It’s easy to laugh at a cartoon like this one, but we all have fallen victim to manage like this. The “more, more, more” plan destroys morale more than any increase in sales can justify, so how do you increase sales without the beat down? For small businesses, the real culprit is time shortage. Business owners don’t really have time to manage the sales function because they are managing too many other priorities. This leads to short-cutting sales management and boosting sales by cracking the whip. This short-term boost is expensive. You may get a sales increase but you will also enjoy the benefits of employee dissatisfaction, increased turnover, higher recruiting costs, and loss of reputation. Frankly, you are better off doing nothing vs. constantly push the sales staff for harder work. Your sales force will fully cooperate with a work smarter plan but expect a quiet revolt when you push for more, more, more. Download the Roadmap to Sales Success from this site for a framework and starting points to make meaningful, long-term changes to the sales process.
