You’re not sure when exactly it happened, but at some point, your team of enthusiastic, self-motivated salespeople turned into a group of dead-eyed, lumbering sales zombies. The signs are obvious. They move slower, almost as if they’re just going through the motions. They look at potential deals through pessimistic lens. They spend more time scanning Facebook and Twitter than they do sending emails or making calls.
Perhaps no job demands enthusiasm more than a sales position. There are plenty of jobs in any business where you can fake it. Sales isn’t one of them. A salesperson who isn’t driven to succeed will fail to generate a high level of activity, which will lead to a dearth of qualified prospects. When they do get in front of prospects, their lack of energy could sour the entire interaction.
If the problem isn’t addressed quickly, a lack of enthusiasm could turn into active disengagement. Then you have a real problem on your hands, because disengagement is usually a precursor to turnover.
What do you do? If it’s just one or two team members, you can focus on them on an individual basis. When it’s the entire team, though, that’s a sign that you have an organizational problem. There is some common issue that is making their job more difficult or is limiting their ability to meet their goals. [Read more…]