Sales Management: 4 ways Sales Management can take ‘A’ players to ‘A+’ players

Sales Management: By Dan Perry, Sales Benchmark Index, Mon, Oct 17, 2011

55% of your ‘A’ sales reps don’t think they are great sales reps because Sales Management has never told them. Our research has found that not informing ‘A’ sales reps that they’re on the “fast track” can create a talent drop-off later as they feel under appreciated and look to place their great sales skills elsewhere.

As the job market improves, those ‘A’ sales reps could be the first to leave.

Why should you be concerned? Other companies and recruiters do tell them they are ‘A’ players. Towers Watson recently reported over 67% of sales reps are not happy with their current company and 35% have been contacted by a recruiter in the last 3 months. OUCH!

Have you told your ‘A’ players that they are great? The key thought is not to just tell them they are the best. You must assess them and determine if they can be ‘A+’ players. Then turn them into ‘A+’ players.

Why?

Your ‘A’ players sell 3X the amount of revenue than your ‘B’ players. However, the ‘A’+ sales reps sell 6X your ‘B’’s.

The market wants these people. Your competition wants these sales reps. You want to retain them. You want the additional revenue.

What should you do?

Four ways to move ‘A’s to ‘A+’

#1 – Time. You must spend time with your best people. Time in front of customers. Time with you. And time developing them into all-stars. Everyone wants to be appreciated. These potential ‘A’+ sales reps are not everyone. They are hyper sensitive. They need to be told they are great and expect your attention to even the smallest items. Commit the time through deal strategy calls, senior leadership involvement and mentoring other sales reps.

#2 – Challenge. Put your top sales people with your biggest challenges. Give them extra work, increase their quota and ask more from them. Super ‘A’s have the ability to use their time well, take on other work and multi task. They can deliver 6X the revenue, 2X the margin and lead the company with new products, solutions and ideas. Make them feel special by giving them big goals. They will love it.

#3 – Measure. Use your Sales Performance Management system to baseline their performance and track the results. ‘A+’ players should have:

Key Metric	‘A+’ Players Performance
Close Rate	75% higher than ‘B’ Players
Sales Cycle Length	25% shorter than the your sales force’s average
Average Sales Price	110% higher than the average
No Decision Loss Rate	90% lower than your ‘B’ Players
Forecast Accuracy	125% more accurate than average

#4 – Incentivize. Make it worth their while to crush the number…

http://www.salesbenchmarkindex.com/bid/69727/4-ways-Sales-Management-can-take-A-players-to-A-players

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