With Christmas approaching, well it’s not far away, we like to sing 12 Days of Christmas so I’ve included a new verse – the 6 salespeople a slumping. I’ve 3 different salespeople and the character behind the slump. These 6 really do represent the main types of salesperson a slumping and you can use them to recognise your people and more importantly, how you can help them come out of the slump.
Concerned Connor
Easy to spot because they look very worried and concerned about their slump. They’ll probably come to you for help before you can arrange it. They’re very cooperative with you, put up no resistance and genuinely want to work with you to get out of their slump.
FISH them, guide them, give them more ideas to help their slump and pull them out. Regular coaching and feedback of live and recorded calls would be most welcomed by Concerned Connor.
Indifferent Ian
Ian is in denial. He won’t recognise or admit he’s in a slump. It’s just a glitch, a temporary setback or he might just have given up worrying about it, preferring to ignore the slump altogether and maybe it’ll go away.
With Ian, you need to do the Alcoholics Anonymous trick of getting him to realise he’s in a slump before you can figure out the cause and address it. Be prepared for a lengthy battle.
Care as it may be stress induced.
Fearful Freddie
Poor old Freddie is paralysed with fear, they’re so concerned about the consequences of a slump, they lose all ability to get out of it and fear the worse. It’s an Inner Game thing from now on. They’re capable but their minds not in it, so you need to do some confidence work with them, turning negative thoughts into positive thoughts. Tame their inner demon, their gremlin, who sitting on their shoulder telling them they’re useless, not cut out for selling and should’ve stayed in their 9 to 5 admin role.
Once their confidence and self-esteem is back, coach them. FISH for cause, work out a plan and guide them to successful performance again.
Hostile Harry
Angry, hostile and blaming everyone but himself for his downturn. It’s the leads, it’s the product, we’re too expensive.
Even worse you might have a passive aggressive, quietly blaming and undermining everyone else.
Check the hygiene factors – company policy, salary, management style – yes you – working conditions. See if any of these are irritating him. Control Harry, FISH him to realise there might be a problem and the cause could relate to his activities.
Only then can you direct him, coach him and bring his performance back to where it should be.
Remember, though, that Harry is contagious. His attitude might infect your other salespeople particularly if they’re in close proximity such as a call centre. Treat him quickly and consider whether you really want him on your team.
Unmotivated Umran
Umran, is unmotivated, lacking in zest, has moved to a helplessness motivational zone. Check him for hygiene factors and then focus on building his confidence and self-esteem. Get some zest back into him, return his mojo, then FISH for cause and build his performance.
Stressed Scotty
Stress could be the reason for his downturn. Or his downturn may have caused his stress. You can recognise stress in salespeople in three ways. One, they’ve changed, gone all quiet on you. Two, they fly off the handle at the slightest provocation. Three, they’ve just given up.
Don’t be a hero, if you’re not good at counseling stress, hire someone who is. Get HR involved if you suspect stress, but deal with it.
So there we have 6 salespeople a slumping for you to use to recognise if any of your people are in a slump and some tips and ideas to help you get them out and back to peak performance.
6 Salespeople a Slumping, 5 Golden Rings, 4 Calling Birds, 3 French Hens, 2 Turtle Doves and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.
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