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Underperforming Sales Reps, Put Yourself on a Performance Plan

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

In most cases, we see an official “performance plan” as the beginning of the end for some poor sales rep.  The performance plan seems to be more of a termination plan as the evidence suggests that the goal is often not better performance, but instead a way to begin documentation to justify termination.  In every case where I’ve seen someone put on a performance plan, that was their cue to start a full court press job search before they were fired.   

So, it’s safe to say that no sales rep wants to be put on a performance plan, right?  Right!

If you are a sales rep facing underperformance, my guess is that you are worried about your job.  You might be hoping no one has noticed, you might spend your time sharing the positive news while keeping everyone’s focus off the negative performance, you might be explaining away your bad sales (customer budget cuts, etc) or.. you might even be job hunting.

Here is something to try instead.  Put yourself on a Performance Plan.   This is a Turnaround Boot Camp style Performance Plan by the way. 

We know that we can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results. That really is the premise of a Performance Plan. 

To get started:

  • Look at what you have been doing and critically analyze exactly how you are spending your time to determine what is producing results and what is not. 
  • Consult with team members who are exceeding goals for advice on what you could be doing differently. 
  • Once you determine which of your sales activities are producing positive sales results, triple your output of those activities.
  • Figure out where you are investing time in non-selling activities (learning a new CRM, sitting on an internal committee, etc) and eliminate those activities from your week. You can politely request to be excused – if you get fired, none of those things will really matter anyway.
  • Start your day earlier and end your day later.
  • Look the part. 
  • Exercise, eat right and get enough sleep.
  • Write out your 30 day plan.  This should include day by day what you will be doing and with which customers or prospects.  For example, maybe every day starts with 50 cold calls, maybe Sundays are research days, Tues-Thurs is for 15 face-to-face appointments, etc. 
  • Have an accountability plan in place – a report, updates in your CRM or something to monitor your progress.
  • Have a clear goal for the end of 30 days and a way to monitor progress along the way.

Now, here’s key element:

Request a meeting with your Sales Manager – NOT during selling hours (you need those).  Have an early coffee or after hours meeting with your Sales Manager to let them know you have put yourself on a Performance Plan, walk them through it and get their input to fine tune it and gain agreement on your course of action. 

By proactively addressing your underperformance with your Sales Manager you will open the doors of communication regarding expectations and possible outcomes of underperformance.  You will show the initiative to address the problem proactively giving your Sales Manager an opportunity to help you succeed instead of look for a way to manage you out.  

Too often we keep moving along hoping no one will bring up the issue everyone knows exists (we do this with customers, too).  If you know you are underperforming, your sales manager knows it, too.  His boss will ask him about it and it will eventually be dealt with.  Wouldn’t it be great if you could change the story by being brave enough to call it out and proactively do something about it? 

So, if you find yourself falling short, stop worrying and start acting.  Build you plan ASAP and start executing with your Sales Manager’s support.

Put yourself on a Performance Plan today.

(Post brought to you by Jill Myrick, CEO of Meeting to Win.   Meeting to Win provides sales team meeting topics for Sales Managers who want to run sales team meetings that aren’t a bore.  Inspire your team with Meeting to Win.  Subscribe here.)

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Posted in best practice, communication, discipline, down economy, how to have productive sales team meetings, management tips, performance, sales activity, sales management, sales manager tips, sales managers, sales meetings | No Comments »

LinkedIn Groups are Valuable Sales Tools – When Used Appropriately (Article & Sales Team Meeting Idea)

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

LinkedIn has become a very valuable tool for me.  I enjoy partnering with my connections for referrals, business opportunities, learning experiences and awareness of our industry and business climate.  In the few years I’ve been using LinkedIn I’ve reconnected with former colleagues, exchanged valuable referrals, developed deeper relationships with clients, kept track of clients when they’ve switched companies, connected employers and employees, created great peer networks and, not lastly, increased sales.  My point?  LinkedIn is a powerful tool in my business. 

In the past year, I have gotten more active on LinkedIn Groups.    I wanted to share my experience and some of my best pratices for using these groups to build business acumen, share and gather best practices and grow as a sales professional. 

