Recently I was on the phone with the president of a large company in their particular industry.
The reason for the call was to discuss why salespeople fail and ultimately what can be done to minimize it.
We don’t go out and hire a new salesperson expecting them to fail, but in the end, that’s what happens far more often than any organization would like.
The reasons salespeople fail are as varied as there are companies hiring salespeople.
The role I was playing in the conversation was to help people understand that a salesperson’s failure isn’t always due to the salesperson. Many times a salesperson will fail because of the organization or team they’re part of or their direct manager or others they have to deal with inside the organization.
My point is too often we feel a salesperson fails because they didn’t do something, when in fact they fail because of what we ask them to do and the overall structure in which we ask them to perform.
Terminating salespeople for bad performance or watching them leave because they’re unhappy with their results doesn’t help us answer the question of what needs to be done.
In my 17+ years of providing sales consulting to companies across the globe and in hundreds of industries, I’ve come to firmly believe salespeople fail far more often due to the structure they’re working in rather than due to their own incompetence.
This is why we often will see a salesperson fail in one company, only to wind up succeeding far beyond expectations in the next company where they go to work.
Do you fully understand the environment your salespeople are working in?
Do you understand how and why some things simply fail?
Do you know what would be required to change things in your organization to significantly and positively impact the results of your salespeople?
If you want to raise the quality of your salespeople, start first with raising the quality of your organization. Remember the old saying: A rising tide lifts all boats.
Second, when you invest in your organization you will undoubtedly wind up being able to serve and retain customers more effectively. In the end, isn’t that the best way to grow your business?
Take care of what you have and build from there.
Copyright 2015, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price.
