Someone Sold Something Part 2: Sales Management
by Jeff
Davies, Recruitment Leader
jeff@performtogrow.com
Last month I wrote, "I have been searching, interviewing,
and recommending the placement of outside (B2B) sales people. The market is good for sales people right
now..."
While the economy was very good, companies got comfortable
with good revenue increases. Some of them increased revenues with "apparently"
little effort from their sales group. This has lead them to change their comp
plans to expect more and pay less for results, with the idea that the
increasing sales are still providing increased income for the sales group. For example, you paid 10% commission and the
sales person's gross comp was $100K. You change to 8% commission and the sales
person's gross comp is $120K. Even
though they made more money, the sales person figures the company stiffed them
the 2% (20% of their commissions). They
start looking around for a more "ethical" employer. Sometimes they learn there is a much wider
spread than they ever thought possible as other companies have better pay for
performance programs and other "perks" they hadn't ever been exposed to or
considered.
Now the economy is turning south and those companies have two
problems; a dissatisfied sales group and pressure to make them perform. These
are not the forces you want to face at this time.
When it comes to recruiting new sales people, you face
these obstacles: you don't look sales focused, one of your reps is on the
street with nothing good to say about your company, you might even look desperate, like business
is so bad you need to take it out of your sales group's earnings.
Companies that like to write big commission checks, that
aren't afraid to pay a high performing sales person more than the manager, or more
than the company president and do it willingly throughout their business, will
be rewarded with more Top Guns who stay with them. They will also find
themselves more attractive to other top performers when they need to add sales
people to open up new territories.
Recruiting the right sales person will still take
persistence and they are the most difficult people to fit, but don't put
yourself into a recruiting hole to begin with - you might not be able to dig yourself
out.
Jeff Davies is a partner of
Performance Growth Partners Inc., a full service organizational improvement
firm specializing in HR audits, corporate outplacement services, customer
service assessments, customer service training, supervisory training, employee
surveys, employee handbooks, teambuilding programs and team training, on-call
and project based HR consulting services, outsourced HR services, employee
retention programs, performance improvement programs, executive coaching, manufacturing
process and operations improvement consulting, training and programs, safety
assessments, safety training, strategic planning, employee retention programs,
performance improvement programs, interim executive placement, conference
speaking, keynote addresses, business turnaround consulting, healthcare
consulting and a wide range of other services. Contact Jeff toll-free at (877)
739-4747 or e-mail him at jeff@performtogrow.com.
© 2009 Performance Growth Partners Inc.
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