Managing the Salesforce: Leadership & Courage vs Aggressiveness & Threats

How should an under performing sales group be treated? Certainly fairly & as professionals, but also with a sense of urgency to improve results. After all, the whole company is depending on its sales people to bring in the business that not only feeds the whole organization & gives the ownership a good return, but serves its customers.

I often find, however, that one extreme or another is taken. Either the sales group is attacked and told their jobs are in jeopardy, or they're treated with kid gloves fearing excessive push-back and mass exodus. As with most things in life, a well planned process should be undertaken. It needs to be an assertive, no nonsense approach, but one that looks at individual as well as collective results.

Remove emotion; you lose support from your people when you over react. Rather than making frustrated decisions unilaterally, take the time to listen to your people, both within the sales group and outside of it. Care about them as well as the company. The answer usually lies within. Discover together what is being done well, as well as what needs to be improved.

Be in touch with your customers and their expectations. Not only sales management, but top management should talk directly to them. They'll be happy to tell you what can be done better.

Measure and compare. What has changed? Why? Have you trained well? Have you given the team direction, a purpose, and a way to succeed? Is it supported by the company? Is it funded adequately?

Finally, if you have done your job well, most excuses have been removed. It will then be time to put together a written performance improvement plan, individually and collectively, to achieve what you must. This should be simple, direct, and to the point, complete with goals, time lines, and measurements.

More to follow, but if you've been the leader you should be, your courage and care should have you well on your way.