Do you want to earn £1000s? Hungry sales people wanted! Uncapped bonuses! That's what the adverts say but what happens when your best sales people start earning 'enough' money. No one can earn enough money? Not true. A survey recently put the price of happiness at £50k a year http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/sep/06/earnings-pay-happiness-research.
Once people are earning £50,000 a year more money doesn't make them any happier. There is a real danger here for sales people. If they are happy with the amount they are earning their activity drops when their activity drops their sales drop off and when their sales drop off their earnings drop off. Not a huge problem then because they will just start working again to get back up to that mark? Not true. Firstly there is a cost of motivation for the other team members to see a high flyer taking their foot off the gas. Secondly once someone has slacked off it is very difficult for them to pick things back up again and that is when you get the burn out.
The mark is not £50k for everyone. For some it maybe lower, for most sales people I imagine it is higher but a mark exists and if you look around your sales team you may well spot those that have reached it.
I was unfortunate enough to have seen a very successful IT sales person in his early 40s living a nice lifestyle, nice house, nice car, membership to the right golf clubs etc crash and burn to the point of homelessness. He was earning enough money. He stopped working as hard and sure enough the sales dropped off. He found it difficult to ramp up his activity. He told me he was going to bed at night thinking "tomorrow I'll graft" but tomorrow never comes and neither did the grafting until it was too late. Then he was desperately selling. Clients can smell desperation and want no part of it. My guys don't sell. They create business relationships (something I will go into another day). Its impossible to create a relationship when you're on your knees.
So as a sales person how can you prevent yourself falling into this trap and as a sales manager how can you prevent your staff falling into it? Paying less is not an option. What else can you come up with?
Building pride and a sense of ownership in the business is how we try to do it combined with ensuring your targetting is SMART. If you don't know SMART. Stop reading blogs and look it up.
Once people are earning £50,000 a year more money doesn't make them any happier. There is a real danger here for sales people. If they are happy with the amount they are earning their activity drops when their activity drops their sales drop off and when their sales drop off their earnings drop off. Not a huge problem then because they will just start working again to get back up to that mark? Not true. Firstly there is a cost of motivation for the other team members to see a high flyer taking their foot off the gas. Secondly once someone has slacked off it is very difficult for them to pick things back up again and that is when you get the burn out.
The mark is not £50k for everyone. For some it maybe lower, for most sales people I imagine it is higher but a mark exists and if you look around your sales team you may well spot those that have reached it.
I was unfortunate enough to have seen a very successful IT sales person in his early 40s living a nice lifestyle, nice house, nice car, membership to the right golf clubs etc crash and burn to the point of homelessness. He was earning enough money. He stopped working as hard and sure enough the sales dropped off. He found it difficult to ramp up his activity. He told me he was going to bed at night thinking "tomorrow I'll graft" but tomorrow never comes and neither did the grafting until it was too late. Then he was desperately selling. Clients can smell desperation and want no part of it. My guys don't sell. They create business relationships (something I will go into another day). Its impossible to create a relationship when you're on your knees.
So as a sales person how can you prevent yourself falling into this trap and as a sales manager how can you prevent your staff falling into it? Paying less is not an option. What else can you come up with?
Building pride and a sense of ownership in the business is how we try to do it combined with ensuring your targetting is SMART. If you don't know SMART. Stop reading blogs and look it up.
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