Thirsty Horses

There is an expression attributed to an English Proverb by John Heywood which says "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." I can't tell you how many Sales Managers and Owners that I have seen trying to make their Saleforce sell more, only to realize that the people on their team are happy right where they are. In other words, their "Sales Horses" are not thirsty. No matter how much you coach and encourage, "that dog won't hunt."

What can you do about it? Here are three ways to look at it...

1) There is a group of Salespeople who CAN sell more, but WON'T. These are usually veterans who are burned out on prospecting. They have a large list of accounts that pay well and they are content to stay the course. You need to weigh their profitability to the company. Remember, younger/newer Salespeople are watching what the Veterans do and picking up bad habits. As long as stagnant veteran sellers are not costing you money in the long run, it can be OK to keep them around until you groom a new group of Sellers, with experience, to replace them

2)  The next group CAN'T sell and WON'T ever do any better than where they are right now. This is a prime group to replace. They are most likely costing you money in 3 ways...
  A) No or very little new business coming in
  B) No or very little incremental income from curent accounts
  C) Many new opportunities wasted on them, that could have been given to someone else

3) The last and best group are those who CAN sell and WILL sell. Focus all your resources on this group. You will get your biggest return.

Word to the wise. A common excuse I hear is "we are like family, I can't just fire people." It is good to remember that all of the paychecks you issue at your company, from the person answering the phones, to the staff making your product or service, rely on the income of your Sales Team. Those paychecks pay employee mortgages, buy groceries and send many kids to college. If you really want to take care of families, take care of those.

Sales People need to keep firing away at new business every day. That is their job. It's no different than asking your book keeper to keep track of 100% of your money, not just the "easy" expense or income. The person making widgets needs to show up everyday and build widgets. The same for Salespeople. They need to show up everyday and look for new business.

Those Salespeople who want to build up a fat list and coast are not who you want to hire.  You are looking for people who are happy to find new opportunities every day. Thirsty Horses. Simply put, never hire people who don't want to search for new busines every day.  I've mentioned many times the importance of assessing your Sales Team. It's the best way to find out who CAN sell and who WILL sell. Click here for a free trial to see what an assessment can do for you. It can totally turn around your business.