  1. First of all, you need to find a group that is well-managed.  This means that the group manager is actively involved in the discussions and ensures that spam or selling is not tolerated.  The groups that add value are made up of a community of peers that value sharing ideas and best practices for the benefit of the group – and ultimately the customers they serve.  Here are three groups I am active in and would highly recommend:  Sales Blogcast, Sales Gravy, Sales Playbook  (If you know of other good groups, please post a comment and share them with our readers.)  Visit one or more of these groups and request to join.
  2. Once you are a member, you should share your ideas and opinions on discussion questions already posted. 
  3. If you are facing a sales challenge such as getting a prospect to take your call, overcoming a price objection or dealing with customer service issues, you can post your dilemma for the group.  These groups are made up of professionals from the sales industry and are great about sharing their experiences, ideas and suggestions.  You will have a great list of perspectives to consider as you decide how to tackle your sales challenge.
  4. Be respectful of your network.  You can disagree -it is actually interesting and valuable to get differing opinions.  Just do it politely and with respect.
  5. Make an effort to share news that might be useful to the group.  Most groups have a place to post news.   If you find something helpful, share it with the group. 
  6. Follow up on discussions you post.  Thank group members for their input and continue to facilitate the discussion until it runs its course.
  7. Be abundant.  In the The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, Dr. Stephen Covey defined this abundance mentality as “a paradigm that there is plenty out there for everyone.”    The Abundance Mentality is in contrast to the Scarcity Mentality.  (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Dr. Stephen R. Covey)
  8. Invite colleagues to join and participate in groups you find useful. 
  9. Stay positive.  The groups I’ve recommended manage to stay realistic and positive. They are solution oriented no matter the challenge.
  10. Remember the Golden Rule always.

These groups are a great enhancement to your life and career when you participate appropriately.  Please feel free to share your own best practices by leaving a comment for our readers.

Get active in LinkedIn Groups and reap the benefits immediately.

Sales Team Meeting Idea:

Ask your sales team to

  • all join the same group or
  • each join a different group.

At your sales team meetings, bring one of the discussion questions from your LI group to your own team.  Share the LinkedIn Group’s responses and then build on those.

Or, determine a sales challenge that exists on your team and post it to the group(s) you belong to. The next time you get together, share the answers from the LinkedIn group(s).  Be sure to let your LinkedIn Group(s) know how they helped your team by leaving a comment in the discussion thread, also.

(Meeting to Win offers subscribers sales team meeting agendas every week.  Join us by subscribing at https://www.meetingtowin.com/subscribe.)

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Pull Up Your Anchors – The Sea Awaits

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

Being a successful salesperson takes unbelieveable self-discipline.  It is a job that requires proactive activity to move forward.  At the same time, there are enough things to simply react to that a salesperson can stand still instead of move forward.  I am in the process of writing a sales team meeting agenda to help our subscribers identify their anchors and then figure out how to pull them up occassionally so they can move forward into the sea of opportunity that exists for them.   I thought I’d share the concept in a blog post, also.

How can you tell if you have anchors?  Here are a few questions to answer:

  • Have you identified a new problem to solve for your current clients?
  • Have you presented new ideas and solutions to help them meet their goals?
  • Does your pipeline grow and move at a good pace?
  • Have you added new customers, new contacts and new referral partners to your client list in the past year?
  • Are your sales growing?

If you answered “no” to any of those questions, you may need to find and pull up your anchors so you can move forward and grow your business.  Anchors are the things you are doing instead of developing and expanding your business.

To get started, think about everything you do in a week to simply maintain, or not lose, your current business.  These are your anchors.  Examine those activities closely and determine how to use those to grow your business or how to delegate them to a capable associate with different responsibilties (customer service, etc).  Anchors can be good sometimes.  Occassionally it makes sense to stop, drop your anchor and get ready to move forward again.  Just don’t sit there too long. 

Now, replace your anchors with business development activities.  Your ship will be sailing again before you know it. 

Pull up your anchors – the sea awaits.

 

Post brought to you by Jill Myrick, Owner of Meeting to Win, LLC.  Join our growing community of subscribers for weekly sales team meeting topics in a 60-minute format.  Agendas include practical exercises, practice sessions, discussion topics and leadership opportunities.  Grow your sales with Meeting to Win.

