From the Executive Director

Juan A. Navejar Jr.

Sales teams are the backbone to any successful company. Even if your company is not in the direct sales market you still belong to a sales team of selling yourselves to the public market.
Think about who is promoting your business or who is selling your product for you. Do you have a top performer or perhaps someone who is just not getting the word out?  While the Chamber is not in business of selling a commodity, we are selling each and every member to someone out there with referrals. However, for those of you who do have a sales team who is pruning your team?
Some companies are blessed to have “naturals” who make your business thrive and yet you could have one who falls behind. Do you have what it takes to cut the bottom from your team? It can be easy to hold on to your poor performer because you probably invested in that person with company funding. You’ve probably spent a big chunk of time and money on hiring and training. Most companies don’t expect immediate results from new hires. How long do you give them to produce for you, three or six month perhaps?
Here’s some hard-to-swallow but helpful advice that will save you a lot of pain: Divest your company of underperformers today because they hurt your company in the following ways:
•They keep you from reaching your sales goals.
•They consume a base salary that could be better spent on high performers.
•They sap your energy and steal your focus.
•They bring other salespeople down.
Your managers will feel the burden to let some people go but it has to be done to salvage a return on your investment
Studies show that most poor performers on your team don’t want to be there. They just don’t have the personal initiative to move on. When you let them go, you are usually doing them a favor in the long run.
The key is learning to spot trouble and take action early. You can do this by setting a high bar on results during a new hire’s first few weeks. Here is a simple but aggressive model you can adapt to suit your company — and comfort level.
•Set specific and measurable goals for weeks one through four. Let new hires know that you have an aggressive trial period during which they need to quickly prove themselves.
•If the person does not meet week-one goals, give a verbal warning. Let that person know he or she has one week to complete whatever wasn’t finished during week one as well as the goals for week two.
•If those goals are not achieved by the end of week two, give a written warning that he or she will be let go if all week-one through week-three goals are not achieved by the end of week three.
•If the person doesn’t accomplish those goals by the end of week three, let him or her go.
It’s that simple. If they don’t hear your wakeup calls at the end of weeks one, two and three, you can feel fairly confident that they never will. You always have the freedom to extend some grace time at the end of week three if you sense that someone might have the potential to turn into a solid producer.
Letting people go should be done in a calm, courteous and clear manner. Simply thank them for the investment and effort they put into your company and acknowledge that, based on their performance, the position doesn’t seem to be a fit for them and that they should go somewhere that they can excel.
Remember that everyone you hire is an investment. You can train, train and train but if you are not getting the results you need to make your business succeed – start looking for a replacement and save yourself some headaches.