My salesperson has sunk

What do you do if one of your salespeople has suddenly sunk without trace? It’s like they’ve gone AWOL whilst still sitting at their desk. Well, they might as well have disappeared off home for all the good they’re doing anyone (the business or themselves). How could this reasonably-performing salesperson just drop like that?

Let’s have a more detailed look at what’s happening. Firstly, it’s unlikely that something has suddenly happened. There’s been a gathering of tell-tale signs over time. Perhaps a very long time. Perhaps from even when they joined the organisation. So the first thing to decide is if you even want them to get back to where they were. Is now a great excuse to ease them out of the organisation and let them be somebody else’s problem? Or do you want to invest in them to see what can be done? I’m hoping that it’s the latter; after all when you hired them they gave plenty of evidence of being able to perform. For example, you’ve got evidence from their psychometric assessment. Easiest step is to check back on what the report said. Or if you haven’t got an up to date assessment from them, get them to do one. I’m thinking something like Harver or Caliper. Something that is sales-specific. At this point I’m not talking personality assessments like DISC or Myers-Briggs.

Now you know they have it in them, even if you’re not seeing the results currently. Even if their report is not outstanding, you’ll have enough confidence that, with effort, they can produce what you’re looking for.

You can’t want change from them more than they do. They need to be ready and willing to make changes. You need to have a potentially uncomfortable conversation. Are they prepared to admit their own role in their own lack of success? Too often salespeople want to blame their manager, the market, clients, lack of good marketing, lack of new products to sell, the list goes on. If they are determined to blame everybody else and everything else for their lack of results, there is nothing you can do: time to part company.

If they are open to understanding that they have agency, that they are the authors of their own story, then you can plan together a road back. Their lack of success can only come from one of three places:techniques, behaviours, attitudes. At Sandler we call this the BAT triangle.

Techniques: do they know how to sell your stuff? Of has the market or your offering changed so much that they have been left behind? It is worth re-visiting even the basic sales techniques. It’s possible it’s just something small that has got forgotten and that’s making all the difference. Are they forgetting to find budget before giving a price? Are they insisting on doing strong Up Front Contracts and Post-selling every decision? A quick refresher course might just be all they need. Even an online course perhaps, like we have on Sandler online. Or here’s a scary suggestion; do a ride-along with them and see for yourself. Or if the selling is done using online meetings, review a recording of one or two. What can you see that they can’t as they are too emotionally involved in the outcome?

Behaviours: are they doing enough prospecting in the right way in the right places?  Ask to see their plan of behaviours (we call that their "cookbook") and check their CMS. Perhaps they have got complacent and have forgotten that every now and again they need to go back to basics and do a ton of hard work.

Attitude: this is the big one. This is probably where the problem lies. How are they feeling about themselves? Remember, you can only expect them to perform in line with their feeling of self-worth. If they are feeling a failure, then that’s what they are. If they feel good about themselves and what they are attempting to do, they will naturally up their game to meet that mental picture. If they are not sharp and firing on all cylinders there are lots of exercises they can do. Journalling, “re-writing reality”, and morning and evening rituals are just a handful of things they can try. If you’d like more information on these very practical exercises, let me know.

The chances are it’s a mix of all these areas. If you want your salesperson to recover their lost glory and shine, contact me and we’ll discuss what we can do together.