Sales Are Low, What Do I Do?

Riding a wave when sales are up is the best part of managing a team. It feels like it is all play and no work and the money is rolling in. I remember those waves. The real test of management comes when sales start to drop, morale starts to die out and the commission checks disappear into nothingness. When sales are high, everyone gets comfortable and lazy. Agents get into bad habits and out of desperation start cutting corners and then quality issues add themselves to the equation. It doesn’t end there, attrition comes next. Some will be fired and others will quit. Then there are those who will attempt to take people with them in hopes of leading the revolution that delivers that final blow. Next comes meeting after meeting of brainstorming for a fix. Ideas fly and so do tempers. Creative contests and recruiting campaigns are launched and after a series of failures and finger pointing, finally something sparks and hopes re-enters the building. Sometimes a creative contest or campaign is needed to spark that flame, but more often than not, basic fundamentals are underestimated and overlooked. Keeping it simple and getting back to basics are key components in fixing performance. Short sighted desperation compromises the integrity and quality of the sales floor. Breaking bad habits is an uphill battle and sometimes it feels like it would be easier to fire everyone and start over.

Changing the perspective of the sales floor is step one. Like many first steps, this is the hardest step. The floor needs to be sold on changes to come and the reason behind the changes. Stay as close to the truth as possible. There will always be things that the agents do not know, things they do not need to know. Lying to them will only come back and bite harder later. Your approach to the agents will be the approach they take with prospects. Like children who mimic parents, so it goes in sales. Sometimes it is necessary to trim the fat of bad attitudes. An action plan has to be formed with the agents to get back on track and get everyone back to making money. The action plan should include goals, quality requirements and consequences, compensation (even if it is job security) and then one maybe two things you want everyone to focus on. Those one or two things will inevitably fix seven or eight things if not more. This approach will empower your agents. Their confidence is broken and their pockets are empty. They have to feel like they can do it and it is not going to take seven years to achieve the goal. If they do not trust you or believe in you, failure is imminent. Once you have changed the perspective of the team, now you are changing the direction of the company.

Coaching and development come next. Listening to calls with agents and giving effective feedback. This is coupled with celebrating small victories. Recognizing anyone who is implementing the changes. Being on the sales floor with the agents, out loud coaching, generating energy and raising morale. Ironically, if you focus on sales when sales are low, you will be frustrated and disappointed. If you focus on the script, quality, keeping everyone focused and driving improvement the sales will come. It will not happen in one day and it probably will not happen in a week, but steady improvement will pave that yellow brick road all the way back to Kansas. Slowly but surely, your best day four weeks ago becomes your worst day. Do not focus on setting a new record, focus on doing better than yesterday. When the sales return from the dead, do not stop what you are doing. If you stop and get comfortable again, you will relive the same cycle over and over again.

Here are some points of focus that will help change perspective, direction and performance:

• Who is worth keeping? A top performer with a bad attitude is worse than a lower performer with a great attitude.

• Seating chart. Friends should not sit next to each other and neither should lower performers. A call center really does operate on "elementary" concepts.

• Environment. A successful sales team requires the right environment. The smallest things have the biggest influence from music, posture of the agents, lighting, language and cell phones.

• Uniform scripts and rebuttals.

• Temporary comp plan. Make sure agents know and understand it is temporary or you will be battling entitlement issues next.

• Rolling out consequences for failure to adhere.

• Sticking to the plan and even when you feel like it is hopeless, keep smiling and pushing. Your team is a reflection of you.

• Have the backbone to follow through on consequences for not adhering to changes. One exception unravels everything.

• Lead by example.

I have cleaned up sales floors time and time again. Upper management will grow impatient. Having the fortitude to stick to the plan, selling the floor and the “uppers” on the results that are coming and the enthusiasm to implement it all will pay off. Remain confident and diligent but do not be cocky. I recently read something that was quite inspiring. “Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour.” (James Clear). Keep laying bricks, do not short cut and your empire will rise again.

Much more to come. Please leave a comment if this was useful. Tune into my podcast Tornado Torres currently streaming on all the major platforms and my YouTube channel under the same name. Both links are below.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1235192/podcast/website

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpRxGntTVTVUwhFzZvD9N_Q?view_as=subscriber