What should I do with my poor sales performers?

One of the most frequent areas that I get asked to consult on is sales team ‘performance’, or lack thereof.

In many sales teams what I observe is a small percentage of sales stars shining and the rest making up the numbers. This conundrum I call ‘The Law of Lesser Equals’. This law propounds: All men and women are created equal, yet when compared in competitive environments some underperform, not just marginally, but resoundingly. Many team members have the same training, similar backgrounds and experience, but some get the results, while others struggle. Is that a result of luck, experience or natural talent, or is there a more substantial explanation?

A few months ago, I coached a team of 12 experienced medial liaison offers. This group consisted of a mixed bag of personalities: outspoken directors, reserved thinking types, socialisers and relaters. As I facilitated the session, I observed the behaviours and engagement levels of each participant and it soon became evident who would get the most out of the sales training content. By the morning break, even without viewing individual sales performance records, I could tell who the top sales performers were and why. How?

There is second part to ‘The Law of Lesser Equals’. Those that are created equal will determine their advantage, not by luck or natural inclination, instead through will and determination to better themselves and those around them.

You see, the salespeople who understand this principle are invariably those who outshine everyone else. These people think and behave in a way that develops them into more of their potential. Research indicates it takes approximately 10,000 hours (roughly 10 years) of practice to achieve mastery in any field. So those who are patient and committed to their development over the long-term will more often than not come out the other end more successful.

In the medical liaison group there were two people who contributed most during the session, and surprise, surprise, when I spoke to their manager afterward, she explained they were the two top performers. Not just marginally, nearly 40% of the business was being achieved by these two salespeople, the rest were merely making up the balance. Some of the rest had more experience and had been working in the company longer, others presented more impressive credentials, yet those attributes were not enough to outshine the two best people.

If your poor sales performers are putting in the effort, have a positive mindset and are doing things right most of the time, but are not getting the results – give them more time. In sales there is a lot to be said for effort. It’s not often the hare that wins the race; they may get the quick wins here and there. It’s the person who is committed to slow, steady and never ending improvement that develops the mindset and habits that not only create but sustain success.

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Trent Leyshan is the founder and CEO of BOOM Sales! a leading sales training and sales development specialist. He is also the creator of The NAKED Salesman, BOOMOLOGY! RetroService, and the Empathy Selling Process.