and I worked my backside off to make that) or longevity in post (Ron’s been here forever, knows all the wrinkles, and plays the system), or plain old cronyism (Ben’s always sucking up to the boss, even goes out socially with him and his missus; he gets given all the plum prospects).

They all seemed logical. They all seemed plausible. They are all only part of the story.

They are all only part of the story because we know (and you do to) that there are many exceptions to such obvious causes.

As I was enjoying a beer with a longstanding friend recently, we got to reminiscing over the many good sales people (and some not so good) that we had known, individually and collectively over our long and varied sales careers.

Apart from the “Where is he now? Wonder what he’s doing?” theme that threaded its way through our conversation, we somehow alighted on the rhetorical question, “Why do some excellent sales people fail to perform with certain employers, and conversely, why do some apparently mediocre sales people achieve noteworthy success at certain times in their career?”

I’m sure the question crosses the mind of every sales manager or director at least once a day. We didn’t have a clear cut and agreed answer, of course.

We looked at each other, deep frowns on our middle aged foreheads, and attempted to answer this conundrum, dredging up all of our accumulated knowledge on the subject.

Pros and Cons
“Not enough or inappropriate training?”
“Poor motivation?”
“No aptitude?”
“Doesn’t smile enough?”
“Good listener?”
“Great closer?”
“Gets to the bottom of the customer’s needs?”
“Can’t articulate the USP?”
“Sticks to the sales process?”

As we droned on a light began to dawn as we thought deeper about our puzzle. Not a blinding flash of light, more like the gradual cranking up of a dimmer switch.

Perhaps we had been looking at the problem from the wrong point of view. It had been hardwired into our psyche. We had been indoctrinated to believe that any fault in failing to meet a sales target was singularly down to the sales person.

It must be, surely? If you failed wasn’t it a matter of attitude (must always be positive, regardless of the fact that your dearest aunt had popped her clogs that very morning), or circumstances (why, oh, why did Superspeed Logistics have to be taken over by Global Dropshippers), or territory (why did they give me Grimsby), or target (what planet are they on? This is 20% up on last year and I worked my backside off to make that) or longevity in post (Ron’s been here forever, knows all the wrinkles, and plays the system), or plain old cronyism (Ben’s always sucking up to the boss, even goes out socially with him and his missus; he gets given all the plum prospects).

They all seemed logical. They all seemed plausible. They are all only part of the story.

They are all only part of the story because we know (and you do to) that there are many exceptions to such obvious causes.<

mediocre sales people achieve noteworthy success at certain times in their career?”

I’m sure the question crosses the mind of every sales manager or director at least once a day. We didn’t have a clear cut and agreed answer, of course.

We looked at each other, deep frowns on our middle aged foreheads, and attempted to answer this conundrum, dredging up all of our accumulated knowledge on the subject.

Pros and Cons
“Not enough or inappropriate training?”
“Poor motivation?”
“No aptitude?”
“Doesn’t smile enough?”
“Good listener?”
“Great closer?”
“Gets to the bottom of the customer’s needs?”
“Can’t articulate the USP?”
“Sticks to the sales process?”

As we droned on a light began to dawn as we thought deeper about our puzzle. Not a blinding flash of light, more like the gradual cranking up of a dimmer switch.

Perhaps we had been looking at the problem from the wrong point of view. It had been hardwired into our psyche. We had been indoctrinated to believe that any fault in failing to meet a sales target was singularly down to the sales person.

It must be, surely? If you failed wasn’t it a matter of attitude (must always be positive, regardless of the fact that your dearest aunt had popped her clogs that very morning), or circumstances (why, oh, why did Superspeed Logistics have to be taken over by Global Dropshippers), or territory (why did they give me Grimsby), or target (what planet are they on? This is 20% up on last year and I worked my backside off to make that) or longevity in post (Ron’s been here forever, knows all the wrinkles, and plays the system), or plain old cronyism (Ben’s always sucking up to the boss, even goes out socially with him and his missus; he gets given all the plum prospects).

They all seemed logical. They all seemed plausible. They are all only part of the story.

They are all only part of the story because we know (and you do to) that there are many exceptions to such obvious causes.

