by Brian Jeffrey, CSP
Are you guilty of hanging on to your poor performers far too long? As sales managers, I think we're often too soft-hearted (although some may say soft-headed) when it comes to a salesperson's poor performance. Maybe it's because we've been on the front lines ourselves and know how hard it is that we forgive poor performance too quickly.
We're masters of rationalization. We tell ourselves that Fred, our long-time employee, is just having a bad week (month, quarter, year) and that he'll snap out of it soon. Or that Harry, the new hire that isn't up to speed yet, is going to be okay, even though our stomachs say otherwise.
And sometimes we look at the commission-only salesperson that's performing poorly and say, "Well at least he isn't costing me anything." Don't kid yourself. The person is using up one of your most valuable resources—your time.
Too many sales managers don't hire smart, support poorly, tolerate mediocrity and then complain because business is bad!
Several years ago, I heard of a California firm with over 200 salespeople who had a unique incentive program. Every month the bottom ten percent of the sales force was fired! Now I don't subscribe to that particular philosophy, but it did keep people on their toes and performing.
First Things First
Frankly, I think of firing someone as a last resort, not the first. So what should you do when you think you've got a dud? First of all, make sure that you're not the reason the person is a dud. Assuming you've taken care in your hiring process and hired smart, are you doing the right things at the right time.
Provide Support
Too many companies give tons of product knowledge training and little or no training on how to actually sell the products. In addition to sales training, make sure your people, not just your dud, have the tools to get and stay organized. Does your dud have the tools and the training to be a non-dud? If so, has he or she taken advantage of these tools and training? Help the person do so by providing some personal attention and encouragement.
Also make sure you have a system in place to track sales opportunities, forecast accurately, and help your people stay on top of their sales. You should be having a monthly, if not a weekly, sales meeting with your people to keep them motivated and catch situations before they become problems. Don't just be a sales manager, be a coach and mentor. Motivated people don't become duds.
Set Performance Targets
Sit down with your problem child and set mutually acceptable quotas, activity levels, and a timeline for reaching them. It's important that he be given enough time to bring his performance up to an agreed-upon level. Your job is to assist him to hit the targets, on time.
It's important that the targets be mutually established. If the salesperson isn't involved in setting the targets, he won't feel responsible for reaching them.
If a salesperson isn't meeting his sales targets, look at his sales activities. Is he making the required number of calls necessary to make quota? If he is making the required number of calls, what's happening or not happening on those calls? Why isn't he closing the business? This may be the result of a skills deficit and some training may be in order. If he's not making the required number of calls, why not? You may have an organizational problem or perhaps a lazy salesperson. (Or worse, a lazy salesperson with an organizational problem!)
Retrain Before Replacing
You need to give the person every chance to perform and positively impact your bottom line. You've got to help him to help you. Sometimes the help and experience needed doesn't lie within your organization. Or perhaps you're simply overloaded. Outside assistance to provide additional individual training or an objective assessment of the situation may be in order.
Using an instrument such as our Sales Strategy Index can assist you to uncover specific areas where training or coaching may be required.
The Last Resort
If you've hired smart, provided the support and tools to succeed, set targets and monitored activity, coached and chided and still the performance is lacking, then what do you do? Well, you've reached the last resort and it's time to give the person a new career opportunity, preferably in some other company.
By the way, the parting of company should never come as a surprise to the departee. He should be aware that his continued employment depended upon his performance.
Keep It Short
When it's time to do the dastardly deed, do it quickly and do it properly and don't do it alone. Have someone with you as an impartial observer. I recommend you do the deed on a Monday, not a Friday. You want the person out the very next day looking for gainful employment, not stewing over a weekend, particularly a long weekend, about the perceived injustice of it all.
Have all the termination paperwork ready to go along with any final salary and commissions due. Collect all your sales material, customer information, computers, cell phone, company car, key to the front door, etc, and set the person free. If he drove into work that morning in a company car, arrange for a taxi to take him home. Don't drive him yourself. Above all, don't give someone two-weeks notice and expect him to hang around the office or continue to make sales calls. (Yes, I've seen companies do that with a devastating effect on morale.)
Avoid Post-firing Disasters
Stay with the person until he walks out the door for the last time. Once the shock of termination wears off, some people can become angry and vindictive. It doesn't take long for a vindictive person to reformat the hard drive that contains the company's database or simply make a copy for his personal use.
Consider changing the locks on your office if the termination meeting didn't go well. Better to be safe than sorry.
In the End
If a person's performance simply isn't there and isn't going to be there, it's time to cut bait and minimize your losses. It's time to fire them. Do it properly and do it fairly, but do it. In this economy, you can't afford any duds on the sales team.
About Brian Jeffrey
Brian Jeffrey (a.k.a. The Sales Wizard) is a Certified Sales Professional (CSP) and president of SalesForce Training & Consulting Inc. He is a sales trainer, sales management consultant, columnist, and author of The Sales Wizard's Secrets of Sales Management. Sign up for his free e-newsletter for sales professionals and sales managers at www.SalesForceTraining.com.
Dump Your Duds