There’s an old story about a dog food company that went to great lengths to do market research to find out what kind of packaging would be most effective in selling their dog food. After months of research they came up with a package design that turned out to be very effective. Consumers bought that dog food by the ton. Then, a funny thing happened. Shortly thereafter, sales dropped dramatically. No one could figure out why. After months of research they finally concluded that although the consumers bought the dog food because of the package, the dogs simply would not eat the contents. They made a fundamental error. They forgot to ask the dogs.
Get inside your people’s heads occasionally to measure their internal motivation by conducting a career chat, not to be confused with a performance appraisal. Why? To help employees grow.
Managers/Owners should consider holding these dialogues every six months, to assess changes in goals, objectives or attitudes, possibly triggered by a shift in territories, a death in the family, divorce, birth of a child, or a marriage.
For new employees I would recommend three of these conversations in the first six months; one after a few weeks on the job, when issues with competition, peers, or management may have developed and the rookie needs some positive input from you to get back on track.
A second meeting would be good at the end of the first 90 days, after the shine has worn off the job and they have a solid feel for their strengths and weaknesses.
The third get-together would fit well after six months, when salespeople think they know it all and begin to feel bullet proof. At this point it is important for you to let them know how important they are to the company and its overall growth.
Logistically this meeting should be conducted in a private setting with a relaxed atmosphere, where openness can be encouraged. Managers would be better served if they come empty-handed to this session, which should naturally help foster honesty with each other.
So, to kick-start the get-together why not just say something like: “Clyde, what I’d like to accomplish here is to get some important feedback from you and share some ideas that will help us communicate and perform better as a team.”
If you need a nudge to ensure a successful conversation, here are a few open question topics to bring up to stay on message and keep things engaged:
- Something along the lines of what the employee likes and doesn’t like about the job.
- Ask how he or she feels they can improve on the job in the short term.
- How about throwing in a question about what the salesperson would like to achieve in the next year, to include any other jobs or aspirations they may have?
- You might also inject a question whether there is anybody in the company that the rep feels he/she struggles to get along with, and why.
- Ask what they feel has been their greatest contribution during their employment.
- Maybe even a question about areas of personal improvement they are participating in to increase their value to the company.
After the meeting you can jot down some notes for yourself so that you can follow up and help the employee to achieve his or her goals. Based on how things went you probably also want to ask yourself if you think the sales rep is in the right job and comfortable within the organization. Since these reps represent your company to the public you probably should assess their attitude. Do you feel that you have a better understanding of what makes them tick? If not, schedule more fieldwork time. A major objective should be if you think that they will now feel more comfortable talking to you in the future when things aren’t going well.
Instead of reading 100 management and marketing journals trying to figure out how to get more out of your sales team, spend the next week doing career conversations with your sales force. They’ll give you all the answers you need to increase productivity, performance and profits.
Spend the time to protect your investment. If you add up training, recruiting and opportunity costs, your investment in one salesperson can run anywhere from $5,000 and up, so take the time for these conversations as often as necessary.
—————Need a Tweak?—————
If you want to be a better sales manager, Doug can help whether you need assistance with recruiting, motivating, training, or recognition. Hit him up here.
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©2018 Robinson Training Solutions, LLC
Photo by Seemi Samuel on Unsplash
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