Sales performance curve

Performance curve of a salesperson 

In his famous book, “Coaching for Performance”, Sir John Whitmore explains the performance evolution of an organization as follows:

I think the same performance curve can be applied to define the evolution of salespeople’s mindsets. More importantly, it reflects very well the development of sales effectiveness. 

Let’s have a closer look and replace the “culture” on the horizontal axis with “selling mindset.”

Impulsive: What happens, happens

• No indication of priority markets to target
• Lack of sales process and roles & responsibilities
• The salesperson is pulled by the market and has no drive

In this scenario, a salesperson would be responding any incoming lead without any prioritization and with a poor qualification process. In the case of prospection, the salesperson has no targeting strategy and making generic cold calls. The salesperson can easily get lost and lose motivation. They can be the salespeople sending you generic emails or the ones who can take all the time with the customer without questioning the intention of the buying. 

Dependent: I follow the rules and do what I am told

• Firm control on salesperson’s activity
• Almost everything is scripted, and there is no room for a personal touch
• The salesperson executes the instructions, and the performance is not linked to selling competencies and skills.

Salesperson’sSalesperson’s work is not valued. Almost anybody can do the job. Therefore, a salesperson’s existence strongly depends on the capacity to implement the instructions with minimum mistake. You can see those salespeople in telesales who repeat the same thing regardless of what you say.

Independent: I am a high performer 

• Salesperson operates in a system where she/he has a certain degree of autonomy
• They are rewarded mostly on individual performance 
• Sales results are likely to be more important than the attitude/effort of the salesperson

Salesperson’s short-term achievement are more important than long-term success. They are well rewarded for their results; as soon as they hit their numbers, the rest becomes secondary. They can be very charming and friendly and easily manipulate their customers. Those are the salespeople who propose you an additional discount if you buy before the end of the month. 

Interdependent: We are truly successful together

• They operate in a system with boundary conditions and within they have a large autonomy
• They play the infinite game
• They care a lot about their reputation and long-term success rather than short-term achievements.

In this scenario, the salesperson operates almost as business owners. They are well aware that their customers are critical to their existence. That is why they position themselves as their customer’s decision-making coach. For them, helping the customer to make the best buying decision is more important than their monthly quota. Those are the salespeople recommending you a competitor’s product instead of trying to sell theirs. 

We will continue to analyse the interdependent sales mindset deeper in the coming weeks.

Stay tuned.