How do you manage difficult sales team members?

The goal of the sales manager is to support their team and bring out the most potential in each one of them. Removing the roadblocks that hinder their progress and ultimate sales success are key….all while establishing a safe, positive environment for the entire team. This fosters a foundation of mutual respect where expectations can be established with buy in from both the rep and manager.

In most cases, it should be uncommon for a salesperson to reach a stage where they become challenging team members. A proficient sales manager should consistently oversee their sales team, staying attuned to the needs of leads, prospects, and clients. By actively supporting the team and fostering collaboration, the sales manager contributes to more efficient and cost-effective sales for the entire group. Furthermore, the sales manager should continuously inspire and train the team, striving to bring out their best potential.

What is a difficult sales team member anyway? Someone that doesn’t fit in your view of what is compliant. Or, is it someone who is behaving in an inappropriate way with others in your business. Let’s just leave the customer side behind for now. Some of the best performers I’ve managed have been difficult. But… They taught me things, they made me look at things differently and they gave me a different perspective. Difficult is sometimes an excuse and more that the SM is closed and can’t handle difference. What do you think to this point? Let discuss…

For my experience, It's important to communicate clearly, set objectives, give helpful criticism, and extend support while managing challenging sales team members. Deal with problems as soon as they arise, and if required, take into account coaching or plans for performance enhancement to ensure success.

Leaders too often forget that their team is comprised of individuals who have feelings, emotions and lives outside of work. We somehow think that shouldn't make it's way into a work environment, but I feel like that is a naive approach. Lay the groundwork of being available to support your team personally and professionally. How much personal is up to them, but create space during check-ins to genuinely see how your team is doing. Secondly, the clear expectations is a huge aspect of this. I've terminated maybe 4 people my whole career and three of them shook my hand and thanked me. That was due to having clear expectations, communicating the shortcomings and mutually agreeing that this may not be a great fit. Communication is key.

Focusing on pure facts is difficult to achieve. Often team issues have very uncomfortable emotional components. Even if your goal is to be fact-based, you need to have a recovery plan in case emotions surface.

Handling difficult sales team members is like trying to win a board game with a competitive toddler. You need to strike a balance between letting them play and gently steering them in the right direction.

Thank you Steve. I used to give a seminar, "Is it time to fire your top saleperson." It was always packed. As you noted a good sales team is a mix. In my view, the one who constantly broke the rules to be sure this was his "up or turn" therefore jumping ahead of the rest of the team was the bad apple. Yes, he/she may have top total sales numbers, but I could regularly prove they were often not performing at a high level of sales per contact. Not to say all top sales people are bad - but run the numbers to prove they are really producing the best bang for the buck. Others on the team will fill the gap - guaranteed.

The facts need to resonate with your team members, and passionate sales people usually carry their customers’ agenda up front. Resistance usually fades when sales people grasp the goals / changes that will optimize customer engagement.

If you are leading a sales team, you should be really good at asking fact finding questions. Your relationship with your team should benefit from your sales approach in that you can treat these coaching calls like discovery calls. Ask good questions, do more listening than speaking and aim to offer solutions to the problem that your "customer" is facing.

I like to log notes from my one-on-one's with my sales team so that I can reference them on future one-on-one's and we can discuss whether the expectations I set in the previous meeting are being met. The follow up and measurement is a critical part of coaching.

In my role as a sales manager in IT outsourcing, managing challenging team members is part of the job. To do this effectively, setting clear expectations and consequences is key. We align expectations with our sales strategy and communicate them in writing. Consequences, whether rewards, recognition, coaching, or discipline, are defined. This approach creates accountability, transparency, and consistency. It promotes a culture of continuous improvement and ensures all team members are treated fairly.

I STRONGLY encourage sales leaders to do quarterly reviews with their teams. Part of that is coming up with personal and professional goals you can support. If they want your job one day, maybe carve out a day per month (if they are hitting their objectives) where they can sit in your seat and gain exposure to the work that you do. Little efforts like this (which cost very little, just time) can have a lasting impact on those you support. I've had employees follow me to two separate organizations at this point as they know I'll do everything in my power to support their development.