> “No aptitude?”
“Doesn’t smile enough?”
“Good listener?”
“Great closer?”
“Gets to the bottom of the customer’s needs?”
“Can’t articulate the USP?”
“Sticks to the sales process?”

As we droned on a light began to dawn as we thought deeper about our puzzle. Not a blinding flash of light, more like the gradual cranking up of a dimmer switch.

Perhaps we had been looking at the problem from the wrong point of view. It had been hardwired into our psyche. We had been indoctrinated to believe that any fault in failing to meet a sales target was singularly down to the sales person.

It must be, surely? If you failed wasn’t it a matter of attitude (must always be positive, regardless of the fact that your dearest aunt had popped her clogs that very morning), or circumstances (why, oh, why did Superspeed Logistics have to be taken over by Global Dropshippers), or territory (why did they give me Grimsby), or target (what planet are they on? This is 20% up on last year and I worked my backside off to make that) or longevity in post (Ron’s been here forever, knows all the wrinkles, and plays the system), or plain old cronyism (Ben’s always sucking up to the boss, even goes out socially with him and his missus; he gets given all the plum prospects).

They all seemed logical. They all seemed plausible. They are all only part of the story.

They are all only part of the story because we know (and you do to) that there are many exceptions to such obvious causes.

ndoctrinated to believe that any fault in failing to meet a sales target was singularly down to the sales person.

It must be, surely? If you failed wasn’t it a matter of attitude (must always be positive, regardless of the fact that your dearest aunt had popped her clogs that very morning), or circumstances (why, oh, why did Superspeed Logistics have to be taken over by Global Dropshippers), or territory (why did they give me Grimsby), or target (what planet are they on? This is 20% up on last year and I worked my backside off to make that) or longevity in post (Ron’s been here forever, knows all the wrinkles, and plays the system), or plain old cronyism (Ben’s always sucking up to the boss, even goes out socially with him and his missus; he gets given all the plum prospects).

They all seemed logical. They all seemed plausible. They are all only part of the story.

They are all only part of the story because we know (and you do to) that there are many exceptions to such obvious causes.

and I worked my backside off to make that) or longevity in post (Ron’s been here forever, knows all the wrinkles, and plays the system), or plain old cronyism (Ben’s always sucking up to the boss, even goes out socially with him and his missus; he gets given all the plum prospects).

They all seemed logical. They all seemed plausible. They are all only part of the story.

They are all only part of the story because we know (and you do to) that there are many exceptions to such obvious causes.

The normal process in our experience goes something like this:

Chief Executive: “We promised the market to improve our shareholder returns this coming year. Now chaps, what this means is that we have to sell more. As we all know margins on our current product range are reducing, and it will be some time before we get the new stuff on to the streets. So we need more sales of what we have. Correct, Charles?”

Finance Director: “Spot on Robert. All the projections show that we need a 20% increase over last year’s sales. That should do the trick.”

Chief Executive (looking menacingly at the Sales Director): “Any problem with that, Richard?”

Sales Director (sheepishly, fingers crossed behind his back): “Er, no. I think we can manage that.”

An over simplification, naturally. But you get the gist. Of course, for those of us sales people who have been around this particular block many times, and putting power politics aside for the moment, we all know what the problem is.

It isn’t the Chairman. He’s from a legal background and the world of selling is a complete mystery to him. But he does know that he and the business won’t survive without sales. It isn’t the Finance Director. Sales belong to that line on his spreadsheet that simply makes everything look good, or bad.

Then it must be the Sales Director (a 'he' in this case). It’s his job to ‘make the numbers’ so if he fails to do so, it’s as plain as a pikestaff where the blame lies. Plus he’s got a wife and kids and a huge mortgage to support (after all, he is a salesman). This seems like the situation on a plate of bacon and eggs - the chicken is involved but the pig is committed.

Let me explain. When businesses (either newly founded or setting their forward goals) do their business planning, the Sales Director is usually a party, but in many instances as a bit player. At some point he will be handed a figure, cast in stone, not dissimilar to the manner in which Moses received the Tablet on Mount Sinai.