Are You Wrecking Sales?

Jason | Credit: Bill Gillespie

Do you fire sales? Are you preventing your own success? Are you in the way of sales growth and a deeper sales bench? It happens more than you think.

Let me change the paradigm. I’ll get back to my sales question in a few paragraphs.

My son was born a natural athlete. He’s incredibly coordinated, strong and smart. His hand eye coordination is amazing and was obvious when he was quite young.

Her Ladyship and I signed him up for baseball. In our area there was no such thing as tee-ball. The local league was coach pitch and advanced to kid pitch. This was not a problem for Jason. I taught him how to hit a pitched ball when he was three.

He also had a strong arm. He could throw the ball from center field to home plate on a string. He was made for baseball. He was perfect and was only six years old.

His first season went great. He was a guaranteed hit every time he came to the plate. By all-star time he was an obvious choice. The league and coaches loved him.

As the second season approached, we started getting calls. “Just checking, Jason’s going to play this year, isn’t he? We’re starting to think about our team.” It was exactly the same in season three.

At seven, the kids advanced to kid pitch. Jason could throw the ball 48 miles per hour straight as a string. Kids that age couldn’t hit that. He pitched and hit. Once again, he was a star.

It wasn’t enough for me. I saw Chipper Jones in the making. My son would be able to do everything I dreamed of for myself. I had to get him ready.

I bought equipment for our backyard. I insisted that he throw 100 pitches, daily. I also took him to batting cages. I turned baseball into work. I forgot about the fun.

I complained to one of his coaches that he didn’t seem to be having fun anymore. I couldn’t see myself in the problem. His coach said, “Bill, at this age we just want them to keep playing. They won’t do that if they aren’t enjoying it. Relax and let him be a kid.” I nodded but I knew better. I kept the pressure on.

He played four years and quit. It was my fault. I ruined baseball for him and for me.

Back to selling. Do we do that with young reps? What are our expectations of someone new to sales? Do we take the excitement out of it for them? Do we teach them to hate it before they get good at it? Are we ever the problem?

I’ve written about this often. A rep in year one faces a different world than a rep in year five. They’re trying to learn processes, what works, markets and the kind of client they’re right for. They don’t know if they’re going to like selling. We’ll be better served if we help make sure they do.

Years ago, I took a sales leadership assignment. Like most companies, the team was diverse. There were mega successful reps, middle of the road reps, get out of my way reps and a few that struggled.

One guy in particular was trying print sales after having been an agency account executive. He was struggling. His salary had been repeatedly cut and he was resentful. He did not have a positive view of print sales.

As we talked, I discovered that he was bothered by the daily sales updates the owner shared. His name was rarely on the “leaderboard” and it made him feel inferior. He dreaded the daily “numbers email.”

I asked, “are you measuring yourself against those guys at the top? You’ll be miserable if you are. They’ve been at it for years. You can’t compete with them…yet.”

He conceded that he was. I could tell my words were letting him off the hook. He looked at me and asked, “what should I be measuring?”

We talked about call backs, estimate requests, new appointments and email responses. These are important yardsticks to someone getting started. The sales dollars come later.

Fast Forward: These days he dominates the “leaderboard.”

So, I repeat my question. Do you fire sales? Are you keeping score when you should be training? Are you applying pressure when you should be encouraging?

It matters to your success and your company culture. Don’t ruin selling like I ruined baseball.