Volume 5, Issue4             
April 2005             

THREE WAYS TO KILL SALES

Time and time again, companies make three major mistakes that can turn their top salesperson into their competitor’s top salesperson:

Turning them into a sales manager. So what if they have no experience managing other people and like playing the role of the “lone-wolf” salesperson? So what if you still have them trying to conduct their own sales while trying to manage others? Before promoting anyone to a sales manager position, make sure that they have the profile to be a manager, truly want to be a manager, and that you give them management training. Otherwise, you’re perpetuating the “Peter Principle” (promoting a person beyond the level of their competence).

Reducing their territory or product line. You know that trouble lies ahead when the top salesperson earns more than the sales manager. Chances are that the next move will be to restrict their territory or the product line they represent. If you’re concerned that there’s just too much territory for the salesperson to handle, provide them with additional sales assistance. Once somebody owns a “turf,” it’s very hard to take it away without damaging the relationship.

Changing the commission structure. Do you really believe that reducing the salesperson’s commission gives them an incentive to earn more? First, remember that once a commission is “earned” you can’t change the commission structure. You can only revise commissions prospectively. Don’t let your concern about your salespeople “earning too much” kill their motivation or, even worse, drive them to the competition.

 

WORKPLACE STRESS? COOL IS THE RULE

If your New Year’s resolution about not stressing out on the job has fallen by the wayside, these tips can help you — and your employees — stay calm under pressure:

  • Telecommute when you can. When life gets crazy, the freedom to work from home can provide a sense of control. Telecommuting helps ease stress, reduce air pollution, and (believe it or not) increase productivity.
  • Enjoy your lunch and work breaks. Take short breaks throughout the day to reduce stress.
  • Make the most of your time off. Use a floating vacation day to let off steam. Get plenty of sleep. Make time for exercise. Pursue activities that help get you back on an even keel, such as hanging out with friends or enjoying a hobby.
  • Take regular stretch breaks. The human body isn’t designed to sit all day. From time to time, raise your hands over your head or walk briskly to the water cooler and back. If you have sore wrists, stretch your fingers and hands. Hunch your shoulders as you look up, hold this position for a few seconds, and repeat several times.
  • Use flexible scheduling. In many workplaces, workers are freer than ever to tailor their schedules around personal needs (as long as they do a full day’s work). Employee ownership of the work schedule can reduce stress by providing flexibility to meet the demands of daily life. For example, coming to work earlier and leaving earlier, or coming in later and working later might fit with a worker’s family schedule and lessen the stress of commuting.

 

IT’S MY TURF!

When Suzy, Bill, or George has been the branch manager for 10 or more years, chances are that they view the branch as “theirs.” Not the company’s mind you, but “theirs.” The good news is that these types of managers can be quite protective of these environments and can economize on company dollars as carefully as if they were their own. The bad news: They can also spend this money as if it were their own and many don’t have good spending habits. Also, systems and formality can go out the window when things are done “their way.” As one branch manager was quick to remind his employees, “It’s my way or the highway! Burger King is always hiring.”

How do you deal with entrenched managers who, despite their longevity and profitability, now generate as many complaints as they do Manager of the Year awards? First, make sure that they’re following company policies and procedures. For example, just because Bill is a branch manager doesn’t mean that he can browse the Internet indiscriminately during working hours. Although Suzy is a branch manager, she can’t discriminate against employees with different moral or religious views.

Make it clear that longevity does not equate to license. The fact that someone is managing a branch doesn’t make it “their branch.” No manager is an island. Even if a manager has gained a loyal group of followers that doesn’t mean you should ignore their shortcomings. A great manager will treat everyone fairly and with equal opportunity; a great company will insist on this.

  

MAKE SOPS SOP

Over the years, we’ve stressed the benefits of having standard operating procedures (SOPs) for everything that a business does. As a reminder, here are nine reasons why SOPS make sense.

  1. They help you develop a system for doing things.
  2. Try manufacturing a car without a system. If you don’t manage by a system, you manage by events — and events change every time.
  3. Try competing against a competitor who has SOPs.
  4. When developing SOPs, focus not just on what you do, but how you do it. For example, every secretary might be responsible for answering phone calls. The Standard Operating Procedure shows exactly how they should do this task.
  5. Developing the “how’s” of your business requires sharing “best practices.” In the example above, all of your secretaries would discuss how they answer the phone, and through agreement, you would determine the best way to do the job.
  6. SOPs make it far easier to delegate. If your $100/hr person is doing too much in the way of $30/hr work, or if your $30/hr person is doing too much in the way of $10/hr work, it’s time to delegate. The easiest way to do this is through written documentation. If mistakes are made in the process of delegation, you should first determine whether an SOP covered that item. If it didn’t, incorporate the procedure for future reference.
  7. SOPs help you set performance expectations more easily. Job descriptions, performance appraisals, and other performance tracking tools should be directly related to the SOPs.
  8. SOPs help you grow your business. Do you think that McDonald’s or Southwest Airlines could have grown without them?
  9. SOPs provide an instant orientation for new employees and a cross-training mechanism for teams.

So where are your SOPs?

“I’m a total ‘freak’ about the importance of communicating; I believe that Southwest Airlines’ ability to tell our story, if you will, to our employees, customers, shareholders, and the communities we serve is one of the ingredients to our success.”

Colleen Barrett
President, Southwest Airlines

This issue discusses:

We’ve also provided hyperlinks to the Form of the Month.

GETTING FEEDBACK

Many companies employ “360-degree reviews” to find out how well their managers are doing. Although this is a great concept, it can turn out to be counterproductive in the long run. In fact, some surveys suggest that companies that use 360s are less profitable than those that don’t.

Let’s be clear about the purpose of a 360-degree review: It allows us to provide feedback to managers and their bosses about performance issues that, in theory, we didn’t know about. Because people are so afraid of telling it like it is, we encourage them to hide behind their shadows and give their feedback anonymously (does anybody really believe this?).

Here are two suggestions that might prove to be more effective:

Don’t make any surveys anonymous. As psychiatric giant Carl Jung might have said, this only keeps people behind their shadows, “in the dark woods.” The only reason that we continue to make any form of feedback anonymous is that we haven’t produced an environment “safe” enough for a true dialogue about performance. If you remove this anonymity, and accept what people have to say without retribution or retaliation, eventually everyone will speak up. At that point, you’ll be ready to take the next step.

Ask managers what they think their subordinates don’t like about them. Chances are that their answers will be highly accurate. Find out to what extent your managers are focused on addressing these challenges. Do they really care? If not, why not? If so, what are they doing about it? The same goes for you. If asked, what do you think others would say that they wished you would do differently? Chances are that you’d be deadly accurate. The real question is: Why don’t we address what we already know is a challenge for us?

FORM OF THE MONTH:

Verbal Warning Notice

(PDF) (WORD)

Whenever you give an verbal warning, it’s essential to document your effort. Here’s a basic form to help do just that.

 

The information presented here is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice. Due to local and state laws and ordinances, an individual article might not apply in every jurisdiction.

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© Employer Advisors Network, Inc. 2008