Consider this.

Half of sales teams fail to reach their targets.

It’s possible that, for some, the quotas are too high; but one-in-two sounds more like an epidemic. The odds of anything failing half the time seem remote. That this is still the case after generations of practice suggests that other things aren’t working the way they should.

 

Why

Fifty years ago, Victor Vroom developed a theory which may go some way to explain the reason.

What he said was that if the reward was big enough and those who were pursuing it believed that they were capable of reaching it, then they would put forth the effort required to make it happen. Simon Sinek, in a book of the same title, stated it more succinctly.

 

Start with why.

To grasp the significance of what’s being said, think about what happens when the reward is small or those who are pursuing it don’t think they can do it.

When that happens, an insufficient amount of effort is put forth. In fact, it’s only enough so that those who are doing it can say with a clear conscience, “I tried”.

 

Try can mean different things to different people. Some see it as little more than an excuse.

One multimillionaire “tried” to get the word “try” removed from his company’s computer dictionary. Had he succeeded, it would have meant that anytime someone typed the word, the computer would flag it as misspelt.

 

Vroom’s theory, however, stresses the necessity of both parts.

The reward can be huge, but those who want to pursue it may feel overwhelmed with the enormity of the task, so much so that they don’t try, at least not very hard.

 

Impossible to fail

Years ago, IBM decided that they would lower their sales targets. They didn’t simply reduce them a little bit in the hope that their sales teams might be able to reach them.  Instead, they made them so low that it was impossible to fail.

Before you become apoplectic at the idea, consider this: Their sales increased. Actually, they skyrocketed!

That’s because salespeople realised that whatever their past track record, even they could succeed. And when they saw that, their desire to sell also increased dramatically. They suddenly wanted to get on the phone because each call was an opportunity to succeed.

Organisations that operate under the “this is the way we’ve always done it mentality” can’t think like this. To them, sales targets must always increase.

They’re worried that if they lower their targets, then people will sell less, when the truth is that the opposite will happen. Managers who stick to the status quo don’t handle counterintuitive thinking very well. That’s because it doesn’t fit their agenda.

 

Received wisdom

The received “wisdom” for why sales teams fail is quite different. Some say that sales managers are pulled in too many different directions, and there’s no denying that they are. They have meeting after meeting to attend, and that takes them away from the task of managing. You could look at meetings as a kind of distraction.

We know, for example, that you only hold a relatively small number of things in your mind at once.

If you’re occupied with the agendas of others, which is usually the case with meetings, then you can’t think about your own stuff. The same thing is true of our decision-making abilities. They are finite. If you use them up too early in the day, then you have nothing left until the next day when you get a fresh supply.

This problem, however, doesn’t tell us why sales teams fail. Instead, it helps us to understand the challenges that sales managers have with managing their time.

 

A second reason that is given is that sales managers don’t take time to coach their reps one-on-one. They schedule the face-to-face meetings, but then other things arise which cause them to cancel the sessions; and so they never take place.

One-on-one meetings can be effective if they’re conducted in the right way, and that can help team members to function more effectively, though probably not enough on its own to make the difference between the success or failure of that team.

One problem that can occur from repeated cancellations, of course, is that it sends a message to all concerned that managers don’t consider these sessions to be very important.  This unintended consequence may be why they’re thought to contribute to sales team failure.

 

A third reason why some people believe that sales teams fail is that sales managers spend too much time on activities that are unrelated to management. With hardly a moment’s thought, it should be obvious to you that this isn’t the real problem at all.

The criterion isn’t the amount of management that’s contained within an activity; rather it’s the value of the task. There are a lot of things that pass for management that have low value. Meetings have already been mentioned. Much of the administration that managers do is a complete waste of time. Reports are written, sent “upstairs”, filed, and then forgotten.

 

If the criterion is centred on value, however, then you may find that you can eliminate most of what you do because you’ll have more time to focus on what’s valuable.

Think of it like this: If you had to quantify the value of what you do, how much would your day be worth?  Your organisation sets your sales targets like this.  Why not apply it to your other work, as well?

 

What should sales managers do?

Sales managers are no different from any other managers. There are two things - only two - that you’re in your job to do.

 

One is to do those things, which by virtue of the responsibilities the company has given you, only you can do. The second thing is to remove those obstacles which prevent those who work for you from achieving what you’ve given them to do. In other words, your job is to make it easier for your salespeople to sell.

If your sales team is failing to reach its targets, then as a sales manager it’s largely your fault, though not for the reasons, we’ve discussed thus far. So, for example, make it a point to skip all meetings that don’t meet one of the two criteria. If you’re required to go, then find out why, and use these two criteria as your ammunition for not attending.

 

There’s a fourth popular reason found among the received wisdom. It’s that sales managers don’t give their team development opportunities.

This is really important. You need to get this. One of the things that motivates employees is opportunities to develop.

 

Why?

Because they want to grow, personally and professionally. Growth means greater employability and eligibility for promotion. This is not the same thing as giving people a rise in pay or a bonus. When people receive those things, they tell themselves that they deserve them. But opportunities to grow so that other things become possible is different, and that’s why they motivate people. They have a direct effect on the effort we talked about earlier.

By all means, ask them what they’d like to learn; but spend some time yourself figuring out what will help them the most, and then make sure they get it.  And don’t wheel in some expensive guru whose glorious reputation follows in his / her train.  You’re after results; not prestige.

There’s a fifth reason that is often referred to as why sales teams fail, and that is the new sales people are on-boarded and trained properly. And there’s some truth to this one, too.

New people need to be made to feel that they are now part of the team. They need to be taught the ropes. It’s been said that everyone is incompetent for the first six months. Everyone. Even you.

If sales people are simply dropped into the deep-end without finding out how your organisation does things, then they could inadvertently violate all manner of accepted behaviour. And while that may seem to be of no consequence, you need to know that it’s really important. People can get tarred with a negative brush through no fault of their own. And when that happens, it diminishes their effectiveness.

 

A really good question to ask yourself is “What does a new seller here need to succeed?” Answer that, and you’ll know what your on-boarding programme should contain.

So there are three popular reasons why sales teams fail, none of which actually cause the problem. There’s one reason which is partially true, and another that matters a lot. The two which have some truth, however, both contribute directly to the belief that people have in the ability to succeed. And that’s the real problem.

It’s one thing to have doubts and decide to work harder. It’s quite another to believe that no matter how hard you work, that it won’t make any difference. What we’re really talking about here is hope. If there’s no hope, then it’s not worth the effort. This is when people give up, not only at work, but also in life.

If you want your team to succeed, then you have to do whatever it takes to retain and if necessary restore the confidence that your people have in themselves. Anything you do to the contrary will make the problem worse; not better.

If you’re in an organisation that won’t give you this kind of support, then you should think about moving on. If, however, it’s within your power to boost the confidence of your sales teams in themselves, then there’s no excuse for not doing so.

 

 

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