Black Sales Journal

Are you currently being threatened with termination?  Have you been put on a performance program?  I have seen both sides of this issue, and want to make some comments that I hope will be beneficial.

As a threatened sales professional, my sales program was fortunately loosely put together, but it was program nonetheless. Performance programs for sales professionals are structured tightly now, and you should know that what you’ll see when you view the performance program is essentially a template document from past programs and even terminations.  It will be fairly tight, if the managers that put it together are good.

As a manager, I put together sales performance programs that were designed to get someone to generate sales results or be out within a prescribed amount of time.  I suppose that you would call it ‘sales justice’.  These programs should be designed to be fair and equitable.  It probably will be based on the current goals and how those goals would apply in a shortened time period.

Owning and maintaining a sales force, or even a single sales professional is expensive.  Whether it is a single professional or a sales force can be expensive.  It is a wasted resource if it is not productive, even for a short period.  Programs are a necessary process and when used correctly can reform some behavior,

Can You Beat a Program?

The answer is yes… if the program is fairly constructed.  Sales professionals beat programs often if they have been working hard.  A well constructed sales program is potentially beatable if:

• Your goals are constructed fairly and the time limits are granted correctly
• You have been working hard and are not starting from ‘scratch’
• You have never stopped prospecting and recognize that prospecting is a required activity
• Your company’s products are solid and priced properly
• You have the sales skills necessary to be successful

To capsulize, if you have fair goals and have been working hard, you have a chance.  That chance is enhanced if you have been prospecting and working to sell your products to a wide base of prospects, and thus creating real, sellable opportunities.  If you don’t have the above bullets on your side, you are toast!

Defining Fairness

I would be remiss if I did not cover this portion.  Fairness is a concept that defines an employer’s actions.  Here is a simple example of fairness:

Your goals are as follows:

Sales in Dollars – $500,000

Cases sold – 25

New Prospects – 250

Quotes – 125

What you have here is a results and activity requirement.  New prospects and quotes are activity standards, and dollar sales and cases sold are result standards.  Activity leads to results, so both are necessary.  Some sales organizations will rest on the results standards and require their sales professionals to reach the results goal, but the best organizations realize that they must us both.  The presence of the prospecting and quote portion requires that those activities necessary to have future and continued success are being done.

So a fair performance program for 3 months would look like this:

Sales in Dollars – $150,000

Cases sold – 6

New Prospects – 63

Quotes – 31

The simple fact is that the goal for the performance program is an elementary 25% of the annual goal.  A simple but potentially fair goal.  It is based on the previous goal, and is apportioned in a way that probably could be justified and would hold up if tried in a court of law if the sales cycle worked in terms of lead-time and production time.

It Happened to Me!

As a fledgling account representative I was put on a program at a time when nothing would go right for me.  It was a time when our company’s product was good, but priced a little higher than the competition.  The program had a component that was centered around activity (how many quotes?) and on production (how much did I sell?).

I was successful and beat the program, but the key to that was that I had never stopped working, but had just not had success.  The activity portion does not guarantee anyone continued employment, but it is the process that counts.  I refer you to BSJ 2/28/11- How Many Prospects Do I Really Need? It is probably more than you think!

I will be honest that I was not confident that I would make it.  I had worked hard, but just had not been able to convert.  For some reason during the time when the program was in effect, I generated some sales and locked myself in. It also created an expectation that I worked hard to keep up with.  Remember your chances are always better if you never stop working!

If the Program Is Not Fair

If your program goals are not attainable, then you have a couple of problems that may be insurmountable.  You need to have the conversation with your manager re making the program ‘doable’.  If that does not give fruit, you need to have a conversation with human resources.  Do it immediately.

If you are behind the “8” Ball my suggestion is to do what is above while you try to work through it.  In most programs there is a clause covering any other deterioration of work.  In other words, you could be terminated earlier if you solow down your work effort.

Drop a note regarding your program and how you will beat it.

Always be the best.

Your comments are welcome.

I don’t want you to stop selling even for a minute.  On the other hand, I do want you to recognize the impact that coworkers have on you day-to-day.  You may have seen these before in Black Sales Journal.  Know these topics, tactics, and skills, and your life may be easier.  Remember , you cannot pick your relatives or your coworkers!

Master the relationship!

