If you have been involved in sales management, you have probably experienced the frustrating (and often never-ending) hire-fire cycle. Here is how it plays out: You hire a new salesperson, he or she struggles to reach sales targets, and you let them go. You attribute the salesperson’s failure to a lack of talent, enthusiasm, or interest, and you look for a replacement. Then, the cycle starts all over again with you being convinced that ‘the right person’ is just around the corner.
The truth is often not a right vs. wrong person problem but rather a people vs. process problem. If different people consecutively fail in the same role, chances are the fault lies in the process, not the people. This distinction is crucial because it shifts the focus from blaming individuals to improving systems.
Is it possible to sell ice to an Eskimo?
The saying of an excellent salesperson being able to “sell ice to an Eskimo” is one known to many. However, if someone is such a good salesperson that he or she can sell ice to an Eskimo, it is most likely thanks to a structured sales process rather than a natural ability. This is not to say that talent plays no part in the success of a salesperson – talent combined with other attributes such as a positive attitude, the right amount of enthusiasm, and emotional intelligence is an important aspect of being a successful salesperson. But, for now, I want to focus on ensuring an efficient process to give new hires the best chance of hitting targets. Even the most talented salespeople will struggle if they must operate in a chaotic environment – one where there are no scripts, no clear value proposition, and no accountability framework, but rather only the vague instruction to ‘go sell’.
Just as an incredibly talented salesperson will struggle to perform without a proper process or structure, the other side is also true, namely that a mediocre salesperson can thrive and achieve success given the right process, leadership, and support – a playbook.
What does a good playbook entail?
A playbook is more than a manual – it is a framework that guides behaviour, adapts to market shifts, and ensures consistency across a team.
In professional sports, a team does not win championships by relying on one excellent player. Rather, they win because they have a system, i.e. a playbook, a strategy, a culture of accountability. The same applies to sales.
The following are the core elements that make a playbook effective:
- Consistency: A process ensures that every salesperson delivers the same message, follows the same steps, and represents the brand in a unified way.
- Predictability: Having a process in place allows you to forecast results, changes in the market, challenges, and bottlenecks. This allows you to make adjustments as needed and most importantly, to be proactive instead of reactive.
- Accountability: A process creates benchmarks and better visibility in terms of individual performance. This is beneficial for both the salesperson and the sales manager. It enables the sales manager to easily identify problem areas, and it positions the salesperson to clearly understand expectations and see the bigger picture. Part of this is regular check-ins with sales reps, communicating achievable goals and development goals, and tracking progress.
- Training and coaching: Ongoing development, not just a one-time onboarding session.
- Feedback loops: Systems for reps to share what is working and what is not, so the process evolves.
- Tools: Sales reps should have the necessary tools to do their job. They need clear scripts, product knowledge (unique selling points), and structured guidance to engage prospects. Clients quickly sense whether a salesperson knows the product, and poor knowledge almost always kills the sale.
A good process makes it possible to amplify your current pool of sales reps’ talents: An efficient playbook often leads to an average salesperson becoming a good salesperson, a good one becoming a great one, and great salespeople becoming exceptional.
What are the results of not having a playbook?
Not having a process in place, i.e. operating in chaos and stuck in a hire-fire cycle, apart from being frustrating and unsatisfactory, also involves costs.
- Time: Every failed hire costs you time – recruiting and training time is spent and, in the end, wasted if you must repeat this for every new hire who is replacing the ‘failed’ sales rep.
- Money: In addition to salaries and commissions (and sometimes packages), missed opportunities from the lack of a process cost you money. These hidden costs often outweigh the visible expenses of salaries or commissions, making the absence of a playbook a silent drain on profitability.
- Morale: Lastly, an intangible but serious ‘cost’ is the morale of longer-term salespeople. Seeing fellow sales reps fail and leave repeatedly, often erodes confidence in the business, leaving reps demotivated and seeking other opportunities.
Let's Wrap This Up
When companies approach me to audit their sales infrastructure to ensure they give newly appointed salespeople the best chances to succeed, the first thing I do is not to evaluate the sales reps, but rather to check whether the company has a documented playbook. Often, they do not and that is the starting point to establish why sales reps are failing.
Process is the multiplier of talent – without it, even the best hires are set up to fail. Once you have established (and rectified) the actual source of failure, you can combine talent and process – a winning recipe for success (and you might even sell ice to an Eskimo).
Keep Selling and Succeeding,
Anthony Tattan
Planning | Implementation | Results
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/stop-blaming-sales-reps-might-playbook-anthony-tattan-flvye/