First Things First

Sales team/person management is probably the the single most powerful tool a struggling company has to turn things around. Let me state the obvious for starters, bad sales people do bad things, quiet salespeople are invisible, average salespeople do average things, rollercoster salespeople are ready to quit one month and top sales people self manage.

So you have already pegged your sales person/ team based on the descriptors stated above. Are you happy with where they are?

The first thing you have to do is identify where you are with your sales person/ team. Do they know what to do? Did you tell them or are they making it (necessary behaviors for success) up as they go? Have you set clear expectations which they agree with? Do you even know what they should be doing? What does your accountability plan look like?

If your head is spinning with opportunities for improvement already you should stop here and do nothing else until you get to where you want to be with these basics:

• who is on the team?
• what are they doing
• are they doing the right things?
• how are you setting them up for success by clearly stating your expectations which are actionable?

If you can not spend the time to do the above well yourself, hire a professional. An effective sales team is where all the money comes from. Without it your better equipped competitor is reaping profits you are playing dead on.