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If you lead a sales team, here are some proven and simple ways you can make your top performing sales reps leave for another employer. I am not quite sure why anyone would want their top reps to leave, but I have witnessed all of these things happen first hand, so I thought I would compile a list for easy reference:<\/span><\/p>\n Changing the rules of the game is a fast way to frustrate your best sales reps and is a <\/span>top point of failure<\/span><\/a> for compensation plans. This is particularly true when it occurs in the middle of a sales cycle and reps find that their maturing leads will result in lower payout commission than they expected. In addition, compensation plans can be difficult to understand. Reps won\u2019t enjoy wrapping their heads around yet another one, especially if they need to significantly pivot their selling tasks and behaviors to meet performance standards. <\/span><\/p>\n Limit changes to compensation plans. If an adjustment is necessary, provide ample notice and communicate the ways that it can benefit both the rep and the business overall.<\/span><\/p>\n High-performing sales organizations have been <\/span>found<\/span> to consistently reward their talent with compensation packages that are above market, which is one reason we strongly recommend against commission caps. They remove incentive for the best performers to grow, and top talent will soon look to other companies that can offer them uncapped earnings. They also remove an employer\u2019s control over performance once the cap is activated. <\/span><\/p>\n What\u2019s more, there is very rarely an economic downside for a company to pay large commissions if the sales compensation plan is structured to be profitable at any level.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was recently eating lunch with a telecom sales rep at a big company. We were talking about the comp plan and he mentioned that their pay stub showed a \u2018commission deduction line.\u2019 It shows the amount of commission earned and then a deduction for earning above the limit for the pay period. Let me repeat this. This company actually shows reps how they are being screwed (ahem, sorry, \u2018capped\u2019) as a line item on their pay stub. I can\u2019t imagine anything more de-motivating.\u201d \u2014 <\/span><\/i>Steve Richard<\/span><\/i>, CRO of Vorsight BP<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n Companies should keep reps focused on delivering sales results by rewarding consistently excellent performance. But penalizing the team for post sales delivery is a distraction from those results that really matter. <\/span><\/p>\n Salespeople generally have varying approaches to post-sales relationships with clients. According to Steve W. Martin\u2019s <\/span>research<\/span><\/a>, 36% of salespeople report that they feel personally responsible and dedicated to a customer\u2019s success. 17% develop close friendships with them, while 26% report cordial but less personal relationships, citing busyness on both ends. 22% take a hands-off approach and just stay up to date on the client\u2019s experience post sale.<\/span><\/p>\n The customer and company certainly both benefit from an excellent post-sales experience. But penalizing it detracts from what\u2019s most important: selling activities.<\/span><\/p>\n Another common mistake in compensation plans is the tendency to pay commissions only on the sales of certain products and not others, even if they generate profit for the company. This doesn\u2019t align rep goals with business goals. Instead, companies should pay the highest commissions for the sales that generate the highest profits, regardless of type of sale or type of product.<\/span><\/p>\n Great reps want and need to sell great product offerings, not \u201cme too\u201d solutions. This is why it\u2019s absolutely critical for product leaders to support sales and marketing by creating products that solve big problems for customers and disrupt the marketplace. They must also position the product well against the competition and find a price point that resonates with the market. <\/span><\/p>\n Product teams can listen to what customers truly want to purchase by tapping into the sales channel, support channels, market research, and user experience research, then use this information to develop a product roadmap that meets current customer demands and innovates to differentiate the product in the future. Meanwhile, companies can invest in a smooth product delivery process or infrastructure and create a robust support function to ensure customer success and loyalty after a sale.<\/span><\/p>\n A <\/span>16-year quantitative study<\/span><\/a> from the Harvard Business Review investigated the notion of \u201cbrand equity\u201d and concluded that \u201cbillions of dollars are locked up in B2B brands, yet managers consistently skimp on brand building.