Top Sales Manager Blog

Encouragement is the key to good sales management. Like I said in an earlier post, a top-performing sales manager spends his time instead of breaking them down through criticism, more criticism and even more criticism.

But someone needs to draw the line somewhere, and that’s your job, too. When it comes to underperformance, there’s no such thing as “lead by being led“. You become the dictator here – because sales performance is the obvious metric that you, your rep and your boss are all measured by.

This is where you have the opportunity to separate the men sales managers from the boy sales managers. If one of your sales people, despite your very best efforts, continues to not perform well, you need to find someone else who does and he or she needs to find another job. Period.

The second rule: Confrontation is Good.

Sometimes you need to create pressure to encourage your sales people to exert more effort. Most people hate confrontations and will do almost anything to avoid it. But this is a big mistake. Sure, confrontations could get tense and uncomfortable from time to time, that’s a given, but it’s also one of the most effective ways of drawing out your sales people’s true potential.

Think of it as simply an opportunity to set things straight with your sales people. If you put it that way, it isn’t so bad, right?

Sometimes it’s only by looking into the eyes of your sales people that you could get to the source of their fears and motivation. This knowledge is your trump card in helping them change their average, or below average, ways.

By confronting your sales people and being honest with them, you achieve two things:

1. You increase your chances of getting them to perform above standards.
2. You make it clear between the two of you what you expect from them in the future. Most sales people prefer managers who are honest and direct than someone who likes to beat around the bush.

I should warn you though:

Never confuse confrontation with negative criticism

They’re the exact opposite of each other. Confrontation is all about being honest and facing facts, whereas negative criticism is just you railing against their inadequacies. The difference is that confrontation is and always should be framed in a positive light.

I’ll close the article with a simple analogy,

“Coal turns to diamond under extreme pressure…will your salespeople do the same?“

To learn more about sales management training, click here to get your choice of free sales management training courses.

I’d like to hear your ideas about being honest and straight with your sales people. Leave a message below.

Filed under: Coaching, Motivation, Underperformers by ralphburns