How You Know When It’s Time to Let a Sales Leader Go

Knowing when to hire and when to fire are critical skills for any team leader. The timing of when to add employees and when to let them go can make a huge difference in a company’s bottom line…especially when you’re talking sales team members.

Firing is a miserable task for anyone and, as a result, far too many leaders hang on too long to employees they should have fired long ago. By avoiding the difficult conversation and possible unpleasant reaction, leaders only make a bad situation worse. They just hope for a miracle—either the low performer will suddenly be effective or they will decide to quit on their own. But all the leaders do is postpone the inevitable firing, risk demotivating the entire team, incur continuing salary expense and face long delays in hiring and training a replacement.

Maybe not a miracle cure but there is help at hand. Have you ever heard about pre-ramp accountabilities? If not, it is a simple tool designed by solution selling training professionals for knowing when to let a new hire go before too much time or investment is wasted. Here is how it works.

If you are a sales team leader, for instance, draw up a list of what activities you think are necessary for success. This is not about the intangibles, such as positive attitude, commitment, work ethic, ability to work independently. It is more about job execution. What are the early leading indicators of success in a sales leadership role at your organization? Some examples are:

• 5 C-Level customer meetings per month
• One-on-ones with each rep on a weekly basis
• Once a week review of top ten deals
• 6 days per month coaching in the field

The list of accountabilities becomes a development plan for onboarding and sets clear expectations for what success on the job entails. Share the list with your new sales leader and make it clear that you will be tracking progress bi-monthly.

Instead of trusting your gut on how well your new hire is doing, you will have real evidence of the activities you consider essential. If the new employee misses the marks, you have a way to cite specific performance issues. Not only will it be easier to let them go, but you will also cut your losses early on.

Begin the hiring process anew before too much time has passed…you still have a chance to reach your numbers with a better hire next time.