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What Has the Most Impact on Rep Performance?
(Part II)

By Tom Stanfill, CEO of Aslan Training & Development

(If you missed Part I of this series, you can read it here.)

In the last application, I challenged you to expand your role beyond just delivering a score card (i.e., assessment of performance), by highlighting the problem and focusing more time on coaching – the solution. But most likely you know this. The challenge is time. Conceptually everyone believes in the idea of developing their team, but at the end of the day it’s just tough to fit it in. Would you like to free-up another 5 to 10 hours a month to develop your team? Here’s how – stop spending time on those team members that are never going to change.

You Can’t Save Everyone

The first step is to realize that everyone will not make it, and you don’t have enough time to equally invest in developing all of your reps to the level of performance required. So where do you focus? Instead of just ranking reps A, B, and C based solely on performance, divide your team into four groups based on performance and their desire to change. Here is an example of how you can assess and group each team member:

• Independents: Reps with adequate to strong performance, but little or no desire to change.
• Detractors: Reps with substandard performance and lack the willingness to change.
• Strivers: Reps that have a strong desire to improve and grow, but are not meeting the required performance levels.
• Achievers: Reps that have a strong desire to improve and grow...and are meeting or exceeding the required performance levels.
  

The Application

Once each team member is placed in the appropriate group, you can implement the appropriate strategy for each rep and determine where to spend your time.

With the Independents, very little time is required (we recommend ~5%). They are meeting their performance requirements and don't want to change so leave them alone. The key is to raise the average level of performance for the entire team, and they will most likely be motivated to elevate their performance as the team's average performance increases (i.e., "high tide raises all boats").

The Detractors are typically the greatest drain on the manager's time. If their desire to change is low or non-existent, all coaching and development efforts will fail. Therefore, the time invested in the Detractor should be minimal (~5%), until they demonstrate a willingness to learn and grow. Simply communicate that you believe there is a desire issue on their part, and then inform (or remind) them of the expected level of performance, the time frame required to reach that acceptable level, and a willingness on your part to support them if their desire to change emerges. What we do not recommend is to communicate that you don't value the rep, but until they are willing to change, coaching is futile.

On the other hand, heavily invest in the Strivers (~75%). This is your greatest opportunity to enhance the overall performance of your team. They embrace the idea that they need to improve and are open to input and ideas for improvement. Specific performance requirements should be communicated, but a bit more grace should be granted if they are committed to the development plan you have mapped out.

Second only to the Striver, managers should invest a considerable amount of time with the Achievers (~15%). These are the stars of the team who also have a desire to continually improve. Here the strategy should be to grow, challenge, and retain.

Adopting this approach to coaching will help remove the first barrier to developing your team – a lack of time. Additionally, this process will encourage you to intentionally focus on the emotional barrier that keeps your Independents and Detractors from moving to the next level and places the responsibility to “get above the line” squarely on their shoulders. The message becomes extremely simple – “If you don’t want to show up for practice, that is your decision, but performance in the game is non-negotiable.” Now the accountability to perform has been clearly communicated and it is up to the rep to pursue you further for help. The next step is to focus all of your energy on those team members who will respond to your development support – Achievers and Strivers.

Good luck...and now go forth and coach. If you have any questions or would like to discuss this further, please don't hesitate to contact me.

About the Author

Founding partner and Chief Executive Officer, Tom Stanfill has focused his 17 years of experience consulting and developing training programs for inside and field sales organizations. He is widely recognized as a thought leader in the field of account management, acquisition and growth. Tom has published numerous articles on the subject of selling and is a frequent speaker at the most prestigious industry shows.

Prior to starting Aslan, Tom founded and ran eS2 (Enterprise Sales Solutions) – a business-to-business contract sales force that was recognized as one of the 4th fastest growing company in its category. eS2 employed over one hundred sales representatives providing lead generation, account development, and inside sales support to its clients. With the combination of extensive sales and sales management experience and more than a decade focused on developing training programs, Tom is well positioned as the head of program development and the sales subject matter expert.

About Aslan

Aslan Training & Development, LLC is a global sales training and consulting firm that offers customized inside sales training, field sales training, and sales leadership development. For over 15 years, Aslan has helped internationally recognized brands, such as FedEx, Oracle, Xerox, GE, Apple and others, improve the performance of their sales reps and managers. Aslan recognizes that selling, managing customers, and prospecting over the phone require a unique skill set. As a result, the company has developed a total solution that includes hiring strategies, transitioning managers into coaches and leaders and improving overall performance.