\u201d That\u2019s an expensive mistake. <\/span><\/p>\n It found that corporate brand is responsible for 7% of stock performance, on average, for top public companies. What\u2019s more, the best 40 brands <\/span>outperform<\/span> stock index MSCI world index by 73%. <\/span><\/p>\n A strong brand affects every business function, and sales is no exception. When a company is recognizable, a rep can enter a prospect relationship with a base level of familiarity and trust, saving time and effort.<\/span><\/p>\n There are many ways to invest in brand, such as: <\/span><\/p>\n Mike Weinberg puts it well: \u201cIf the consequences for your reps not updating the CRM are harsher than they are for poor results and weak pipeline then it\u2019s time for you to take a sabbatical and rethink your leadership priorities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Focus is critical to help your rep achieve sales results. Reprioritize activities like updating CRMs, pulling reports, and creating sales enablement materials like case studies by hand. You can cap time spent on these activities, and don\u2019t penalize reps for being behind.<\/span><\/p>\n If hiring strong salespeople sounds expensive, speak to any business leader who has built a team of mediocre salespeople. Underperforming sales reps drain financial resources, put pressure on managerial resources, hurt brand reputation in the marketplace, and damage the morale of the rest of the team. <\/span><\/p>\n If it\u2019s tempting to fill an open seat quickly, resist the urge. (See our quick calculation of <\/span>the cost of a bad sales hire<\/span><\/a> and \u00a0<\/span>4 types of salespeople you don\u2019t want on your team.<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s equally important to fire poor performers quickly. <\/span>Research<\/span> shows that high-performing sales organizations are quicker to terminate: 18% of them fire after just one quarter, compared to 5% of underperforming organizations.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOwnership is the most powerful motivator in business,\u201d <\/span>writes<\/span><\/a> Chuck Blakeman, business advisor and founder. Reps who maintain ownership of a prospect from nurture stage onward will stay motivated to close them, and will be able celebrate in earnest once they do. <\/span><\/p>\n If a manager steps in to take over a rep\u2019s account, however, that ownership is disrupted. <\/span><\/p>\n Managers should instead leave the selling to their talented reps. Companies with a well-developed sales process will be able to trust the rep\u2019s ability to follow protocol, and managers can use weekly one-on-one time to stay updated on the status of projects (and get involved when appropriate).<\/span><\/p>\n Excellent reps thrive in an environment where measurable business objectives are aligned with performance goals and where evaluations are based on those objectives. <\/span><\/p>\n It can feel frustratingly irrelevant when a company places too much attention on a rep\u2019s hours, busywork activities, and physical time spent \u201cin the seat.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Results are what matter. To keep top sales talent, set clear expectations for success and keep performance measurements focused on those results. Rather than asking whether they were at their desk on Monday, ask them what matters: what accounts closed, deal size, and leading indicators like size of pipeline.<\/span><\/p>\n Rejections rack up on a daily basis in sales, yet a team\u2019s success depends on their ability to soldier forward in the face of this reality. This is why it\u2019s so important for a manager to support their reps by acknowledging and celebrating progress. <\/span><\/p>\n The <\/span>key is in the small wins<\/span><\/a>. Research from Harvard Business School <\/span>shows<\/span><\/a> how small wins have a strong positive effect on a worker\u2019s motivation and their ability to tackle difficult work challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n So track daily and weekly wins. Keep a pulse on small positive metrics like leading indicators. Publicly acknowledge progress and remind your team of its overarching mission on a regular basis. <\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s a <\/span>massive list of methods you can use to motivate your sales force<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Time is your salespeople\u2019s most valuable and scarce resource, yet we see companies skimp on travel budget. Cheap travel arrangements can take a long time, chip away from selling time, and don\u2019t deliver reps in their best possible condition. <\/span><\/p>\n Research<\/span><\/a>* shows that every $1 strategically invested in business travel is correlated with an increase in $20 of additional gross profit, according to an analysis of 900 public companies over an 11-year period.