Bad salespeople are actually very good at selling their activity to their manager. They convince their manager that they are “doing everything possible.” However, they do not achieve results. In fact, they do not achieve results because they do not want to. All they want is to keep their job. And everything they do is the bare minimum of effort that allows them to maintain their position.
Good salespeople want results and achieve them. In general, people tend to pursue what they want. Some strive to keep their jobs, while others aim for higher sales.
The role of a manager is essentially to ensure that everyone is motivated to achieve results. Sales techniques don’t matter. The quality of leads doesn’t matter. Experience doesn’t matter. What matters is the desire. If there is a desire, then skills, techniques, and leads will be absorbed like a sponge and fully mastered. But if there is no desire, no training will help.
There is an interesting chain effect in the problem of poor salespeople. The manager knows that a certain level of activity will lead to results. However, the poor salesperson demonstrates that this activity does not yield results. The manager continues to insist on maintaining that activity, while the poor salesperson keeps being active, but without any results.
Poor salespeople are very good at selling managers on the idea that there is no connection between activity and results, making the manager feel responsible for their failures and forcing them to look for ways to optimize the salesperson’s activity.
Good salespeople are confident that activity leads to results. It’s like battery-operated toy cars sold in subway stations. They roll around a cardboard “arena,” bump into walls, turn slightly, and keep going. If you leave one of these cars in an empty room, it will eventually drive out. It will do so simply because it is programmed to. Activity leads to results.
Bad salespeople are like toy cars that either stop when they hit a wall, bounce back at a perfect 180-degree angle to return to their starting point, or keep crashing into the wall without bouncing back. All of this is just a demonstration of activity without any results.
The manager asks us to be active—here’s your activity. Who cares about the results? No one. I care about my job and my responsibilities, which involve doing what the manager asks.
However, a manager shouldn’t focus on trying to turn poor salespeople into good ones by somehow adjusting their goals. A manager’s work also needs to be effective. If you have two salespeople, one selling 10 phones a day and the other 100, by directing your managerial efforts, attention, and support to one of the salespeople, you might increase their productivity by, say, 10%. Now, answer this: what’s better, selling one more phone or ten more?
Why do most managers focus on helping underperforming salespeople and nurturing them? Why do they “buy” activity instead of results? It’s important to simplify your approach. Spend time with those who are selling, and you’ll achieve more. After all, results matter to you too, not just activity, right?
If the result is important to you, don’t ask your subordinates about their activity. Ask about the outcome instead. The score is on the board. A poor salesperson will always try to tell you what they did or what held them back, rather than what results they achieved. Don’t fall into that trap.