| Retaining Top Personnel GOAL SETTING | |||||
![]() The Cost of Turnover Orientation Motivation Coaching and Mentoring Training Goal Setting Performance Assessment Resignation and Termination More Resources: Retaining Top Personnel Code of Ethics: Retaining Top Personnel | 6 Goal Boosters 1. Build in coaching support systems to give salespeople feedback, suggestions, and encouragement. This can be a 30-minute weekly session with you, your sales manager, or an outside coach. TIP: Encourage your experienced salespeople to act as coaches or mentors for new associates. 2. Promote time management skills . An inefficient use of time is a great barrier to productivity and closed transactions. 3. Encourage the use of technology that aids productivity. That doesn’t mean that salespeople need every new gadget. Instead, help them assess what technologies are necessary to be successful. 4. Decide if there is one area that is a constant barrier to achieving a goal and provide extra training in it. 5. Keep the sessions focused on problems, not personalities. 6. Meet with associates at least four times a year and revise goals as necessary to reflect changing priorities. TIP: If many members of the sales force consistently fail to meet their goals, perhaps you are encouraging them to set the marks too high. TIP: Al Mayer’s Triple-Track Goal Setting Al Mayer, president of Fred Sands in Malibu, Calif., had his “ah-ha” moment when he heard the quote “You can’t motivate a satisfied person.” “I realized that to keep salespeople from becoming complacent, I had to keep them dissatisfied and striving for more.” The result was Mayer’s triple-track plan. First, work with the salesperson to develop three performance levels: 1. Minimum acceptable: What’s the minimum you can afford to make and stay in the business and cover your basic living expenses? 2. Average desired: You don’t want a minimum life. What else would like to do? Dinners out, monthly theater tickets, braces for your son? 3. Maximum obtainable: There are special things—a fancy car, a round-the-world-trip we’d all like. Set a specific dollar amount for each of these levels. These goals need to come directly from salespeople; it has to be what they want, not what you would want. Second, help the salesperson develop a business plan to achieve the goals. Calculate how many transactions are needed to reach the dollar amount of the goal. Third, track the performance. Use a form each month to see if the salesperson is on target for the minimum, average, or maximum pace. Color code the three levels so salespeople can see at a glance how they’re doing. Performance Assessment > | |