#029: High performance w/o micro-managing

Read time: 3 minutes

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We all absolutely hate micro-management.

Nothing positive comes out of monitoring and pestering someone about activity levels.

That being said, you can’t let underperformance go unaddressed. I’m going to share one of the best ways you can create a high-performance sales culture without micro-managing people.

If you’re a manager, you should implement this right away.

If you’re a sales rep, share this with your manager so they can use it with you and your team.

The performance meeting

This is a once-a-month, 1:1 meeting, between rep and manager. If done well, it should take no more than 15 minutes.

The goal of this meeting is purely to discuss performance and address any actions that need to take place.

This meeting differs from a normal 1:1 or pipeline review where you might discuss career development or specific opportunities. The sole purpose of this meeting is to discuss performance objectively.

Here’s the flow of the conversation:

• Is the rep on pace to exceed their target?

  • Yes: Ask what roadblocks you can help with to help them go above and beyond.

  • No: Continue

• Do they have enough late-stage pipeline coverage to hit their target?

  • Yes: Great. Focus on the health of the pipeline and make sure they keep adding to it so it isn’t empty to start the next quarter.

  • No: Continue

• Are they creating enough new opportunities every week?

  • Yes: Great. But why are they not turning into late-stage pipeline that has a chance to close?

  • No: Continue

• Are they doing enough activity to create new opportunities?

  • Yes: Evaluate the quality of the activities to find out why they aren’t converting into opportunities.

  • No: Find out why they aren’t doing the activities needed to hit their targets. This is now the only time you need to focus on activity metrics.

The simple act of formally meeting with each rep to discuss their results (revenue), what they’re working on (pipeline), and where they are focused (activity) will transform your sales team culture.

Top performers hitting targets don’t need to be micro-managed around activity. Whatever they are doing is working. So there is no point in having the activity discussion with them.

Why this works…

You are systematically going through someone’s performance in a very objective way. There should be no emotion or feeling brought into this meeting. Pull up the dashboards and review the metrics with them. This waterfall approach makes it very clear as to what the rep needs to improve.

The beauty of objectivity is that it doesn’t demotivate team members. Every seller understands that sales is about results and that results are a product of a healthy pipeline. Great salespeople love this short, focused performance meeting. It’s their chance to shine and show their great work.

The harsh reality is that any salesperson who dislikes reviewing results and discussions about pipeline health is probably in the wrong job.

Good management is not micromanagement!

Don't let complaints or frustration from underperforming reps derail you. When a struggling salesperson resists this type of meeting and complains about increased visibility into activity, stand your ground.

• Remind them that the only reason you are asking hard questions about activity is because their results are not what they should be and their pipeline is insufficient.

• If they want to avoid your deep dive into their activity, they need to hit their targets and maintain a healthy pipeline.

If you regularly hold this meeting with each member of your team (no matter their results) you will naturally build a culture of high performance. Each rep will have a clear understanding of what is expected and what won’t be tolerated.

The unfortunate reality is that these meetings will shed light on underperformance. Which means you will have to have uncomfortable conversations.

If you join us next week, Becc Jermy is going to show you how to have a hard conversation about underperformance. Join our workshop with Becca Jermy on April 2nd at noon ET.

Bridge the gap: Enhance your Communication for Managing Underperforming Team Members.

In today’s fast-paced work environment, how well you deal with underperforming team members makes the difference between being an effective leader and one who struggles.

In this interactive workshop, you will find the secrets of how to deal with underperforming team members.

You will see what the problem is, and you’ll see why some of your team members don’t get results (even though you give them everything they need!).

Join Becca Jermy on Tuesday 2nd April at 12 ET to Bridge the Gap.

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