success on their company and everyone in it often with little or no self awareness of their own role in this situation. They are defensive and frightened and so they lash out at others making their plight even worse. It sets up a vicious circle. With relentless pressure directed from above to succeed – it’s a wonder anyone has made it in sales and actually survived to tell the tale at all.
Of course it would be ideal from the outset that everyone entering into a sales or sales management role would know what their role entails and how they are matched in terms of capability from the outset. What a wonderful world it would be if these recruits knew exactly what initial steps to take to master their role and knew they had the support from managers by way of coaching and training to become very effective. Even better would be the recruit being given clear expectations, measures and consequences to gauge and track performance.
Very Risky Balancing Act Playing with Your Business
If you think I am looking through rose coloured glasses you’re wrong. It can and does happen in many organisations. At Barrett, we’ve worked with many businesses that have turned their entire sales culture and sales performance around for the better. All it takes is a clear vision of what you want and courage to act from the business leaders and managers. A couple of very relevant quotes spring to mind: Charles Dubois said ‘The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.” or Gandhi ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’. Another quote that springs to mind too is ‘Stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result’.
Last week a long term client of nearly two years admitted to cursing me for a year. The client admitted cursing me throughout their transformation project; cursing me for the all the changes that were introduced to bring the sales foundations. They cursed me because they had to undergo the pain of introducing sales disciplines to an otherwise ‘free-for-all’ approach.
We all know that change rarely goes smoothly. When we’re in the thick of it we find it hard to see the good; the end goal. This is because so much of what was familiar to us, albeit messy and unstructured, is being replaced with something more stable and replicable.
Help your Sales People Understanding this
The changes this particular business has undergone in the last 12 months have been significant for them and despite the cursing they agree that it has been worthwhile. Admittedly it has looked something a little like the picture on the right or at least felt like that but they now the pain has been worth it and while it will always be a work in progress there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it is not a train coming the other way.
So if you want better sales people, better sales managers and better sales results you know what to do:
- improve your definition of what good sales and sales management performance looks like;
- commit to better recruitment practices which allows us to select a better standard of sales person and sales manager;
- resolve to provide clearer performance expectations, standards and measures;
- give better coaching in the field and performance management
Not only will you have better sales managers and results, you’ll have happier sales people, staff and customers.
So, what are you waiting for?
Remember everybody lives by selling something.
Author: Sue Barrett , www.barrett.com.au
New Article Email Notification