Managing Sales Performance – Closing Performance Gaps

By Thomas Fee

Being a sales manager requires sales experience but it does not require selling skills. Successful managers require different skills than those used by sales people. These management skills emphasize being able to help others perform their tasks at peak efficiency.

The first level of managing performance requires that managers understand the basic elements of performance management: assessment, implementation, measurement of results and continuous improvement. Management's responsibility is to get things done through others. Too many sales managers come from backgrounds of high personal productivity but never acquire the skills or leadership necessary to facilitate the performance of others. When assuming a management role, it is critical that the change in emphasis is realized.

There is a saying "If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there". The irony of this theory is that if you don't know where you're going, it doesn't matter where you end up. Therefore, hit or miss directions don't really apply to sales organizations since they have; specific objectives, sales quotas and time constraints which clearly define achievement. The manager who doesn't provide the necessary direction to lead their team in the achievement of these specific targets is not doing their job.

Performance management begins with assessing two things. The first thing a manager needs to know is where the organization is now. The second thing they need to know is where they need to go. Sales managers must lead the team in adopting behaviors and practices that will result in the achievement of quota. It is not the manager's job to personally produce results. It is their job to get others to produce them. This is a point that is somehow missed by many managers. Managers are change agents. They must have the ability to assess the behavior of others and make specific recommendations about how to change that behavior in such a way that individual and organizational objectives will be achieved.

Demanding results is a waste of time and energy. It is also an indication that the manager, who does it, lacks the competence to direct the sales team. Managers should be enablers. It is their responsibility to impart the pathway of success to others. They must understand that the achievement of objectives comes as a result of equipping them with a model and a system for success. The manager must provide the motivation, encouragement, correction and coaching for team members to understand how they will achieve their behavioral and fiscal objectives. Managers must teach the individual members of the sales team those behaviors and practices which, when they incorporate into their activities, will insure the achievement of business objectives.

Assessment can be done at an organizational level, but must eventually be translated into performance standards by which the manager can coach individual behavior. This can be done by using a simple matrix. On the horizontal axis are the major descriptors of the sales organization.

General, inclusive categories are best, like: structure, systems and performance standards. Translating these elements into individual behavior is accomplished by further breaking down the performance

standards category into: skills, behaviors and measurements. The vertical axis lists the various sales functions: sales, pre-sales, support, specialist functions and other members participating in the sales function. The matrix is not meant to reflect what's right or wrong, only what is. Some of the results of the creation of such a matrix might be to find what is missing as well as what is working. This is all part of the assessment process.

Under the "structure" heading of the matrix, the list should include things like: general characteristics, business units, organization charts, reporting channels, job descriptions and other discrete aspects of the operating design of the organization.

Under the "systems" heading of the matrix, the list should include things like: automation tools, sales methodologies, compensation plans, reporting tools and training and development systems.

Under the "performance standards" heading of the matrix, the list should include things like: business objectives, measurement systems, controls, practices, policies and procedures.

Managing Sales Performance – Closing Performance Gaps continued

Two matrices should be completed. The first matrix should describe the organization, as it currently exists. The second matrix should describe the organization, as it would exist in an "ideal" state. This gives managers the ability to see where they are now and where they need to be.

Once the matrices are completed for the existing and ideal organization, they are compared. The two are then differentiated, by listing the gaps between the existing and ideal organization. Some will be obvious; others subtle. It is important to get staff, line and management input in completing both matrices and defining the gaps between them. The gap analysis is essentially a description of those elements that are missing from the ideal organization.

Many organizations suffer from trying to create too much change over a given period of time. The result is that nothing gets done right and even those changes necessary for improvement don't occur. So, before gap closure strategies are proposed, the gaps must be prioritized in their order of importance. Importance is defined as those gaps for which closure would have the greatest impact on the sales organization and its ability to achieve results.

Assessment must also consider the organization's tolerance for absorbing change. A "force field analysis" is used to determine this. Force field analysis means that the opposing factors driving or restraining change are estimated. This will help determine the possibility of achieving closure.

