Two of the biggest problems facing the industry today are recruiting and retaining sales people. The problems in this area may not be due to poor hiring or low unemployment rates. If they’re related to bad hires, it means you don’t fire well. You are not holding people accountable. If that’s the case, it stands to reason that you’re probably overpaying a sizable portion of your sales force, since they’re not performing like “A” players.

The first thing to do is an honest and heartbreaking assessment of your staff. This must be done both quantitatively and subjectively. Measurements must be in place. You cannot manage what you cannot measure. Once you have a measured sales system, you need to complete your staff assessment. Bring your sales force up to minimum acceptable standards. It would be exceptionally rare to find a dealer that didn’t have at least one salesperson who wasn’t performing up to expectations. “If you pull out the gun, don’t be afraid to shoot.” Being afraid of the sales consequences of firing a salesperson is the lifeblood of mediocrity in a sales force.

Question: Is your sales force prepared and responsible?
Take an assessment. Do this for each sales representative. Please answer the following questions honestly and fairly. Use this scale as a guide:

1. Very little

2. Something but needs to improve

3. Meets acceptable standards

4. Above expectations

5. Walk on water

Question Number

Assign assessment score for each question

1 Meets revenue and margin targets —————————————– — Score

2 Follow up on all major issues —————————————— – —-Score

3 Does not panic when faced with a challenge and uses all resources effectively—-Score

4 Self-confident and knows how to make changes ————————————-Score

5 Committed to Territory and Account Penetration Planning————————Score

6 Is clearly focused and has established priorities———————————–Score

7 He is well considered and respected by his peers———————————Score

Interpretation:

28 – 35: You have identified an “A” player.

21 – 28: May indicate strong performance, but additional training and mentoring is recommended to help them reach their full potential.

0 – 21: Needs serious attention. Replacement may be the only answer.

“It’s okay to carry your wounded, but you must bury your dead.”

Once you have conducted an assessment and established new acceptable standards, the situation you find yourself in may be due to the fact that you do not clearly recognize your employees as one of your core competencies.

It’s true that they don’t fit the purest definition of core competency as stated in “Facing the Forces of Change,” but it is a fact that it is your employees who are responsible for generating profits.

Once you accept that concept, your next step is to make people a part of your strategic initiatives. That means becoming an “Employer of Choice,” someone everyone would like to work for. The following attributes are required to become an “Employer of Choice”:

o A Staff Skills Inventory: Questions would include: What functional area or position is ultimately desired? What interim positions would help you on your way to reaching this desired position? What training do you need to achieve this? What area and branch(es) would you be willing to relocate to, if any? Please list the languages ​​you speak fluently. Hobbies/Interests. Experience in any field, including computers, marketing, sales, distribution, and administration. All training and education.

o People are the top priority of the company (people are not benefits but without people there are no benefits)

o Pay market wages

o Recognize employee contributions with praise and awards

o Have a well-organized and defined orientation and training program

o Review your total compensation programs annually. Market test to ensure you are paying competitive wages.

o Make sure Human Resources is more than just one person who handles insurance and benefits.

o Create an EAP (Employee Assistance Program)

o Do more than annual performance reviews. Insist that all managers meet with their employees for a minimum of ½ hour once a month to document the pros and cons of their performance.

o Use the monthly informal assessments to complete the annual assessments (a sample of this form is shown below).

Informal Monthly Employee Review

Date:

Supervisor Name:

Employee Name:

Department

Positive contributions or demonstrated strengths:

Negative issues, problems or demonstrated weaknesses:

suggested action

Supervisor Signature

Employee’s signature

“One word of warning… make sure you’ve assessed your team fairly and taken the bad apples out of the barrel.”

If you’re still too young to embrace some of these initiatives, that’s fine, as long as you make your people your top priority, they’ll notice.

o If you have a recruiter, use them. Don’t let sales management waste time recruiting or selecting new candidates. If you don’t have a recruiter, assign a non-revenue person to screen sales applicants based on specific guidelines.

o Create a test program that has a defined schedule and an improvement plan that is measurable. It must be made very clear to the employee that they meet the criteria of the improvement plan or they will be fired. This follows your evaluation score.

o Create a channel of communication both formal and informal.

o You must incorporate the human resources strategy, “The People Plan”, in your business plan or strategic plan.