Posted in What They Are Saying About Meeting to Win, agenda ideas, agendas, blog, discipline, efficient, management tips, meetings, sales activity, sales meetings, sales team, sales team agenda., sales team meeting agenda, sales team meeting ideas | No Comments »

Stay “On The Grid” During the Holiday Season

Sunday, December 20th, 2009

It is almost impossible to not “go off the grid” with your prospective customers and customers during the holidays. Everyone is heading to some much needed time off.  You can have a competitive advantage by staying on the grid while your competitors are dropping off.  Here are 5 ways to do it that won’t cut into your much needed and deserved R&R.

1.  Send Happy New Year cards to your clients.  These cards should arrive right before or right after Jan 1st. Your greeting will stand out since it won’t be arriving with the pre-Christmas gifts and cards that get lost in the shuffle or arrive during vacations.  Your New Year’s greeting could include a calendar or some useful information for the new year. 

2.  Send an article or book that is relevant to the current business climate or their current business issues.  They can start the new year thinking about you and gaining some fresh ideas.

3.  Get on their calendar for a January meeting.  The new year is a great time to evaluate the business you did the previous year and set plans for the new year.  Requesting a Jan meeting in December is extremely effective.  Customers want to feel they have a productive Jan set up before they leave for the holidays, also.  Setting up a meeting with a good objective is a good way to help them do this.

4. Help them prepare for new year planning meetings.  If they are a current customer, one way to do this is to send them a slide deck outlining the work and accomplishments in 2009 along with some ideas to continue the good work in 2010.  Your email can start with “Often our clients ask us for a recap of the previous year so they can use it during thier new year planning sessions.  I thought you may also find this helpful.   Please see attached document.  I am happy to walk through the slides with you at your convenience.  Hope it’s helpful as you head into the new year.“  Write it in a way that they could use it with their superiors and in planning meetings.  They will see you as a true partner and you’ll cut their 2010 workload before the year even begins.

5.  Instead of just an “out of office” reply, send a proactive note to your customers and prospective customers several days in advance of your vacation.  Let them know you’ll be out and how they can get in touch with you if appropriate, or at least how to get in touch with someone who can help them in your absence.  They probably will be out, too, but they will have you in mind and feel that you took an extra step to ensure they are taken care of even when you are out.  (It’s a great reason to reach out to them when you return to let them know you are back in the office and move your relationship forward.)

Enjoy your time “off the grid” while a few small efforts will keep you “on the grid”.  Happy New Year!

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Posted in communication, how to have productive sales team meetings, management tips, new managers, new years resolutions, sales activity, sales management, sales manager tips, sales managers, sales tips, tips for meetings, tough economy | No Comments »

Move Your Deals Along

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Real quick – here are two tried and true techniques for moving deals through – or out – of your pipeline.

Post brought to you by Jill Myrick, Owner of Meeting to Win. Get next week’s sales team agenda by joining Meeting to Win.

For a moment, forget YOUR sales process and map out your client’s buying process (if they have one). Some clients are more experienced at purchasing than others. Ask them, “how do you typically go about deciding which [blank] to purchase?” You’ll know by their answer if you need to adjust your selling process to their buying process or if you need to help them develop a buying process. Either way, you now have a map to your destination – huge!

Then, be the guide. Always make sure they know the next 2-3 things they should do – and when they should be done – as they assess your product or service so “they can make the best possible decision”. Keep them moving toward the destination, also.

Create and follow your map, expect detours, but most importantly, take your prospective client with you. You both have the same map. If one strays from the journey, it can be addressed much more gracefully than if you never confirmed you both had the same trip in mind.

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The Q4 Push – Are You In? The Time to Act on 2010 is NOW!

Sunday, October 11th, 2009

j0433410This has been a tough year for many.  It’s Q4 and salespeople could be feeling tired and ready to “write this one off” and take another shot at it in 2010.   Here’s the problem with that.  Momentum is a very cool thing and it’s great when it’s working for you and horrible when it’s working against you.  So, even if 2009 is a lost cause in terms of goal achievement, there is no better time (well, a month ago would have been better, but…) to get momentum going for 2010.

To gain more and more momentum as you close in on 2010, try these strategies:

The first five on the list come from the advice my friend Alvin of Tactivity shared in a LinkedIn discussion. I’ve added (and repeated) a few ideas that have helped me, also.

