This article originally appeared in the October 2024 issue of Security Business magazine. Don’t forget to mention Security Business magazine on LinkedIn and @SecBusinessMag on Twitter if you share it.
When a sales leader has an underperformer on their team, they typically respond in one of two ways: They ignore the issue until termination; or, they say something like “If you don’t get those numbers up soon, we’re going to have an unpleasant conversation soon.”
Neither of these approaches is effective, and both of them waste the company’s money and everyone’s time. I believe the reason is that sales leaders haven’t been trained on how to coach struggling salespeople. Here are five strategies:
1. Identify the core issues with the salesperson.
No two salespeople are the same, but most salespeople are put through the same performance improvement plan when they’re not reaching their goals. The first step to successfully coaching struggling salespeople is to understand where they need help. Is it call reluctance, not asking the right questions, being easily distracted, not understanding the technology, or something else? It could be multiple things, but the key is to take time to identify the area of improvement and then create a plan.
2. Ride in the field with them.
It is virtually impossible to learn the primary areas of improvement by only looking at metrics or meeting with a low-performing salesperson. You must get in the field with them and watch them in action. Observe their selling skills and life skills. How do they prepare for the day? How do they organize their work? What’s their pace? Do they listen? Look for all of the necessary skills before finishing your assessment, and then stay in the field during the improvement process.
3. Track metrics that lead to success.
Many leaders will give struggling salespeople ultimatums like making their monthly quota within the next two months. If that’s the plan, then I suggest firing them now and not wasting everyone’s time. Before sales success happens, a weak performer must achieve the key metrics that lead to sales success. If a struggling salesperson reaches their quota after a month or two, they are probably lucky; however, if they are putting in the effort to achieve their key metrics, they are building a business.
4. Don’t punish the whole team.
Many times, the poor performance of one or two people prompts leaders to cast new policies on the whole team. For example, one salesperson may not be finding new accounts, and leadership demands weekly call reports from everyone, even the salespeople who are performing well. Don’t do this. You will alienate your strong performers and not invest the right energy in the weak ones.
5. Don’t think you’re God.
One of the best lines I’ve read was in a book called First, Break all the Rules. One of the chapters was about business leaders trying to make people fit into roles that weren’t good fits. The line that caught my attention was “You can’t put in what God left out.” Many sales leaders we work with are confident and competitive, and when they have a struggling salesperson, they feel like it’s their job to make them succeed. No, it is the sales leader’s job to exceed sales goals. Don’t get wrapped in believing that you can turn sheep into lions. You can’t. Sometimes the best way to help a struggling salesperson is to help them find a job in which they don’t have to struggle.
