How to Get The Most Out Of Your Sales Talent

In all professions, talent is a key element to success. This is most obvious in sports but can be said for all professions. Put the most talented team on the field and you’ll often win. Notice I didn’t say always.

The majority of your “A” sales players are talented. They have the needed competencies to succeed. But, even the most talented won’t exceed if the right performance conditions are not in place.

As you review company sales performance, are you making the number? If you’re not, there’s pressure all around. If you are hitting goals, wouldn’t you want to do even better?

As the Sales Ops leader, you can help get more from the talent on the field. Ensure that the right conditions exist for greatest success. Download our Sales Performance Conditions Guide. To improve sales performance you’ll know where you need to focus in the future.

Many variables influence if you make your revenue goals. Your overall strategy, go-to-market model, and product suite are all essential. So too is having the right talent. But without the right guidelines – processes, structure, enablement, compensation and expectations – they’ll fall short.

The essential operating rails that your best need to maximize performance are:

• Sales Process:   Is it aligned with the buyer and adopted in the field?
• Territories:  Are they designed to maximize growth balanced with efficiency?
• Enablement:  Do your sales reps have the right training, content and knowledge?
• Compensation:  Is it competitive, synced with your strategy and driving desired behavior?
• Quotas:  Are they attainable and reflective of current performance and market potential?

   

In sports, what if the most talented wide-receiver didn’t run the right pattern? Running around the football field with no coordination is not going to drive success.  That’s like having sales reps create their own sales process. No predictable activity, no cadence, no alignment. Your best can improvise but sustainable growth requires a sound sales process. Alignment to the buyer is required.

What about sales territories. If your best are in a territory with little potential, they’ll look elsewhere. That’s like having LeBron James play 10 minutes of a 48 minute game. Align territory potential to talent. Give your best the best territories.

Let’s think about enablement. Give your reps strong content that answers the buyer’s questions. Ensure they have the knowledge to perform. If you’re giving them pricing info without great content, they will not win too often. That’s like giving Derek Jeter a tennis racket at the plate.

If your compensation plan isn’t aligned with your strategy or the competition, you’ll have a problem. If you’re lucky enough to have the talent but pay them 75% of the competition, what’s going to happen? As they walk out the door, you’ll kick yourself. Pay for performance aligned to strategy and don’t cap pay. 

How about your quota setting? If you assign quotas across the board, what will happen to your “A” players? Quotas must be attainable but based on opportunity and history. When an “A” player sees a “C” player making their quota its going to cause a problem. Set quotas appropriately by looking at performance and opportunity potential.

Talent is a key for high performance. Putting great talent in an environment that doesn’t motivate and enable success will not succeed. How well have you created conditions for sales success? Download our Sales Performance Conditions Guide.