<\/span><\/p>\n Even the best salesperson\u2019s performance hurts in the absence of a well-structured sales process, best practices, and resources. Research shows <\/span>that high performance companies<\/span><\/a> are<\/span> two times more likely<\/span><\/a> to have structured sales process, and businesses that want to help their sales reps reach full potential need to support them in this way. <\/span><\/p>\n Talented reps don\u2019t want to spend their time developing resources and reinventing the wheel. Support them with high quality reference materials, sales enablement collateral, objection scripts, value proposition talking points, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n Top sales talent values integrity. A <\/span>survey<\/span><\/a> of high-performing salespeople overwhelmingly shows a preference for the truth, with 36% reporting \u201cnothing but the whole truth is acceptable,\u201d and 34% reporting \u201cyou don\u2019t have to point out every blemish of your product.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Reps stay intrinsically motivated when they believe in their mission and ability to match prospects with a truly good-fit solution. So lying to customers is a lose-lose proposition. Customers will lose trust in the company and churn, while a rep loses their most basic and powerful motivation engine. And managers that require a rep to lie will simply alienate their top talent and lose their respect.<\/span><\/p>\n Coaching is one of the most important activities a manager can do to develop their reps. <\/span><\/p>\n Not only does it benefit the company\u2019s revenue, it is a retention tool that is directly linked to job satisfaction. A Bridge Group <\/span>survey<\/span><\/a> of over 2,000 sales professionals found that reps who received more coaching than others (over 3 hours per month) were twice as likely to recommend their role at their company to a friend. In other words, they were twice as likely to be \u201cpromoters,\u201d using the standard satisfaction measure of NPS (Net Promoter Score).<\/span><\/p>\n There is room for improvement for managers to provide this support to their teams. We see a disconnect between how much coaching a rep feels they receive and what a manager thinks they provide. Managers from the Bridge Group survey reported that they provide an average of 3.9 coaching hours per rep per months, while reps reported receiving 2.2 hours. That\u2019s a 40% discrepancy.<\/span><\/p>\n Managers can\u2019t lead from an ivory tower. For one, a disconnect can develop between a manager\u2019s and a team\u2019s appraisal of what their customers need and want if managers are not in touch with the reality of their customer base. Either the sales leadership and strategy start missing the mark, or reps need to spend time educating their managers on what they see in daily interactions, which draws away from selling time. <\/span><\/p>\n Secondly, reps need to see managers \u201cin the pit\u201d with them, modeling behaviors and attitudes. There\u2019s nothing more frustrating than taking direction from a leader who is out of touch with the realities of the team.<\/span><\/p>\n Rewards reinforce behavior, and to keep your salespeople loyal and productive, make sure they can see an immediate connection between their positive activities and their commissions. It can be demotivating for a top rep to deliver a great sale and not receive commission when it\u2019s due. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen salespeople succeed, they should see it reflected in their paychecks immediately. When they fail, they should feel the pain in their paychecks immediately,\u201d <\/span>said Mark Roberge<\/span><\/a>, who built the sales team at HubSpot. \u201cAny delay between good (or bad) behavior and the related financial outcome will decrease the impact of the plan.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n There is no faster way to alienate your team than to take credit for their work. <\/span><\/p>\n1. Regularly change the compensation plan<\/h3>\n
2. Reduce the commission rate if reps start producing big sales and big commission\u00a0checks<\/h3>\n
3. Penalize the sales team for poor post-sales delivery<\/h3>\n
4. Refuse to comp sales reps on certain types of sales that generate desirable profits for the company<\/h3>\n
5. Fail to support reps\u00a0with proactive product management, strong product development, professional delivery and effective support<\/h3>\n
6. Invest nothing in marketing and brand recognition<\/h3>\n
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7. Make them spend a lot of time completing reports and doing other non-selling activities<\/h3>\n
8. Hire sub-par sales reps and keep poor performers on board<\/h3>\n
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9. Step in to take over accounts reps have worked hard to acquire and develop<\/h3>\n10. Focus on hours and activities instead of your rep\u2019s results<\/h3>\n
11. Forget to be a cheerleader that distracts everyone from the daily rejections<\/h3>\n
12. Require reps to make cheap travel arrangements which waste valuable selling time<\/h3>\n
13. Fail to\u00a0provide best practices and resources such as objection handling scripts and reference material<\/h3>\n
14. Ask reps to lie to customers and prospects in order to close more business<\/h3>\n
15. Avoid coaching and constructively helping the reps be bigger producerd<\/h3>\n
16. Refuse to leave your office and visit customers<\/h3>\n
17. Pay commissions late<\/h3>\n
18. Take credit for closing deals reps close<\/h3>\n
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