The numbers are coming in for the quarter, and the results are not looking good. There has been a slow decline over the past three months as some sales team members are just not delivering. You get that sinking feeling that your attempts to turn around the poor sales team performance are not gaining traction.
This scenario plays out across many sales teams, and some sales leaders have shifted to the thinking that it’s just part of sales. There are rainmakers, the mid-level, and others with varying results. They often focus on the rainmakers and keep them appeased as they deliver the lion’s share of the business. The others take a lot of time, which is one thing a sales leader is always short of.
It is challenging to turn around a struggling sales professional. You often contemplate the recruiting and interviewing process, assuming you have the wrong person. Other times, you start to buy into the story of the longer sales cycle for the big deals, and they need more time. If they deliver smaller sales, they extend the waiting timeline, and the gap for the year-to-date numbers becomes bigger.
Most sales leaders are overwhelmed with a lack of time as they manage the sales team, customers and internal meetings. They don’t feel like they have the time to dive deep into turning around poor sales team performance. They may attempt to send them out for sales training, but these isolated programs often fail to achieve the desired results.
A sound approach that is not overwhelming in time but delivers results is necessary for sales leaders. One is built for small to medium-sized businesses and proven to work. We have set out below a list of five critical steps to turning around poor sales team performance with a focus on individuals in the team.
1. Catch it before it’s too late.
Giving ‘firing-up’ statements to salespeople like you need to pick it up. You need to get those deals closed. You have to follow through and find a way to win that deal, or if you need help, just let me know; it just doesn’t work. They are time thieves that allow salespeople to continue ‘same as usual’ as the sales leader lives in the hope it comes together.
As a sales leader, you must resolve the problem within a quarter and not allow it to flow into the next one. You must focus on their performance indicators and not just their performance.
When tracking the right indicators of success, you are ahead of the problem in days and weeks, and the rot does not set in.
2. Gain commitment that there is a problem.
Interestingly, many salespeople don’t see the problem like the sales leader. The salesperson believes that everything will come together as salespeople are optimists. They motivate themselves by saying that things will come around, the deals will happen, and it’s just a matter of time.
The first action of the sales leader is to have the salesperson identify the problem. To do this, you need open communication with the underperforming sales rep. It should be clear you want to assist them in reaching their full potential.
A problem of poor sales performance. It is not an overall problem of sales being down. The performance indicators show a specific problem or set of problems indicating where the sales process is breaking down.
Ask them what options they have to address and overcome those issues. What would have the greatest impact on their results? Gain their commitment to take action. This qualifies the sales leader’s time and effort to move forward and turn around poor sales performers.
3. Work on a solution together.
Good salespeople actively seek help to improve, while bad salespeople actively complain about micromanagement. As a sales leader, you must work with the team members and guide them through their problems. Work on it together through diagnosing deals and conversations and find where the sales process goes off track. The sales leader’s role is to find the problem and provide coaching to remove the problem and save deals.
You need to identify the areas of the sales process that need immediate improvement.
4. Develop short-term, realistic goals.
You are looking for wins. Wins in sales and wins in the sales process. That is the best motivator for turning around poor sales performers. As they begin to win, momentum builds in the right direction.
If you have caught the problem early enough, you can set short-term realistic goals that stretch the salesperson without breaking them. Stretch them sufficiently to deliver sales goals and catch up on the loss in the previous quarter. Examples would be scheduling two additional appointments per week. Book at least six appointments with larger companies that can make a higher-value purchase this month.
Focus on the activity identified in steps two and three and set short-term goals aligned with those points that need improvement.
5. Continue to coach.
Sales coaching is one of the greatest tools available for sales leaders and the least used. There is an assumption that salespeople have learned the necessary skills, which is why you hired them. There can be a reluctance to coach as your skills may not be the best in selling, but you may be a strong administrator sales leader.
Coaching works when a sales process and a playbook guide it. A coaching process with the sales skills and disciplines necessary for top-performing teams in a proven format that all the team can follow. Sales leaders can use that information for reinforcement and coaching in the field. Sales leaders use tools like the Sales Focus Coaching Centre for support.
The best coaching occurs in the field at appointments. The discussions in the vehicle before the meeting and the diagnostics post-appointment. Real-life scenarios that have wins for the salesperson and the business.
The Outcome
Invest the time into the salespeople and hold them accountable for their activity. Good salespeople work in environments where they can demonstrate they are winning across all their KPIs.
Turning around poor performers can be a highlight in a sales leader’s career and raise their value in the job market. The ability to manage a high-performance sales team is always well-received. Apply the steps above and work with the sales team, coach them, and lead them to your expected success.
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