Complaining about how the sales force is not doing things right is rather common. We often hear that this from sales executives or CEOs. Problems sometimes involve that the salespersons are not performing well in terms of numbers. Sometimes, however, the worries go deeper: the salespersons are not working in a way that reflects the company’s approach and the overall strategy of the firm. It may be that the company is focusing on building long-term profitable relationships with a small number of key customers, whereas the salespersons are focusing on closing small deals with a large number of customers.
It is not uncommon for us to notice that the company’s and the salespersons approaches are not in synch. Quite often the reason for this is quite simple – the company using the wrong measurements for rewarding its salespersons. Instead of measuring the salespersons according to criteria that adopt a long-term focus and developing relationships with the customers, the salespersons are measured based on sales quotas and other metrics which adopt a short-term focus.
Our suggestion therefore is to check that the company is using the correct measurements for their salespersons and sales force.