| Throughout my long consulting career, I've never | | | | depend on the promise of a big payout to get |
| ceased to be amazed when I hear a company | | | | their attention. No one can tear apart a |
| chief executive or head of Sales exclaim "I don't | | | | compensation plan to find the fastest route to |
| understand why those sales people act the way | | | | money quicker than a sales person. This does not |
| they do. We tell them to do one thing and they | | | | make them somehow dark or negative. |
| do the opposite. They just don't get it. Do I have | | | | The sales profession is a high risk/ high reward |
| to fire them all?!", or something to this affect. The | | | | scenario. The people who are willing to undertake |
| real issue more than likely has less to do with the | | | | these inherent risks to their compensation are a |
| sales team than with the senior leadership. | | | | special bunch apart from the norm that can be |
| Entrepreneurs and senior executives are usually | | | | more valuable than diamonds. The key is to |
| so consumed with wearing multiple hats and the | | | | understand what motivates them such that you |
| complexities of keeping the ship afloat, that they | | | | can build a compensation schema that creates a |
| often temporarily forget the basic blocking and | | | | reward structure that will drive them to act how |
| tackling of sales force optimization. Nothing can be | | | | you want - sell more, sell what you want, to who |
| more damaging than a sales team not performing. | | | | you want, etc. Therefore, it is imperative to align |
| The reason that there often is a disconnect | | | | the sales compensation plan metrics and rewards |
| between what the sales team is doing and how | | | | with the desired behavior. Sales people will |
| they are perceived to be performing is that the | | | | perform in line exactly with how the behavior |
| expectations of the leadership is not aligned with | | | | their compensation plan is structured to drive. |
| the metrics driving the behavior of the sales | | | | Therefore, when your sales team is not |
| team. The issue jumps off the page if you stand | | | | performing/ acting in line with your desires and |
| back and take a strategic view of the overall | | | | expectations, don't cast outright blame on them. |
| motivations and make-up of a sales person and | | | | More than likely there exists a disconnect |
| the way your company is motivating them. Let's | | | | between the desires of the company leadership |
| examine this for a moment. | | | | and the very behaviors that the sales |
| The behavior of Sales people overall is not difficult | | | | compensation plan is driving. Make a change to the |
| to comprehend. In a way, sales people are fairly | | | | compensation plan metrics and watch how fast |
| simple creatures. They are going to act EXACTLY | | | | the sales team starts performing more in line with |
| in concert with how they are compensated. Sales | | | | your expectations. What kind of changes can |
| people are motivated to a large extent by | | | | should be made to the compensation plan to drive |
| monetary gain. There are a myriad of other | | | | the desired results? We'll dive into this and more in |
| factors that can motivate a sales team (more on | | | | our next posting on Sales Force Optimization. |
| this in another article), but by and large, you can | | | | |