It’s something every sales manager has seen. The salesperson who isn’t cutting it. They’re not making the numbers, are unhappy and visibly depressed, and the team is feeling the consequences. It’s not easy to handle a situation with a new hire or a long-term employee. Ask yourself these questions before you make the decision to fire a salesperson. You could be missing an opportunity as a sales manager.
1. Are they able to produce satisfactory results in the past?
You can trust that a salesperson has done a satisfactory job for you before. You should identify the problem and resolve it so that they can get on track again. They might not be the right fit for the job if they haven’t produced results.
2. Is there a personal issue?
Sometimes a personal problem can cause salespeople to lose their motivation for a while. It is essential to determine if the problem is temporary or permanent. This analysis assesses the salesperson’s stress level and their ability to deal with stress. This will allow us to identify the root cause of the problem and help you to fix it.
3. Is there anything that has changed in the company that might affect employees’ performance or attitudes?
Mergers, acquisitions, and new management can all have an impact on the performance of your sales team. These can have a significant impact on your sales team’s performance. You can help your sales team prepare for significant changes if you are aware of it. If the change is already occurring or is imminent, you can use your resources to support them during this transition. Many top performers were terminated due to the inability to navigate a corporate restructuring well.
4. Is the role right for them?
There are many reasons why a person might not be the right fit to fill a specific sales role. They don’t have to be a salesperson just because they are sales personalities and have previous sales experience. We can help you identify your core competencies and compare them to the requirements of the sales position. A proven, research-based analysis system and feedback system will help you determine if your salesperson is able to align their capabilities with the job requirements.
5. Are they being adequately managed?
Poor sales managers/salespeople relationships are often the main reason for poor performance. It is crucial to understand how your salespeople work and what they want and need. In-depth analysis with a trusted sales training program will help you to better understand your salespeople. You can then coach and guide them more effectively. Ineffective coaching is often the cause of poor sales performance and even termination. This leads to potential sales champions being fired, and you both lose the opportunity.
6. Could they be more suited to another position in the company?
An analysis revealed that salespeople could be moved to other roles within the company and their expertise transferred. They could be a good candidate for a sales manager, account manager, or trainer. Promoting should not be solely based on sales results. Many times, top salespeople aren’t very good at being sales managers. Salespeople with mediocre sales skills who can sell professionally and coach others are more likely to succeed in sales management.
These are the questions to ask before you terminate a low-performing salesperson. While there are many other things to consider before you let someone go, these are the most important.
