When dealing with performance problems of salespeople, there are five basic reasons why they may not be performing as expected:

1. They don’t have enough sales ability – You need to evaluate your hiring practices. Consider using an assessment to screen candidates.

2. They don’t understand what they are supposed to do – You need to establish expectations.

3. They don’t know how to do the job – You need to train them regularly.

4. They lack the necessary systems – You need to employ a sales model and hold salespeople accountable for using it.

5. They lack motivation – You need to create an environment where people are motivated by things that are important to them.

Establishing expectations provides a salesperson with benchmarks for activity and achievement. Providing feedback against those expectations provides for accountability. Without expectations and without accountability, salespeople cannot be accused of not performing up to standards. Why not? Because they will have accomplished exactly what was expected from them – NOTHING!