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Sales Performance Management-How to Get More Sales with Fewer People

Guest post by: Stephen Blakesley

Article Overview: Many organization have just been through draconian cuts of both budget and staff. Now executives are searching for way to add to revenues but faced with fewer people to do it. Here are five easy steps that with positively impact sales in more way than simply increasing them.

Sales Performance Management-How to Get More Sales with Fewer People

Many organizations have taken drastic, even draconian actions to maintain profits in a down economy. Many companies have cut expenses "to the bone," including the elimination of poor performers to meet the prop up the bottom line. Some are finding themselves in a position of needing to get more or improved results from a smaller sales force. The "question of the day" is; how do we get more from less?

The sales force has been thinned but the need for increased revenue is one of the few opportunities management has to grow the company, and they have fewer resources with which to do it. Here are some suggestions on "how to get more from fewer sales resources."

1. Investigate and understand why the best of your sales team are the best

2. Train and educate all on the skills that contribute most to high-performance in sales

3. Improve the Sales Management Team

4. Provide Coaching and Goal Getting Support

5. Reward the best and encourage the rest



Investigate and Understand

Possibly you have thinned your sales team to a number that includes only those with the best results. Even if you haven't been that drastic, you no doubt, have some who are consistently more productive than others. Investigate the experiences, talents and skills of the high-performers. Find out what makes them different. Understand why those traits characterize better sales people then hire to that benchmark.

Train and Educate

Once you have identified the experience, talents and skills of your own high-performing sales people, you will want to find more of those people and you will want to educate the rest on what makes a high-performing sales person, give them encouragement to match those traits, as best they can. A word of caution here: I believe it is nearly impossible to put into someone something that is not already there. So, if you have people that are far off the mark, be prepared to make them available to the industry.

Improve Your Sales Management

Often poor sales management is the culprit in subpar sales performance. Make sure you have real Leaders and Managers in these roles not simply good sales people.

A good manager will be characterized by superior knowledge of the sales team, the sales process, and what motivates the sales people. Frequently, diminished sales results is solely doe to poor sales management.

Coaching and Goal Getting

Before goal getting there must be goal setting. You are not very likely to hit a secret of none existent target. The sales manager should guide each sales person in the setting of their own goals that support the corporate objective. Then, be prepared to give them personal coaching on how to apply their skills and talents in the achievement of those goals. Help the set realistic goals and coach them to the achievement of them.



Reward the Deserving

People work to satisfy their values. They are motivated internally (the best and most effective motivation) by what is important to them. Find our what that is and make sure they get it. Do not reward those who underperform. Many high-performing sales people are driven to competitors because underperformers rewarded on an equal basis as the "Stars." See that credit is given where it is due.



Two tasks drive sales performance more than anything else: Talent Selection and Performance Management. Do a great job of both and got the results, for which, you had hoped.

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Article Tags: budget, draconian cuts, impact sales, sales people, sales performance



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