One other factor critical to the success of gap closure strategies is that gaps should be prioritized according to their relevance in achieving sales objectives. So, those gaps that would have the greatest impact on the achievement of quota, number of new accounts, penetration into key markets and so on, should be the first gaps for which closure strategies are attempted.

Next, gaps are listed according to how they fall into one of four quadrants. This is done on a matrix consisting of two continuums. The vertical continuum runs from important, at the top, to unimportant, at the bottom. The horizontal continuum runs from, can't do anything about at the left, to can do something about, at the right. Efforts to implement change should focus on the closure of gaps that will have the greatest impact on the organization, are important and which there can be something done about.

Once priorities are established, gap closure strategies should be developed beginning with the number one priority, moving to the next and so on, keeping in mind the organization's tolerance for absorbing change. Gap closure strategies describe how a gap will be closed, in minimal detail, using general terms. For example, if there were no system for automating sales, the gap closure strategy would simply state: "Investigate the acquisition of a sales automation system." Gap closure strategies are the deliverables of the assessment phase.

The next step in performance management is the implementation of gap closure strategies. Implementation goes beyond just the strategy, in that the plan for implementation assigns responsibility and provides a detailed plan for executing the closure. These "action plans" for the closure of gaps include: allocation of resources, name of the individual responsible, time deadlines and a description of results and deliverables.

Implementation may take longer for some gap closures than others. For example, it may take a year to close a gap like implementing a new sales methodology since there are logistics for; classroom instruction, certification and reinforcement activities along with manager training to support reinforcement.

Managing Sales Performance – Closing Performance Gaps continued

Implementation must be thought through carefully. If implementation is to mean that a gap will be closed, there may be many steps involved in achieving this. This is why it is important to prioritize and attempt to close only a few gaps at a time. Attempting to close too many gaps over limited periods of time will result in failure to meet overall performance management objectives. This could also result in taking too much time away from field operations and prevent the achievement of established sales objectives.

Organizations may find the use of consulting resources helpful as a way to prevent taxing internal resources. Training, implementation, advice, and other aspects of gap closure objectives can often be expedited by using experts to provide solutions. Since many of these issues are not part of most organizations' core competencies, out sourcing can often provide more effective and efficient solutions while the line organization remains focused on the achievement of the organization's business objectives.

Finally, the measurement of results must be undertaken to determine whether the objectives of gap closure strategies have been achieved. In each case, the implementation phase should define what the result of successful gap closure is expected to look like. For example, if the structure of the sales organization will shift from geographic to industry vertical, what will the organization look like? How will this be communicated? What changes must be made?

Measurements must be held to specific standards and not left to speculation. When the standards for measurement are designed, it must be clear as to how they will be taken.

One of the covert purposes of establishing and comparing results against defined criteria is to establish an opportunity for continuous improvement. For example, if a new sales methodology has been implemented but nobody is using it, what must the organization do to insure that they are getting the promised benefits from their investment? Alternatives may include: manager-training, policies about the allocation of resources or field reinforcement.

Continuous improvement should be viewed as a tool to resolve problems resulting from the implementation of new or different approaches. This practice means that managers must always be looking for ways to improve whatever the organization is trying to accomplish. It requires having an open mind in regard to solutions that they may have become comfortable with. Getting an objective point of view may require evaluation from an outsider.

Performance management requires vigilance, management skill and the resolve to be brutally honest about the organizations shortcomings. Creating change is intrusive. Change has no ally's, so it is management's job to effectively lead the organization toward change and "sell" the benefits. Successfully executing improvements in individual performance and organizational productivity is the job of management, but it must be their passion in order to succeed.

About the Author:

Thomas Fee is the founder of Performance Management Consultants™. Performance Management Consultants™ is dedicated to providing the next generation of professional development enhanced by technology and coaching to enable users to change their behavior resulting in improved performance.

They have developed numerous programs and processes to enhance the skills, behaviors and activities of managers, sales, client service and pre-sales (SE) professionals. Performance Management Consultant’s™ programs address the specific challenges faced by those working in the areas of business practice known as Customer Relationship Management and Complex Sales.

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