Everyone on your team wants to learn and grow.And yet, we often reserve development conversations to the year end performance review. Development doesn’t happen the day of the Performance Review. Development happens when team managers are able to elevate daily tasks to « teachable moments ». When team leaders regard every piece of work as an opportunity to create learning and elevate skill, we start to see huge growth in the teams.

Biggest Challenge? "C" performers! Why? We procrastinate. Not front burner priority. Result? Losing leadership credibility with team. Disaster? Last straw event but somewhat minor? NOW YOU ACT... and people now think you over reacted and unfair. SOLUTION? Assumption. difference C vs. D AND F players is self esteem. THEREFORE: share KPIs of sales team in their team view in rank order. C players will fire themselves or improve to a B. Result = better culture and superior results... and reflects best on you.

Coaching is key when managing a tough sales team member. It's like helping a plant grow by giving it the right care. First, find out what they're good at and where they need help. Then, give them advice and tools to get better. It's also a good idea for them to ask others for feedback. This can be from coworkers, customers, or even mentors. Learning from both good and bad experiences can help them improve. By doing this, you're not just fixing a problem. You're helping someone grow, stay involved, and do their job better.

The technology you use should do more than just measure how many customer contacts are made. If you have the right thing in place, you can set goals that allow you to recognize things along the way. Maybe its something for someone's 1000th call. Maybe there is a leaderboard in your office that shows the top seller for the month. This should include Birthday/Anniversary recognition. IF you celebrate, recognize and encourage consistently, when it comes time to have tough conversations- from my experience- you will have a much more responsive audience. If all you do is communicate the negatives, not only will these conversations be tougher, but turnover will be high and morale will be low.

Positive Feedback and Recognition are one of the most impactful levers of performance and success. When employees feel genuinely valued, celebrated and appreciated, they are sparked to deliver exceptional outcomes.

Sales being volume orientated offers a opportunity to reward volume. This being said are we selling or order taking. There is a difference.

Tolerating poor performance sets a wrong precedence. It shows others that the lack of performance does not lead to consequences. It can be demotivating to those working hard and putting in the effort required to deliver. Therefore, performance doesn't improve despite coaching, you need to take firm and swift action. One bad apple, can bring down an entire team.

Any team, not just a Sales team, need to be a combination of a lot of different characters and, in my opinion and also experience, they perform better if they contain a maverick and a person who can be viewed as obdurate. If everyone is the same then the team functions as individuals and not as a team, so I would suggest that good Sales Directors/Managers employ and embrace a variety of characters in their teams and manage them accordingly.

It's not about the salesperson. It's about the company’s values. Scenario 1: You discovered them and described the specific, positive behaviors expected in the workspace so you have clear guidance on what's accepted and what isn't. Scenario 2: You are forced to read such articles and ask people for their opinion on every singular situation you encounter. You will be torn apart every time without a clear direction because giving corrective feedback based on your own opinion and without support in the company’s well-described culture is hard. PS: don't worry about firing toxic high-performers; it always ends well

Below are a few reflection questions for leaders that deal with demotivated or low performing team members: - When is the last time I sat down with an employee calmly to discuss their successes, their aspirations and career growth? - When is the last time I noticed an employee was not at their best, and sat them down to understand what they may be going through? - Would I say the demotivated team member perceives me as an inspiring, supportive, encouraging manager? - Am I giving personalised attention to each of my direct reports, on a weekly basis? - When is the last time I shared genuine positive recognition with this direct report, one-on-one?

Companies have values they believe in. When recruiting, training and motivating the team, use these values as your guide. For example: if team work is a value, then make that clear at the point of hiring and hire only if that candidate finds team work important too. When someone is not living up to company values, address it with vigour. Even high performance sales people have to fit in and add to company values. If they refuse, there is only one route.

The most important thing is… REMEMBER THAT THEY ARE HUMAN! Be compassionate and try to find the root of the problem. Most of the times they are going through something that you might be able to help with.