When you find a high level sales person that consistently performs well and exceeds their targets, you’ll do anything to keep hold of them.
Sales is a high pressured job which demands long hours, tenacity and resilience especially if customers are not being as responsive as you would like. But, if you’ve struck lucky and really hired a sales superstar then you know that they are well adapted to these pressures and are likely to thrive when you give them goals to reach every month.
An executive sales person can be relied on to bring in new business and ensure the profitability of your company but how can you make sure that keep hold of this talent?
It’s all in the performance
As a numbers driven industry, you and your sales executive know that they can reach targets and earn the bonuses and rewards for exceeding these goals. However, an executive will be more likely to stay with you if you create the right working environment, apply the right pressure and most importantly, understand when to take your foot off the pedal.
A positive atmosphere can be created through company lunches to direct appraisal of hard work, competitions to give sales people an extra edge or even flexible working time so that once targets are met your sales people are able to leave early.
An executive has worked under the pressure of the consistent demand to meet targets since their entry into sales, they wouldn’t have got to where they are today so you be able to trust that they will live up to your expectations. This trust builds a rapport with your staff and encourages them to work hard and perform, not only for their own benefit but also for the benefit of the company.
However, if the right working environment isn’t created, you might start to see your sales professionals starting to lose their motivation. At worst, your star employee may consider moving to another company or their lack of motivation may start to affect your business.
One of the biggest signs you’ll notice is a change in their attitude to work, either a reluctance to try or simply being more distracted than normal. If your sales executive is no longer standing out from the rest of your team then you know that something is amiss.
Instead of dismissing your sales executive for this shift in attitude or punishing them for a drop in their sales numbers, schedule a meeting. Dedicate time to understanding where your star performer is feeling the pressure and open the line of communication so that you can help re-inspire their sales talent.
By moving an executive to a different sales line or giving them a new challenge you can reignite their motivation for sales. A sales professional doesn’t lose their ability, you just have to reignite their enthusiasm.
By making these small changes and adapting their work environment to better suit their needs, you’ll encourage a much better performance and create the relationship that will keep them in your company for a long time.
Financial bonuses and high praise are effective at motivating sales people to achieve, but to retain the highest level sales executives it is about creating a positive working environment and giving them the personal recognition and credit they deserve to motivate them for further success.
By , one of the directors of Genesis Associates, a recruitment company based near Manchester specialising in the sales, creative and engineering industries. Ed has more than 12 years’ experience in the technology sales sector and has been the sales director at Genesis Associates for the last two years.
