Old dog, new tricks

How do you change the behavior of an experienced salesperson?

by Dave Kahle

How do you change the behavior of an experienced salesperson? Most sales forces are made up of a variety of people, ranging from inexperienced rookies to veterans who have been around for anywhere from five to 25 years. The rookies are eager to learn and quickly adapt to new things — whether it’s a new compensation program, automation tool or sales process — while most veterans are set in their ways and resist most new initiatives.

Veteran salespeople may be resistant to the specific change being implemented today. But there will be another change next year and again the year after that and so on for the rest of our careers. Today’s issue is just a symptom of a larger problem. It’s not resistance to this particular change; resistance to any change is the issue. Ignore it today, and you’re likely to run into it in the future. 

So, here are seven essentials to changing the behavior of an experienced salesperson.

Seven steps to implementing change
1) Mandate the change. Too many executives try to bring about serious change without being publicly committed to it themselves. This half-hearted commitment is obvious to employees, and provides a mental escape. After all, if senior management isn’t really committed, why should they be?

Don’t let that happen. If you want the change to stick, put your personal power behind it. Announce it to everyone, explain the rationale, commit the company’s assets to it, and let everyone know this change is going to be how your company does business. You’ll see to it.

2) Communicate clear expectations. OK, you’ve mandated the change. Now, you must make sure those veteran salespeople know specifically what is expected of them personally. For example, you may be implementing a new sales force automation tool. You have mandated it publicly. Sit down with each salesperson and say, “Mary, by June 1, we expect you to be using the customer master screen and call report function. By July 1, we expect you to utilize the quote system for every quote you do. By Sept. 1, we expect you to be fully functional on all five modules.”  Follow it up with a written memo saying exactly the same thing. Now, everyone knows exactly what you expect.

3) Tie the behavior to some reward. It would be nice if you could make 10 percent of a salesperson’s paycheck dependent on them meeting the expectations you set out. In most circumstances, this is too difficult to pull off. The principle still remains, however. Maybe you can have a big banquet for every salesperson who has achieved the expectations. Include spouses. Maybe you can all go to a sporting event. Let everyone know, including the spouses, that this special occasion is only for those who make the change. Of course, if you could tie part of their paycheck to the change . . .

4) Train them. Only the eager to change will pick up the new behavior on their own. Everyone else will require specific and repetitive training in the thing that you want them to do. Don’t underestimate this. It’s a rule of thumb in sales force automation projects, for example, that the cost of the training will be about as much as the cost of the software and hardware. So, if it cost you $2,500 per person for the new system, it will cost you $2,500 per person to adequately train them in the new system. If you are not ready to bear this cost, don’t mandate the change in the first place.

5) Support the changed behavior. Just because you’ve trained them doesn’t mean everyone “got it.”  They’ll still need reminders, someone to talk to about specific questions, manuals where they can look things up and Web sites where they can get additional help. Set up your infrastructure for supporting the changed behavior before you begin the training.

6) Manage and monitor the change. In our Growth Coach Sales Management System, we institute a formal, highly structured monthly meeting between the sales manager and the salesperson. Whether you use our system or not, it is a good idea to meet regularly with each salesperson to monitor their growth and progress in meeting the expectations. Ask questions such as, “What progress are you making? Are you where you need to be? Why or why not? What are you going to do now? How can I help?”

7) Be prepared to take action. After you have invested the company’s assets in a significant effort to help this person make the change, what if he/she still doesn’t? 

At this point, you need to make a determination. Is this a “can’t do” issue, or is it a “won’t do” issue? In other words, is the problem that the salesperson just does not have the ability to do what you want him/her to do? If so, maybe they should be in another job in your company. Their current job may have grown beyond their capabilities. It happens. 

On the other hand, the problem may not have anything to do with abilities, but lies in attitude. Is the issue that they won’t do it? If that’s the case, it may be time to part company with this individual. 

The future of the sales force will be characterized by constant and rapid change. Every salesperson must be expected to be supportive of that change. It’s part of the job description. Resistance to today’s initiative will lead to resistance to tomorrow’s initiative.

The company that can consistently manage change and systematically bring about changed behavior will have a serious competitive advantage over those companies whose salespeople are locked in behaviors that used to work.

This article originally appeared in the May/June 2003 issue of Progressive Distributor. Copyright 2003.

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