Sales is not Kinder-Garden

Having worked in many large corporates during my sales career one thing that always used to shock me was this…

Senior management would often come down and mingle on the sales floor.

They would come by the desks of high performers and have a bit of banter.

Nothing wrong with that.

But anyone having a poor month or quarter would be duly ignored.

Completely blanked like they didn’t exist...

They may have had a great previous quarter, but because they weren’t currently firing they were put in the doghouse.

I have been on the receiving end of both.

My conclusion of this approach: -

*Treat your salespeople like children and they will behave as such*

Rewarding those performing well with attention and punishing those underperforming by blanking them…really?

On the understanding that they will perhaps learn better and get their head down?

Come on.

It’s a warped approach, built on a foundation of mistrust.

The degree of resentment this has the capacity of building up is huge.

Perhaps it’s no wonder sales has one of the biggest staff turnovers of any profession.

Surely we can do better than this.

Treating your salespeople as adults and with respect is the only way to run a sustainable sales team…where your people feel valued, inspired, empowered, and driven to achieve more.

Anyone underachieving may be having a genuinely rough time of it.

There may be many other factors at play other than the general assumption they’re being lazy or resting on their laurels.

And even if they are – treating them as adults may well have the opposite effect of making them feel reinvigorated.

Sales is a rollercoaster – it's complicated, messy, and non-linear.

Anyone who is struggling should NEVER be ignored.

On the contrary they should be supported and offered help.

Not shunned and punished like that toddler for eating mud and misbehaving.

Their role is tough with unpredictable and unrelenting challenges.

Salespeople should always be treated as professional adults – because that is what they are.

If they don't behave as such then that is on them, not you.

Without this type of approach, the wrong type of culture will be fostered.

And that is one of mistrust, resentment, desperation, neediness, feelings of insecurity and damaged egos.

Emotional intelligence is absolutely essential.

Sales is the engine of any successful business.

It should never be turned into kinder-garden.