  1. If you’re on pace to the President’s Club in your organization, then increase your activity.
  2. If what you are doing hasn’t been working, then complete a thorough cleansing of the pipeline/funnel: Is it real? Is it good business? Can you win?
  3. Prioritize your activities around the health of your newly cleaned funnel
  4. Brainstorm a list of possible actions for your top opportunities; then choose only the 3-5 activities that will really advance them towards closure
  5. Go get it done!
  6. Conduct business reviews with existing clients to secure relationships, identify risks and uncover new ways to help them.
  7. Examine your territory for new opportunities a tough economy has turned up.
  8. Increase your sales activity.  Oh, did we already mention that one?  Action creates action, energy creates energy.  Make more calls!
  9. Solidify referral partners.  Decide to gain 20 referral partners and stay in touch with them, ask for referrals, be accessible and be someone they would be proud to refer (hint: send them referrals, also).
  10. Stay “on the grid” with prospects and existing customers.  Share useful information to help them run their business more effectively.  Don’t be out of sight or you know where you’ll be…. Out of mind.  Many of their sales reps have “gone dark” lately as companies do lay-offs and reorganizations.  Just being there may differentiate you!
  11. Have a team meeting every week to celebrate successes, share ideas, collaborate on hot deals and challenge each other.  This team accountability and celebration is fuel for your sales engine.  (You know we couldn’t leave this one out!)
  12. BONUS:  Increase sales activity.  In my experience, there is NO substitute.  Commit to accelerated sales activity in Q4 if you do nothing else.  Yeah, it’s worth mentioning 3 times. 

2010 can be an amazing year.  Salespeople that build momentum now can get a head start and be rewarded by helping more customers in 2010 than they ever thought possible.  Not to mention, for some 2009 can be a distant memory….  Get started today.  Staring in January 2010 will be TOO LATE.

To help sales teams build momentum during Q4, Meeting to Win is running a Q4 Push Promotion which means…free sales team meeting agendas for Sales Managers.  Sales Managers can subscribe for sales team meeting agendas and get all of Q4 for free.  First payment of $10/month won’t be charged until January 2010 (sales managers can unsubscribe any time in Q4 and never be charged).  The agendas are designed to motivate sales teams and accelerate performance while continually gaining and maintaining incredible momentum. 

Read more HERE then join us by subscribing HERE and entering the Promo Code “Q4PUSH”.

Posted in LinkedIn, Uncategorized, agendas, best practice, communication, culture, down economy, free sales team meeting topics, management tips, meetings, new managers, new years resolutions, opportunity, performance, sales activity, sales management, sales manager tips, sales managers, sales meetings, sales team, sales team meeting ideas, sales tips, tough economy | No Comments »

One Salesperson’s Keys to Success – My Observations

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

For the past 6 months I’ve had the opportunity to witness a salesperson succeeding.  Of course, I know many salespeople succeeding, but this story really intrigued me.  First of all, this salesperson started a consulting business in their field 6 months ago.  They had no brand, about ten thousand competitors and no marketing budget.  Oh, and we were in the downward spiral economically. 

Flash forward 6 months and this salesperson has more business than they can handle and is now considering adding to their team just to keep up.

I am very impressed with how hard this person has been working and really started to think about the actual keys to their success beyond just hard work.  I started making a list of this salesperson’s activities, habits and characteristics and thought it would be fun to share my list in a blog post.

So, here, in no particular order, are my observations or what I am calling “one salesperson’s keys to success”.

