Why do modular home factory sales managers hang on to bad
sales reps? Are you scared of their relationships with key clients? Do you feel
guilty that you haven’t given them all of the tools, training and attention
they needed to be successful? Is the process of hiring new salespeople so
painful that you would rather hold on to these people than go look for new
ones? All of the above and more?
Never show fear to animals, children or sales people — they can sense weakness
and they will take advantage of it.
Let’s address your “Fear of Firing” issues:
You have more power than you think. Remember “Jerry Maguire?” Jerry
gets fired and tries to take all of his clients with him — and almost none go.
Why? Sales people have a distorted picture of the power in the relationship
they have with customers. Just like Jerry’s boss, all you have to do is pound
the phones – you’ll preserve the accounts, take over the relationships and move
on. If you don’t have relationships with your company’s key builders, fix that.
Regardless of how good the sales rep is, you’re the Sales Manager and you need
to know your company’s key account contacts personally.
Forget about fault. You cannot own the issues of success and failure with your
sales person. If he is not hitting his production goals, you don’t “owe it
to him” to give him one more chance. If you weren’t good at developing him
in the past, you won’t be any better in the future. This just isn’t the place
for him to be successful. Let him go bloom in someone else’s garden.
Affection follows performance. Love your producers, loathe the rest. After an
appropriate and defined on-boarding period in which you invest heavily in a new
sales person, your time and attention should follow the winners. Create a great
place with great products and services. Bring on good people, launch them well
and then let them run. If they don’t hit their marks according to schedule,
part ways.
