7 Things Wrong With My Sales Team #2 - They Don't Do What We Ask Them To

A quick look at the commission plan gave the clear answer. Sales Targets for each product were combined into a single quota;  effectively meaning that a rep needed to sell 4 sites of Product A to make the same commission as selling one site of Product B.

As one of the best sales VPs I’ve ever worked with was fond of saying, "We're just wind up dolls. Tell us what you want and we'll get it done.”  While my colleague was overly self-deprecating, the sentiment is completely true. And  how do we tell our salespeople what is important to us - via their compensation plan. Nothing else matters.

Let me repeat that for dramatic effect - Nothing Else Matters!  

It’s not the spiffs, the month end drawing for new set of steak knives, or promises of acclaim and recognition. Compensation Plan - Say it with me, Nothing Else Matters! 

Ok, so how do you get a sales team to focus on non-core activities?

The first rule is to be sure it’s absolutely necessary. Remember, any time you have your sales team doing something that does not involve getting the prospect to sign on the line which is dotted, you’re effectively reducing your company’s potential revenue. So, forget about having the team help with collections.

Rule Two is don’t hold your reps financially accountable for something not within their direct control. For example, resist the temptation to make forecast accuracy a commission plan component. Achieving forecast is critical in order to effectively run your business, but a good salesperson will do what they can to close every sale as soon as possible and maximize their monthly commission.  Adding a commission plan component based on achieving forecast either penalizes unfairly if a large prospect delays their decision, or creates a windfall if significant deals advance faster than expected. 

Rule Three is keep it simple. The greater the number of goals you assign the team, and the more complex you make your commission plans, the less likely they’ll actually focus on what’s important.

As an example, I've seen plans with three segments be effective.  Such a plan may look like this:

• 70% based quota achievement of Product A, 
• 15% on quota achievement of a strategic Cross-Sell Product B that supports Product A
• 15% based on team performance

Such a plan says “Your core job is to sell Product A.  Additionally you should sell Product B when it benefits the customer, and assist your team members when they need you to.”

Any more complex, and performance in one or more segments will suffer.