The question that sales managers ask themselves too little:
50% of the people who quit their jobs give the manager as the reason: no trust, miscommunication, no or incorrect guidance, and self-interest that takes precedence over the employee’s interests. The employee therefore does not feel heard or valued.
50% depart by the manager
This figure is general, and applies to sales managers as well. In various branches, I regularly see job advertisements for commercial positions, and I frequently get asked if I can recommend another good representative. When I ask the reason for the departure, I hear: “It just wasn’t in the cards”, “our industry simply requires a different approach than the average”, or “he was offered a job that suited him better”. Whether this is actually the real reason can only be guessed.
The first question that comes to mind when I hear the remark "it just wasn't there" is, did you have a good picture of the candidate when recruiting? Was your own commercial strategy clear enough to find the right candidate for that role? In other words, based on the commercial direction of the company, did you look for an employee who naturally exhibited commercial behavior that matched the company's trajectory.
Many companies are increasingly paying attention to good onboarding. However, this goes beyond a warm welcome. It’s nice when all the practical matters are taken care of, such as login details, a laptop, and the company car. But have you also thought about how you integrate the new salesperson and leverage their strengths? In addition to focusing on the company’s processes and structure, is there also a focus on the skills that the new colleague brings to their workplace?
Over time, if everything goes well, we see the first results. With a clear goal, it becomes clear to what extent someone who manages to achieve it. But what does the sales manager do if the new employee does not perform in line with the goal? Many sales managers only intervene when the results are lacking. The idea is that they can only intervene when they see that something is going wrong. The pitfall here is that they then correct the outcome instead of the effort put in.
Just as in the school system, the assumption can be made that those who achieve higher scores have also done their best. So, in addition to the result, look at the way the effort was put in, and at the awareness of which actions contribute to the desired result. From this, the manager can guide the employee towards new behavior, so that that behavior actually leads to a better result. In fact, guiding based on effort offers the possibility of sitting down with the employee beforehand and guiding them in the right direction. The question of how you approach achieving the goal is then the one that is discussed together. If there are deviations, you can then look together at the behavior and skills.
Of course, it is important to train the sales professional: what skills can he develop to more easily deliver the desired sales contribution? But the question also arises: who should we train if things are not going well and the results are not showing; the sales consultant or the sales manager? Because if we only train the sales professional, that does not automatically lead to success.
During my training sessions, I sometimes hear strange statements. I can't always verify them, but when a sales representative tells me that after a training session, for which he had to develop a project, his manager said: “Just stop this nonsense and go back to work.”, Then I worry. This manager misses the opportunity to connect with his teammate. It would have been more powerful if he had asked: “What have you learned, and how are you going to apply it?”.
I suspect that there was a kernel of truth in the seller's statement. That was evident from the frustration of the concerned participant. “I honestly wondered if I should even go back to training. I’m not being supported, and I have to do it the way we always did!”. This is a direct accusation directed at the manager, who is reportedly responsible for motivating and rewarding his employee. Just for that alone, it is good that a manager knows what a training session entails, so that he or she can motivate and encourage his or her team. Because when the individual salesperson improves, the sales team grows along with it, and the company’s results improve positively. And let’s be honest: the success also radiates to the manager!
Therefore, based on your commercial strategy, determine what the ideal profile of a commercial employee is in order to realize that strategy as effectively and quickly as possible. Then ask the question: how do our current managers and sales teams compare to that ideal profile? And what development do they need to achieve in order to bridge that gap, so that we are certain, even under normal circumstances, that we will achieve our goal?
Would you like help in determining the ideal profile that fits your company's commercial strategy and how employees can match it? Read more about the methodology we use here. Sales Colors.
