Management observation…

In my recent post “Gaming the System” I suggested sales rep quota performance (and ethics) is heading in the wrong direction.  That puts pressure on front line sales managers.  How is your company responding?

My company is rolling out sales manager training.  When I looked into the possibility of participating in the skills side I was told our initial content was “very tactical”.  Tactical is important for sales managers to master.  However, there is so much more.

How does your company define the front line sales manager role?  One option is to have sales managers sell – a combination of manager plus individual contributor.  Bob Croston of the RAIN Group suggested in the Nov/Dec 2019 issue of SMM Connect ©:

Sales Managers shouldn’t sell…

·       Too busy to coach/mentor their reps

·       Decreases respect from subordinates

·       Recruiting is dropped

·       Observation and accountability are compromised

Observation – now there’s a key skill to sales manager success.  I mean, how would you know if your reps are doing the right things, in the right way, on a consistent basis if you don’t regularly observe?

You can observe a lot by just watching. 

                         Yogi Berra

Do your Sales Managers observe?  Or, as one of my sales manager mentees asked me when he was first promoted from rep to manager, “Gary is my job to be the super-sales-closer or an observer?”  My view is Sales Managers must help each of his or her reps become the super-sales-closer.  That is a more scalable approach and it helps prevent reps from gaming the system. 

That led to his next question, “What if my rep can’t be a super-sales-closer?”  I responded he must then replace said under-performing rep.  Ahhh yes… “off-boarding”… there’s a skill-oriented managerial process, true?  Do you think your Sales Managers discharge people fairly and with dignity?

I believe the managers' job is to get the job done through his/her people – current people or future people – which is up to each sales rep’s ability to do the job they are hired for.  Easy for me to write about – hard to execute in the real world.  It’s not unique to sales management:

By Thursday evening of the 1974 Open, that atmosphere was toxic. After the first round at Winged Foot, there was not a single player under par. The best one among them, Jack Nicklaus, had rolled his first putt that day right off the green. With each passing moment, Tatum, the man largely responsible for the course setup, said, "It felt like radiation was spreading."

And so came the line, the one you hear every year at the U.S. Open, and likely will for as long as they play it.

"We're not trying to humiliate the best players in the world," the chairman of the USGA's competition committee declared that day. "We're simply trying to identify who they are."

                         Sandy Tatum

Identifying who to keep (and who to cut) without humiliation.  Or, without avoidance either.  Another negative trend my former manager mentioned to me recently is:

Management by email

Now there’s a tactical-oriented  sales management approach in today’s online world.  Do you have regular, live interactions with your manager?  Or, does your manager consider email, Slack, texts, and team web-meetings, good ‘nuff?

I believe the best way for sales managers to prevent gaming of the system by their reps is live contact, encouragement, observation, and coaching on a regular basis.  Letting their people know “No gaming needed - we are in this together”.

GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Gaming the system…

Last week I wrote a little ditty defending salespeople from others who try to seek “attribution” for sales attainment.  To be fair, today I’d like to acknowledge as Michael Dalis said during a BrightTALK webinar, “Salespeople game the system”.  And if you’re wondering… yes; I’m guilty as charged.

When I was “carrying a bag”, on a few occasions over my career I received sales credit; commissions and other recognitions that I did not fully deserve.  When those occasions occurred, I did not speak up and say, “Oh no – I didn’t really earn that.”  Instead, I gamed the system.  Not my proudest moments.

Salespeople are often faced with “moments of choice”.  Being out on the “front lines”, we interact with the marketplace “hand to hand”; many times solo.  There are instances where clients and prospects lie to us; we are regularly accused of returning the favor; and I have been in situations where my company leadership would rather not know how exactly how I closed the deal.  Making payroll is dependent on sales attainment.

To be clear, all are excuses when speaking of ethical behavior.  In the movie, Kingdom of Heaven, it was put this way:

A king or someone with power may move a man.  But the man's soul is the man's responsibility alone.  When facing God, he cannot say, “Others made me do thus; or Virtue was not convenient at the time." 

If the slam, “used car salesman” is actually true even among the most professional of used car salespeople, it begs the question, “What can be done about it?”

Two ideas come to mind (I’m sure there are many more) – sales rep compensation and management observation.

I’d like to address management observation in a separate blog – I have lots to say about that LoL!

Let’s look at sales rep compensation.  I know a common view (primarily among non-sales professionals IMHO) is salespeople’s behavior is driven by compensation.  Never mind that virtually every credible study shows compensation rarely makes the top 10 of what motivates a sales rep, business leaders insist it must. 

And what have these business leaders done?  First, because making payroll is so dependent on sales, they have raised sales reps’ quotas – to unattainable levels.  According to CSO Insights in their research on the “business development” position:

Only 53% of BD people make quota.

Almost half are not making it!  And when a rep doesn’t make quota, their end-of-job destination comes into full view. Our favorite Unknown Sage has said:

    Turns out the light at the end of the tunnel is a        locomotive speeding our way.