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Making Enemies at Work – It Has Nothing to do with Color!

Success can sometime be vexing if you are a sales professional. As success and increased income for many sales professionals increases so do the rivals and detractors in the workplace.  Yes, the very things that we all wish for can turn into a terrible wedge and fuel attitudes from slight jealousy to flat out envy.  When this happens, the competition becomes less than productive, and relationships strained.

“Making it rain” is getting you notoriety along with the accompanying benefits of being the number one sales professional in the unit. Sales units are not teams, whether they are called by that term or not.

The Golden Rules

What I am going to say may not be golden, but if you treat it as such, your results will certainly be worth more.  Work on a simple set of principals at all times, not when you find the elusive success.

• Practice being discreet – no one needs to know your income, or even how much you made on the last sale.
• Be humble – at work, recognize that being humble is a sign that you recognize you did not do it alone.
• Give credit and recognition to others – be honest and open about the impact of others in your success.  If you did it all alone, you don’t have to broadcast it, they will already know.
• Help others – Remember the objective of mentoring, and if you cannot be a mentor, offer assistance where needed.
• Continue the routine – If you are doing all of the above and finding success, continue the routine, and ignore the criticism.  If you are true to the above and doing your best, you don’t need to give anyone the power to deter you.

No one needs to see you dance on top of your desk when they are not having any results.  You can be happy and respectful of others in difficult times without sacrificing your success and gain.

We all have worked with sales professionals who whooped and hollered, and bragged and boasted when they scored a sale.  They even handed out cigars as if they had a new offspring after a new sale.  What they really did was to mock the fact that success can be fleeting.  To coin a football quote “…act like you have been in the end-zone before.”

There is no reason to not celebrate, just do it discreetly.  You can celebrate with your manager, or with your family or both, as all are beneficiaries.

One Last Word

You may not care about these ‘enemies’, yet you should.  One could end up your manager, or your manager’s manager one day.  This could be important stuff.

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Friends, Coworkers,  and Vampires!

A sales department is best when it has a vibrant atmosphere and unbridled activity.  Once it gets going, sales professionals can be fueled by this activity and a desire to ‘compete’ with their fellow sales professionals.  If the atmosphere in your sales function is electric you will endeavor to be a part of it, hoping that success spills over to you.  If the atmosphere is more like a funeral, you will utilize your best judgment in attempting to separate yourself from it or at least insulate yourself as best you can.

Friend or Coworker?

As you already know, if someone is on the payroll they are a coworker.  The important issue is that in the sales profession, not all coworkers are your friends.

This is not meant to be divisive, but to stand in recognition that unless your sales function is organized in a different fashion than most, sales departments or functions are designed in a way that spurs competition.  This is not bad; it is just an environment that pits employees against other employees.  In sales you probably have learned to accept it.

Situations occur when you forget that ‘Emily and John’ are the competition and you believing they are friends share ‘trade’ secrets.  This is where feelings get hurt.  Be ready to compete fairly and recognize that these are coworkers, and you owe them respect, but give no quarter from a business standpoint.  Compete and win on the virtue of hard work, and doing things smarter.  Be relentless in terms of your persistency and always be ethical.  Your friends are not the same as your coworkers even though you may be committed to them.

The Vampire

I once worked in a sales department that had a variety of characters.  There were journeymen, sage veterans, hard working upstarts, and then there were those who were full of complaints and found nothing right with the manager, the company, the product or…. the world.

I call them vampires and if you know some of these individuals, your quest will be to keep away from them.  You won’t need garlic, or a crucifix, but will need to strictly avoid this person whose quest is to ‘suck the life out of you’.  These unhappy sales people have the poorest of attitudes.  To them everything is wrong with the organization and that they bear not fault or blame for anything.

• The vampire is constantly on vigil to determine who is trying to accomplish anything new and innovative, so they can discourage them.
• This individual is peering over your shoulder to determine if you are taking any new training or courses for self-improvement, as he or she would love to talk you out of it.
• The vampire is trying to determine what prospect you are working on as he or she knows all of them and they want you to think it will be fruitless.
• This individual would do anything possible to engage you in a long 3-hour lunch as he or she has nothing to do, and they want to make sure you get the same amount done as they do…nothing!

You know them, and they are a pain, once you realize what they are doing. You might avoid aligning yourself with them.

Always be the professional!