For our first Blog post, we looked at a topic we’ve seen in nearly every single business. Can you relate too?!
‘Good’:
He never shows up to work or meetings on time, and always seems to be out of the office ‘working from home’ or at ‘client meetings’.
Often you can’t reach him on phone or email, and rarely get a response.
He is arrogant.
He’s very friendly with the boss and seems to be given an easier time than the rest of the team.
He treats his colleagues as inferiors and doesn’t offer to help them.
He doesn’t get on with the team.
He follows no defined sales process, either the company’s or an industry standard.
He doesn’t do admin – he rarely updates the CRM.
Manufacturing and accounts have to tidy up his booked order mistakes.
He frequently gets caught stretching the truth about things.
His aftersales service to clients is non-existent.
He’s middle aged or older, and isn’t interested in progression.
He often brings in large, lump sum orders.
He meets or exceeds his targets.
His remuneration package is £100k a year.
Q. Why is he ‘good’? A. “He brings in the most money to the business, about £1m p.a.”
‘Bad’:
He’s always on time and puts in extra hours in the office when not at meetings.
He responds on phone or email as soon as possible, if not straight away.
He is lacking in confidence.
He always gets a hard time from the boss.
He treats his colleagues with respect and always offers to help them.
He gets on well with the team, and they all seem to like him.
He follows the agreed and defined sales process every time.
His CRM and admin is flawless.
Manufacturing and accounts love dealing with his booked orders.
He always tells the truth and acts with integrity.
Clients love him, they can’t speak highly enough about his level of service.
He’s young, keen to learn and has the potential to go far in the wider business.
He brings in a steady amount of smaller orders.
He meets some of his targets, but not all.
His remuneration package is £45k a year.
Q. Why is he ‘bad’? A. “He doesn’t bring in the most, only about £700k p.a.”
So who would you rather work with?
And who would you rather manage?
Of course, there are a huge number of other variables in the background to consider than our brief example.
But frequently, the perception of good and bad in sales can so often be viewed narrowly, based on how much one person ‘brings in’ to the business.
There are other costs which are regularly forgotten about, tangible and intangible, that actually mean the ‘bad’ sales guy provides the
best value for money to the business.
Look deeper, see further.
If you want to understand the true cost and benefit of your sales team to your business, and how to maximise employees’ potential, speak to Allan Panthera about taking our CHALLANGE™ to achieve your business growth ambitions.
*Any reference to the masculine gender includes the feminine.