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I was having coffee with an old client the other day. A few months ago we worked on getting his sales team out of the funk they were in. We spent a few weeks analysing how the market had changed and discovered that customers were valuing the advice Jim and his team could offer them a lot more than the products his company makes.
"So how's your team doing?" I asked him. "Oh they're all fine. There's a certain energy in the air we haven't had in a long time. Even the numbers have started going up. Too bad about Paul, though".
Paul was the best salesman Jim's company had ever had. In fact, in the year before, Paul single-handily contributed 15% to their bottom line. "What happened to Paul?" I asked. "I had to let him go," said Jim, hardly masking his disappointment. "You know how they say that 'nothing fails like success'? Well, that's what happened with Paul.
It's not so much that his numbers were down. They were, but so were everybody else's. But while the rest of us were all busy trying to figure out how to sell differently, Paul was convinced that if we wait long enough, the storm will simply pass and the good times will come rolling back. I kept him on board as long as I could, but when everyone's performance started to improve, everyone's but Paul's, I had to cut the cord."
Paul's case isn't unique. Many top performers have a hard time adapting to new business environments. Fortunately, there are a number of ways managers can help them shape up.
The first is checking whether you've communicated how you want your team to sell differently. Many managers take it for granted that everyone on their team has a built-in feeling for what needs to be done. But sales people do first and foremost what they're expected to. So before you expect your top performers to change, make sure they know which accounts they should be focusing on, which products and services should be promoted more heavily, and which changes you want to see in the way they interact with the rest of the organisation. |
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"Many top performers have a hard time adapting to new business environments. Fortunately, there are a number of ways managers can help them shape up."
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The second thing you can do to help your top performers adapt is to join them in meeting key customers. Hearing how the customer's life has changed in the past year can be insightful and illuminating. But be careful about which customers you visit. If you focus only on "good" customers, chances are they won't be able to shed any light on why so many of your other customers aren't buying as much as they used to.
Finally, one of the best ways to bring about change is getting your top performers an executive coach.Unlike anyone else in the organisation, a coach has only one agenda: to improve your performance. A good coach also has the experience it takes to deal with strong personalities, such as those often found in top performers. |
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"Unlike anyone else in the organisation, a coach has only one agenda: to improve your performance."
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Seeing your best people under-perform is difficult. But building top performers from scratch could prove even more difficult. So before you send your top performers home, remember that under the right conditions, an old dog can learn new tricks.
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