Part 6 - Turning the Tide: Managing Performance Issues and Achieving Turnarounds

Every Sales team and person will have a bad day / month / Quarter at some point of time. As a mid-level sales manager, it is your ability to identify the underlying issues and support your team to turn them around which separates you from being a good manager vs a great one and is crucial for your and team’s overall success. Today we will look into how we can manage performance issues and help team and self in turnarounds.

Identifying Performance Issues

An early identification of performance issues with an individual or team can help address the underlying problem and bring the person or team back up.

• Data-Driven Analysis: Use sales data to identify underperformers. Look for patterns such as consistently missed targets, low conversion rates, or poor customer feedback.

• Feedback from Peers: Gather insights from team members. Ask peers, they can provide good insights into where an individual might be going wrong. Comparative between people can lay bare performance challenges one may be facing.

• Self-Assessment: Ensure every team member is able to self-critic and do a good self-assessment.

Conducting Performance Reviews

We have talked about this several times, nothing can beat taking out that specific time to review performance. They are essential to provide constructive feedback and develop improvement plans.

• One-on-One Meetings: Regular one-on-one meetings help in taking that step back and taking stock of performance and other behavioural factors. Use these sessions to provide specific feedback, set clear expectations, and resolve concerns if any.

• SMART Goals: Talked about this earlier

• Document Progress: A lot of people make this mistake of not putting down the discussion in an email. Keep a record of performance reviews and progress. This documentation helps in tracking improvements and identifying persistent issues.

Providing Support and Resources

Supporting underperforming team members with the right resources can significantly improve their performance.

• Training Programs: this is different from the regular training programs for the team. Identify issue in particular and if needed address with specific training program.

• Mentorship: buddy up underperformers with experienced team members. This can provide guidance and practical tips for improvement. Peer learning / training works more effectively than classroom training

Motivating and Re-engaging the Team

It is important to engage the under performer and improve their motivation. While you may need to be strict with few, negative reinforcement hardly works for them

• Positive Reinforcement: Recognize small improvements and efforts. Positive reinforcement can significantly boost morale and motivate further progress.

• Incentive Programs: Design incentive programs that reward improvements. These can be powerful motivators for underperformers to strive for better results.

Handling Persistent Underperformance

You may need to take some decisive actions if the performance issue persists despite all the interventions. Need to separate out the SKILL and the WILL issue before the action is drawn up

• Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs): Formal PIP with clear, achievable goals and a set timeline can help in setting things right. PIP is not a one-time activity, it will mean committing your own time to the person, plan should include regular check-ins and specific support measures.

• Open Communication: Maintain open lines of communication. Ensure the team member understands the gravity of the situation and the consequences of not meeting the improvement goals.

• Final Measures: If there is no significant improvement despite all efforts, be prepared to make tough decisions. This could involve reassigning the team member to a different role or, in some cases, termination.

Endgame

• Early Identification: Use data and feedback to identify performance issues early.

• Structured Reviews: Conduct regular, documented performance reviews.

• Support and Resources: Provide targeted training, mentorship, and necessary tools.

• Motivation and Engagement: Use positive reinforcement, incentives, and career development plans.

• Decisive Actions: Implement PIPs and take final measures when necessary.

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