How would you respond in that moment of choice, if the odds were stacked against you?  I believe quota performance is a much more powerful driver of rep behavior than merely money.

Perhaps to compensate for the way quota has been set, said management seems to have gamed compensation plans.  According to a study from Optimum Comp Advantage:

Many BD professionals can receive 90-98% of their target total cash while only achieving 70-80% of their quota.

Paying reps to under-perform?  I know companies have to grow, but could it be that management’s decision to game quota and comp plans has influenced reps to engage in gaming too?

I can’t say with total assurance, but if sales reps believed their quota was fair and attainable, perhaps that can be the start of improving their ethical behaviors and decreasing their tendency to game the system.

GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

April 20, 1999 never forgotten…

Twenty one years ago today, my hometown experienced the terror that two teenagers, feeling a sense of desperation and isolation, can bring to their high school, their community and our nation.  It was considered a rare event back then – unfortunately, it has now become all too common:

Life is hard and can often seem hopeless for many young people.   If you have a son or daughter; grandchildren; nieces or nephews; or neighborhood kids; reach out to them today. 

Tell them today that you love them and will support them as they try to make their way in the world.  And if they are struggling to make ends meet – give them a few bucks, reassure them.  Today, help them feel they belong.  Give them hope.

Let’s reverse our society’s violence.  Let’s use our power of compassion to increase the sunlight for those heading towards darkness:

It takes the sun to create a shadow – accept that the dark and the light live side by side in all of us. 

Chellie Campbell

It’s not just my home town of Littleton, Colorado - We are all Columbine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9Seqhcq23M

May you feel peace - and share the power of peace with others - today - especially today - and then every day thereafter!

GAP

Attribution…

I’ve noticed several “Career Advice” requests on LinkedIn about getting credit for one’s work.  In today’s world is there an increased need by folks to “get credit”?

I’m in favor of giving credit; recognition; attribution to people who are contributing to the cause.  Leaders; followers; insiders; outsiders; it often “takes a village” for a cause or a project to be successful.

OK, sometimes team effort and corresponding attribution can go awry:

The stages of Systems Development:

1. Wild enthusiasm

2. Disillusionment

3. Total confusion

4. Search for the guilty

5. Punishment of the innocent

6. Promotion of the non-participants

Arthur Black

It’s that “promotion of the non-participants” that bugs me; you?  Too many people just take credit, even when unearned.

Attribution is right and proper as long as the person has truly “done the work”.  But how do you measure that?  In my opinion, that question has led to some interesting thinking in the sales and marketing professions. 

On surface, some say a sales person’s attribution is based solely on comparing their sales to their quota.  If the sales rep is above quota, he or she is a hero; below quota, a bum. Can it be that simple?  I don’t believe so. 

There are many attributes that contribute to sales performance; knowledge; skill; effort to be sure.  Mental and emotional state (impacted at home and at the office) also deserve attribution.  A sales rep’s relationship with their manager; the state of the economy; their assigned territory; competition… a whole host of attributes can dramatically impact the sales vs. quota outcome. 

I have always believed blind faith deserves an attribution for sale rep success. Because no one actually knows the exact formula that leads to continuous and dependable sales success, our favorite Unknown Sage deserves attribution:

Finagle's Sixth Rule:

Do not believe in miracles - rely on them.

               

Attribution to blind faith is associated with sales reps’ “variable compensation plans” aka commissions.  I have often said, if a sales rep closes the sale he or she makes a commission and is able to pay the mortgage.  No sale? Now what?  See what I mean about blind faith attribution?

Marketing has it tough too.  Which marketing metrics matter?  Back to our Unknown Sage:

An old adage was that companies typically spent twice as much as necessary of advertising but had no way to figure out which half to cut.

I like to debate with my marketing colleagues about attribution.  I don’t think anyone would disagree that marketing is a critical factor to a company’s success.  At least half of it anyway LoL!   “Getting the word out” aka “demand generation” so prospects will engage with sales reps has been a key business process for centuries.  However, I draw the line at their request for “revenue attribution”.  I’m not the only one. 

Annuitas published this article, Revenue vs. Vanity: The Metrics that Matter for Driving Growth (link).  Never heard of Annuitas?  Well they claim:

From world-class Demand Marketing strategists, to authors, to Marketing Technology Experts, our talent and knowledge of demand is unmatched in the market.

“World-class Demand Marketing”? That’s OK by me.  But “demand” is not “revenue”. 

Do you think me selfish when I say if marketing wants to claim “revenue attribution” meaning some part of sales revenue comes from demand marketing, they have to assume a proportionate amount of the sales quota? 

The day that happens they may better understand the motivational attribution of “variable compensation” LoL!

                                                            GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Multitasking…

Working from home made me think of my colleagues and their desks at the office before current events hit.  At my company, having 2 monitors is the “norm” and several folks have 3.  Add in their laptop screen plus 1 or even 2 cell phones and their office cubes remind me of a fighter pilot’s cockpit LoL!

