Most sales managers have a track record of great success as sales representatives before being appointed to a sales management role. When one of their team is struggling they tend to focus on the business issue at hand - the lack of results, the sales activity and the sales process which has worked so well for them in the past.

For example, one member of an otherwise successful sales team is consistently failing to meet their sales targets.  They use the same approach that is being used successfully by others in the sales team - mailing flyers to prospects and then following up with a phone call to make appointments for a sales call.  

The team's manager has regularly counselled them about their failure to meet their targets and that they are last on the sales league table.  The manager has given them additional support to complete their paper work to allow them more time for prospecting.  The manager knows they are making the follow up phone calls, but still the sales aren't forthcoming.  The person is following a tried and true approach, but is not getting the required results.  

Clearly the issue is not a business issue, but a performance issue.  The questions that need answering are:

• Is the team member choosing the best behaviours and responses in conducting the follow up phone calls? 
• Do they have the skills to quickly establish rapport and engage the prospect? 
• Can they overcome objections to making an appointment? 
• In the sales meeting, can they create interest, sell the benefits, overcome objections and close the sale? 
• Where are they making inappropriate responses or lacking the skills she needs?
• Is the team member reluctant to engage in any aspects of the sales process?
• Has the team member ever been successful in the past? If so, what has changed?
• Does the team member succeed in some situations, but not in others? What differentiates one situation from the other?

If you want to improve the results of your sales representatives, your sales managers first need to learn to recognise the difference between a business issue and a performance issue, then separate discussions about business issues (i.e. the results and whether the representative is engaging in the activities and following the process) from discussions about the performance issue (i.e. what behaviours, skills and attitude is the representative bringing to bear in the sales process).

As the saying goes "nothing changes unless something changes."  Repeating tried and true activities and processes won't change the sales outcome. Only changing the behaviours, skills, or attitude of the sales representative will change their results.

Sales managers need to find the answers to the questions above and pinpoint what needs to change in their under performing sales representatives. But it doesn't end there. Sales managers need to have the capability to effectively coach better behaviours or skill improvement or use "consequence management" to deal effectively with attitudinal issues. Only then will they see an improvement in results.

Do your sales managers have the capability to:

• Recognize the difference between a business issue and a performance issue?
• Clearly identify whether it is behaviour, skill or attitude that is leading a sales representative to underperform?
• Engage them in the rigorous practice to lift or acquire a skill?
• Coach them to use more effective behaviours or modify a repeated behaviour that works against them?
• Use "consequence management" to motivate them to adopt the positive attitude that will enable them to succeed?

Nothing will improve the performance of your sales team more than equipping your sales managers to analyse the performance of their sales representatives and develop them through coaching.

 

About the Author

Peter Miller is the Managing Director of Development in Practice who specialise in high impact interpersonal, management and leadership development.  They support all learning workshops with at least 3 fortnightly one on one coaching sessions to internalise the skills learned. Program evaluations have shown significant ROI through improved productivity, revenue and service improvements and expense reduction.  For more information please visit http://www.developmentinpractice.com.au