Pick up your underperformers

by Dave Kahle

One or more of your salespeople has leveled off. Their performance hasn’t improved much in the last few years. Where before you were able to count on significant increases each year, now you can not. You know that these experienced salespeople can do better, but they seem unable or unwilling to break out of a certain level of performance. You scratch your head, frustrated, and lose sleep at night wondering how to improve the situation.

What do you do?

Here’s a simple, effective strategy. First, verify that a problem exists. Then, place the responsibility for solving the problem where it belongs.

First, verify
It may not be a problem at all. On the surface, there is nothing wrong with a salesperson becoming comfortable at a certain level of performance. Aren’t salespeople allowed to become comfortable in their jobs?  Isn’t your warehouse manager comfortable and competent?  What about your customer service managers, or your CFO?  Don’t you expect them to perform, year in and year out, in a predictable manner?  Are salespeople any different?

For many people, the answer is, “Yes, salespeople are different.”  We really do have a different set of expectations for salespeople than we do for other job titles.

Salespeople are supposed to sell, and sell more each year.

So, we need a way to sort this out. On one hand, it may be perfectly acceptable to have a salesperson that has leveled off. On the other, it may be a problem. Before you rush to judgment on this particular person, you need to ask and answer two important questions about this salesperson’s performance. First, is the salesperson appropriately profitable? Second, is he or she appropriately directable?  Let’s look at each of these.

Is this salesperson appropriately profitable? Don’t be fooled by looking at net sales or even total gross profit produced by the salesperson. Profitability is a function of the difference between costs and revenues. In order to answer this question of profitability with any degree of objectivity or accuracy, you need to compare the total direct cost of this salesperson with the total absolute dollars of gross margin this salesperson has generated.

We can help you with this calculation. Go to my Web site, www.davekahle.com, visit the page on “sales force compensation” and download a free copy of “How to Kreate Kahle’s Kalculation.” This booklet will take you through the process of creating an accurate measurement of productivity for your sales force.

Once you arrive at either a percentage (relationship of cost to revenue) or an absolute dollar amount (total margin contribution) that describes the profitability of  this particular salesperson, you need to compare that with the rest of the sales force.

For example, your salesperson in question may have a productivity number of 19 percent. In other words, he/she costs the company about 19 percent of the gross profit he/she brings in. The actual numbers may look something like this:

Gross profit produced
  in the last 12 months        = $394,737.00

Total direct costs of
  this salesperson               = $75,000.00

KK (Kahle’s Kalculation)
  productivity measurement   = 19%
Total margin contribution       = $319,737.00 

Now you can answer the question, is this salesperson appropriately profitable?  Compare this salesperson’s number with the rest of the sales force. Let’s say the median productivity number is 20 percent. That means that half of the sales force costs the company more as a percentage of margin than this salesperson does.

If this salesperson’s profitability rates him or her in the upper half of your sales force, like our example,  then that is acceptable. It’s not a problem. If, however, his or her profitability is in the lower third of the sales force, you clearly have a problem. Anything in between is a judgment call on your part.

So, you’ve dealt with the issue of profitability. Now, how about the second question, is this salesperson appropriately directable?  Directable means that this salesperson can generally be counted on to do what you ask of him/her.

Here’s an example. Your marketing department has put together a hot new program. You call the sales force together at your monthly meeting, and lay out the program. You let each salesperson know that you expect each of them to present the program to each of his or her top 20 accounts in the next 30 days.

What’s the likelihood that they actually will do that? 

That’s a measure of directability.  If your plateaued salesperson nods “yes” to you at the meeting, and then does just what he/she wants to do without giving serious consideration to your expectations, you have a problem. If, however, that same plateaued salesperson follows through on your directions, and can be counted on to do so consistently, then there is no problem of directability.

So, if you have a plateaued salesperson, the first issue is to ascertain whether or not this is really a problem. If the salesperson is appropriately profitable and directable, it’s not a problem. Leave him or her alone; you have more pressing issues to deal with.

However, if either question reveals a deficiency, then you have a problem that requires your intervention.

Whose problem is it?
Your strategy now is to place the responsibility for solving the problem where it belongs.

The responsibility is not yours, it’s the salesperson’s. Don’t bother staying up all night, tossing and turning over this issue. Don’t be crabby to your spouse and short with your kids as you mull over what you should do. It’s not your problem, it’s the salesperson’s. You need to let that person know that.

There could be a thousand reasons why this particular salesperson has plateaued. It may be that he/she is:
• comfortable with his/her income;
• having personal relationship problems;
• in a behavioral rut;
• losing interest;
• working on a personal business on the side;
• unhappy working for you;
• depressed.

It doesn’t matter. It’s not up to you to ferret out the underlying cause and see if you can correct it. That’s the job of the salesperson. Your job is to put the problem squarely on the salesperson, to clearly explain your expectations, and to provide specific and clear direction to the salesperson.

Here’s how to intervene in order to accomplish this:

1) Prepare your case. Note exactly what the problem is. Profitability? Directability? Be detailed and specific. Prepare the numbers, outline your perceptions.

2) Meet with the salesperson face-to-face. No written memos, no cell phone calls, no e-mails. This person deserves your best efforts. So, set aside special time, have your secretary hold your calls, and meet with him/her eyeball-to-eyeball.

3) Communicate specifically, clearly and non-emotionally. Explain the problem. Communicate your expectations for the kind of changes that you need this person to make. Provide a time frame. Make sure your salesperson understands. You may even ask him/her to summarize the conversation.

4) Let the salesperson know that you are on his/her side. You want them to be successful. You’re here to help. Toward the end of the meeting, ask, “How can I help?”  There may be some things that you can do, changes that you can make that will help this person achieve at higher levels. If your conversation uncovers some of these issues, make sure you follow through and do what you say you are going to do.

5) Schedule the next meeting to follow up and review progress. This establishes the seriousness of the situation and interjects some urgency.

6) After the meeting, consider documenting the meeting in writing. If it goes well and you feel like the salesperson will rise to the task, you may want to skip this. If, however, you sense that this meeting may eventually lead to the salesperson leaving your company, you may want to capture your notes while they are fresh in your mind. You may want to summarize the meeting in a memo to the salesperson, to add to the seriousness of the event.

Now, the problem is squarely on the salesperson to improve his/her performance. You can sleep at night and get on with other issues. At some point, probably on the date of the next meeting, you will have some decisions to make about the future of this salesperson.

But until then, it’s not your problem.

Dave Kahle helps his clients increase their sales and improve their sales productivity. You can join Dave’s FREE “Thinking About Sales Electronic Newsletter” online at: www.davekahle.com or e-mail .

This article originally appeared in the May/June 2002 issue of Progressive Distributor. Copyright 2002.

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