I work with a number of owners and sales managers who work very hard to increase the revenue and profits of their company by hiring sales people and trying their best to manage them. When I speak with them the conversation usually starts with an owner or manager complaining that their sales person is just not closing enough business. When I start asking questions, the discomfort level goes up and the anger starts turning more towards themselves then at the sales person. I heard someone once say “if you have crappy employees, it’s because you are a crappy manager.” Over the years, I’ve learned that those words could not be more accurate.
Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on where you sit) it does not take a whole lot to become a better manager. Sometimes we just need to remember the Drukerism “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” Let’s start there for learning what your sales people are doing. I want you to stop worrying about RESULTS for now. Let’s FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS on EFFORT. The results are a simple equation of EFFORT + TALENT. In our world of sales, effort goes just about as far, if not further than talent.
So, what is this effort? Quite simply, it is
PROSPECTING, SETTING APPOINTMENTS, SITTING ON APPOINTMENTS, and PROPOSAL PRESENTATIONS.
I don’t care how many of each activities they are doing RIGHT NOW, but you damn well be able to tell me when I ask. These are the activities that your base salary pays for. In sports, we don’t just measure touch downs and points scored, we also measure all of the ACTIVITIES that players perform on the court or on the field that will result in a win. I need you to do the same. Show me a basketball player who doesn’t know his or her own stats cold. Show me a quarterback, that can’t tell you on the spot how many yards he threw for, last week, last year, or even in his senior year of high school.
It is from this moment forward unacceptable for you to allow your sales people, not to know their stats cold. I want you to know at any moment how many of each activity occured yesterday, today, and how many are scheduled for tomorrow. Ask your sales people, make them report it to you, build that culture in your organization that if you’re giving me activity you’re safe; if you won’t tell me what your doing and how much of it, then you’re probably on your way out the door.
I follow a very very simple equation for sales people that is reviewed weekly:
High activity + High results = continued employment
High activity + Low results = continued employment and increased training on closing
Low activity + Low results = termination
Low activity +High results = review of employment and possible replacement with administrative staff
Start with measuring the activities. Make the reporting simple. Gather the information weekly. Sales people need boundaries, goals, and consistent management of activities. Are you providing that in order to understand what your sales people are doing? If not, get on it!
Good article.