Naturally, my colleagues are using all their monitors and screens simultaneously aka “multitasking”, which seems to be held in high esteem in the technology sales profession these days.  I wonder how they feel about Susan Cain’s piece in her book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking ©?

…even multitasking, that prized feat of modern-day office warriors, turns out to be a myth.  Scientists now know that the brain is incapable of paying attention to two things at the same time.  What looks like multitasking is really switching back and forth between multiple tasks, which reduces productivity and increases mistakes by up to 50 percent.

Permit me to repeat (in case you were distracted by your other monitors and screens), scientifically confirmed multitasking, “reduces productivity and increases mistakes”.  Makes me think of:

Westheimer's Rule

To estimate the time it takes to do a task estimate the time you think it should take, multiply by two and change the unit of the measure to the next highest unit. Thus, we allocate two days for a one hour task.

Does that sound familiar?  How long does it take your company to complete projects?  I’m amazed being in the technology business how challenging in can be to get things done.  Probably the same in every business these days, true?

Westheimer’s Rule makes me think of Bill Gates:

The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency.  The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.

I wonder how many monitors Bill has in his home office.  Now that we are working from home, I wonder if my colleagues brought all of their equipment home so they can continue to use multiple screens and monitors for multitasking.  If they didn’t, I wonder if my company will be able to measure an up-tick in productivity and the improved accuracy cited science suggests.  What do you think about multitasking?  Does it magnify inefficiency?  Shorten our attention spans? 

I don’t know about you, but when I’m in a meeting; on a webcast; even talking on the phone, I can usually tell when the people I’m interacting with are multitasking.  Especially webcast meets, yes?  There’s that pause when we ask someone a question… and we wait … and we wait… and then comes the customary, “Sorry, I was on mute.”  I’m not calling others out – been there; done that; myself LoL!

Makes me think of my friend and former colleague Adam Katzenmeyer, a multi-monitored cube-mate of mine back in the day:

You only have to tell me twice, once.

Not that the other end of the focus spectrum is the answer.  We can become “overly focused”, just ask my wife:

My husband doesn’t watch TV; he becomes the TV!

I suppose the ideal answer lies somewhere in the middle; access multiple inputs, but keep them to a manageable level so as we switch back and forth we stay reasonably attentive to the task at hand.  Sounds easy, doesn’t it?  Hello?  Are you there?

                                                              GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Just pretend…

I know we missed NCAA Division I March Madness for the first time since… well… madness in March was created by NCAA men’s basketball.  Like all other sports; professional, college, high school, even the Olympics; we are missing opportunities to see greatness on the fields of play.

Don’t you wish the President came on television today and said, “April Fools!  I suspect that will not happen.  So, where do we find the strength to deal with our current events?  Where do we find avenues for relief?  Where can we watch greatness being achieved - in sports or otherwise? 

Do you know people who have achieved greatness and didn’t believe they were capable of being great?  I’m not talking about super stars’ “public” image (ranging from quiet confidence to over-the-top arrogance).  I’m talking about how people think of themselves deep down inside.

Our health care workers are achieving greatness, yes?  Is that how they think of themselves?  Or our teachers – many of them learning for themselves how to lead “distance teaching” for the first time.  Or you and me and every other ordinary person; sheltering in place while trying to maintain a sense of normalcy.

Don’t worry about self-doubts; second-thoughts; fear.  If we don’t think of ourselves as being great, we can still apply lessons learned from basketball.

Take the Chicago Bulls for instance.  I’m from Chicago; a Phil Jackson fan; and was there when the Bulls won multiple NBA titles.  I was also living in Chicago during the days before Michael Jordan and before those great championship teams:

Former NBA center and coach Johnny Kerr said his biggest test as a coach came when he coached the then-expansion team the Chicago Bulls and his biggest player was 6'8" Erwin Mueller.

We had lost seven in a row and I decided to give a psychological pep talk before a game with the Celtics, Kerr said.  I told Bob Boozer to go out and pretend he was the best scorer in basketball.  I told Jerry Sloan to pretend he was the best defensive guard.  I told Guy Rodgers to pretend he could run an offense better than any other guard, and I told Erwin Mueller to pretend he was the best rebounding, shot-blocking, scoring center in the game.  We lost the game by 17.

 

I was pacing around the locker room afterward trying to figure out what to say when Mueller walked up, put his arm around me, and said, “Don't worry about it Coach.  Just pretend we won." 

         James S. Hewett

    

Inspiring.  If we don’t think of ourselves as great enough to conquer today’s daily challenges, we can always just pretend, true?  I think it comes down to thinking we can:

If you think you are beaten, you are,

If you think you dare not, you don’t.

          If you like to win, but you think you can’t,

              It is almost certain you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,

For out in the world we find,

Success begins with a fellow’s will –

It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are,

You’ve got to think high to rise,

You’ve got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go

To the stronger or faster man,

But soon or later that man who wins

Is the man who thinks he can.

                                  Unknown Sage

I think we can – and I’m not pretending!

                              GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.