[geoads2]
- Keeping a mediocre sales person in post who does not have the capability to improve because it’s easier than firing them and finding a better replacement.
- Seeing sales managers spending more time at head office than in the field with sales people and key customers.
- Operating a bonus scheme that does not motivate sales people to perform at a higher level than they otherwise would.
- Not having any sales targets in place well before the start of the next financial year.
- Leaving product/application/technical training to chance, or ‘when we have time’.
- Having no effective account management process in place.
- Inaccurate sales forecasting, where gaming the system and surviving the process is more important than producing real and meaningful data.
- Having an unfit for purpose CRM system.
- Seeing one or two senior experienced, long serving salespeople set cultural and performance standards, with their managers not prepared to take them on.
- Having only ‘winner takes all’ incentive schemes that create an inwards looking competitive perspective, rather than competing against individual targets.
- Having a finance director who sees a prime function of their role to minimise the amount of money the salespeople earn.
- Firing sales people for poor performance, but ignoring/rewarding poor behaviour.
- Promoting the best sales people into management positions with no regard for first indentifying whether they have any managerial capability.
- No understanding, or development, of sales best practice.
- An over-managed under-led directive approach.
[geoads3]
