How To Turn Sales Duds Into Sales Stars

How To Turn Sales Duds Into Sales Stars | Rule #1

sales manager talking to salesperson Let’s face facts…some people simply aren’t cut out to be salespeople.

It’s one of the toughest jobs in the world, with tons of rejection, disappointment and frustration…

But if done well, its also one of the most rewarding and lucrative jobs in the world.

So let’s not talk about the salespeople in your company that aren’t cut out to be in sales. Let’s also not talk about the ones who you know will never make it.

In this sales training, let’s talk about the ones who show glimmers of brilliance at times…land a few big sales every so often…but no matter what just cannot seem to make quota consistently.

Most sales teams have a few of these…and I’m sure you have a few yourself in your sales force.

So how do you turn these kinds of salespeople around? There are three rules to do it and the first one is:

Rule #1: Set the Tone

In order to have any kind of chance of turning around a sales underachiever, a sales manager must first become brutally honest with his sales people. He needs to tell them the truth about their performance.

Sometimes this is an uncomfortable conversation.

Goals are incredibly important. Here we subscribe to the SMART goal setting formula.

If the salesperson is not hitting their SMART goals, then a one-on-one discussion is absolutely essential to discuss and talk about their goals. Tell them the truth about their performance, don’t sugarcoat it; tell it to them face-to-face and tell them over and over again.

Because the only way to change salespeople’s behaviors is to tell them in the clearest terms possible what they are doing wrong.

If the sales manager never tells them what they are doing wrong when they do it wrong, then they’ll never get them to change – plus they’ll lose credibility in the process.

As I heard Norman Schwartkopf once say: “when in a position of authority – take charge”.

So forget big egos, don’t be tentative.

A sales manager needs to be crystal clear with his salespeople about where they are going wrong and tell them in plain terms. When underperformance is observed, tell them that underperformance is no longer tolerated – and that if they don’t change then they may not make it.

This may sound harsh, but its not. A top sales manager can only do this if he has laid the groundwork by making massive deposits in “The Trust Account”. Now its time to make a few withdrawals…just don’t overdo it.

So remember, set the tone. A leader can do a lot of things right. But a leader will never be successful if he, or she, doesn’t set an absolute expectation of excellence.

Rule #2 in my next post.

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What can you say about the first rule? Leave a comment below.