  • Creative deal and pricing structures.  This consultant is in an old industry where they’ve always done pricing the same way.  He surprised prospective clients with better deal structures than they’d seen.  Don’t mistake “creative” for lower – these are competitive deal structures that are a win for both parties.
  • This salesperson is not afraid to walk away from deals.  If the deal isn’t in this person’s sweet spot, he actually walks away from it and spends time where he can be more effective – and valuable to his client. 
  • Cold, hard, disciplined sales activity. This salesperson knows what activity leads to sales results and he does that activity EVERY DAY.
  • Manages time effectively.  Plans his work and works his plan – seems so simple. 
  • Does not get slowed down by rejection.  He is able to expect some rejection and take it in stride knowing he is that much closer to a “yes”.
  • Uses technology effectively.  He is very selective about which technology tools to use and which would be “cool”, but just create more work or wasted time. 
  • Frugal.  He is only spending money where there is clear ROI.
  • Networking, networking, networking every day.
  • Chose a niche and sticks with it.  He is turning down business outside his niche.  Since he began doing this his traction in his niche is growing daily and his client list has doubled each month.
  • He sets attitude rules.  For example, if he loses a deal, he only allows himself to “mourn” it for 24 hours.  He uses business development activity to pull him out of mourning which turns into new opportunities before the 24 hours is even up.
  • He takes care of himself – he works out daily, eats right and even took a week vacation.
  • He doesn’t waste time on administration.  He set up a system that is efficient and doesn’t spend too much time on paperwork.
  • This person naturally has no call reluctance.
  • This salesperson has stayed in touch with past clients consistently for 15+ years.
  • He is a master at LinkedIn.  Daily he is on LinkedIn building and sharing his network. 
  • He asks for referrals every day – and gets them.
  • For some reason, Tuesdays were a discouraging day.  This salesperson figured out why (he couldn’t connect with anyone on Mondays and felt no progress) and did something about it.  He created a plan to stay motivated on Tuesdays and recognized that the week always improved.
  • Extremely and appropriately persistent.
  • Knows his ideal customer and pursues ONLY that.
  • Faces reality and addresses concerns during deal pursuits.  He recognizes when a deal may go south and addresses it with the client before he spends too much time.
  • Works a tactical plan.  This salesperson knows his strategic goals and then carves out time to create a detailed tactical activity plan.  When he gets to his office he “doesn’t have to think”, he just executes his plan. 
  • He really enjoys his business and his clients.  Making them happy and solving business needs genuinely motivates him.

These are just my observations of one successful salesperson.  If you are struggling currently, grab some ideas from this list.  Duplicate his success using his habits.  Happy Selling.

This post brought to you by Jill Myrick, Owner of Meeting to Win, LLC.  Get weekly sales team meeting agendas and create momentum on your sales team!  Visit us at http://www.meetingtowin.com/.

Posted in Uncategorized, best practice, down economy, efficient, management tips, performance, recession, sales activity, sales management, sales tips, tough economy | No Comments »

Win in a Down Economy – #5 – PLEASE Run Interference!

Saturday, December 6th, 2008

Sales Managers, have you and your teams ever noticed how when times are tough and that begins showing up in the company’s results, some senior leaders resort to “communicating” more? All of a sudden, the noise level goes up dramatically. It takes many forms such as new reports to do, new conference calls to join, new discounts and offers to pass along, new activity goals, etc, etc, etc. What does this do to salespeople? It DISTRACTS them, often PARALYZES them and sends them running in circles which really isn’t a recommended approach for winning in any arena (business, sports, etc).
The best sales leaders I have had were really GREAT at something — RUNNING INTERFERENCE. They blocked a huge percentage of the noise and pushed back on senior leaders when there was too much noise.
Here are some ways you can run interference for your team:
1. With your team, pick one or two things that you can do that can make the biggest difference in your results. Focus on those things, report on those things, make minor adjustments as needed and don’t give into the temptation to abandon a good plan before it gets momentum.
2. Don’t just pass along everything that your leadership sends your way. If you must pass it along, do it in a controlled way. Decide with your team how they would like to receive all this information. Can you save it up and send all the information on a Friday afternoon, can you put it in newsletter form, does your team have a team blog or webpage where you could post these items. Figure out a way with your team to NOT distract them during the selling week with non-urgent matters.
3. Protect your team’s selling time. When times are tough, every department wants a piece of the sales team. Let anyone who wants access to your team know that you will decide what makes it through the filter and then when they can access them. I had a Sales VP who didn’t allow ANY internal conference calls, e-mails or any other communication except on Mondays. If you wanted access to her sales team, you went through her and if she decided it would help grow sales, you got limited access on Mondays. You cannot imagine how much the noise level dropped and everyone got back to selling.
4. Reports! If senior leaders want another slice of data, a quick report, etc, figure out how you can gather the information without asking your team to stop what they are doing to run a new report. Go into your CRM and get the info yourself, gather the info during your regularly scheduled one-on-ones – anything other than ask them to stop selling and start reporting.
5. Push back on senior leaders who are causing the noise. Follow your chain of command, but push hard to protect your team’s selling time and stop the distractions. Show senior leaders what you will do in return – more face-to-face sales calls, more sales activity, etc.

These are just 5 ideas for dealing with the additional noise our own company’s produce. Please share your experiences in regards to dealing with the noise.

(Information gathered and shared by Meeting to Win, LLC. Visit us at www.meetingtowin.com for engaging, relevant, productive team conference calls every week.)

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