The answer to this question is both, but we suggest managing with an iron fist for at least the first six months. It will take six months to a year to determine which of your sales agents can self-manage.
Micromanage salespeople until they prove they can hold themselves accountable. Face the facts, nobody wants to be micromanaged or held accountable—nobody, not even you! To hold them accountable, you need a system and we’re going to introduce you to it here at no charge.
This advice will save you months of wasted time and money, not to mention the heart-wrenching disappointment. I've "been there and done that" many times. Empowering people too soon is a very costly mistake.
When you introduce a new idea, 15% to 20% of your agents will “get it” immediately. They're the "early adaptors," and the rest, the 66% majority, will follow them. Be patient and work with your early adaptors and encourage them to lead the others.
If, after two years, you still need to micromanage an agent, that is the time to consider replacing them. If you keep mediocre producers on your sales team, your team will never improve. Keep raising the bar and bite the bullet by replacing marginal people.
Nothing will motivate your sales team more than to see familiar faces replaced. You’ll be amazed at the reactions and surprised at how people buckle down because of such leadership.
This document's challenge is only for tough-minded sales executives who want to build a better sales team one agent at a time. Be mentally prepared, because this is hard work, and there are no shortcuts! Be demanding and keep the pressure on for maximum growth with salespeople.
They want and need discipline.
Help them find their “why” and then hold them accountable weekly.
Make accountability a part of your onboarding and do a reboarding of your current agents. They have to trust you for this to work, and that takes time to create. Agents have to feel safe confiding in you. If they aren’t willing to be open with you, it’s because they think you’re not available to them or worse, that you don’t care about them.
Yes, we know you’re super busy and can’t be spending your time “hand-holding wimps.” The Sales Manager's Playbook lays out exactly how to manage salespeople. It is a step-by-step system that is demanding for both the manager and the sales agent and not right for everyone. Those happy with the status quo will never rock the boat and therefore will never discover which of their people have “sea legs and grit.”
Be open; be honest; be vulnerable and empathic. Don't misrepresent your knowledge of all the concepts in this system. You'll learn all the details together in a month or so. Don’t be a “know it all.” Most salespeople’s egos are fragile, and they need to feel good; they need to win and feel successful. A good manager’s goal is to find a way for agents to feel like winners.
Look your people in the eyes and, one on one, tell them you'll be micromanaging them. It is demeaning and disrespectful to micromanage intelligent people, but you have to do it to sort out which ones can perform independently and which ones won't.
Stick to your guns and review the following seven points at the beginning of each Performance and Projection Accountability meeting:
1. Help them identify their 90-day financial needs.
2. Help them set their sales objectives based on their needs.
3. Celebrate their wins! They have to experience success to get that winning feeling.
4. Get them to "buy in" to the fact that your job is to micromanage them for six months to a year.
5. Tell them your expectations of them and their work ethic.
6. Help them grow and learn the skills top producers use as professionals.
7. Hold their feet to the fire weekly with one-on-one Performance and Projection Accountability meetings.
Your job isn't to be popular but to be respected. Your job is to help your salespeople win and become more productive. They want to make more sales and earn more money to provide for their families and feel good about themselves. Attitude is everything. Their attitude! If you're dedicated to helping your salespeople be successful, our Sales Manager's Playbook will show you how.
