Can you really clone top sales performers?

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Research into individual performance within company sales teams of all types and sizes suggests they can, in general, be divided into three performance bands. The top 20% who consistently perform at 130% of target or above, the bottom 20% achieving at 30% of target or less and the balance of 60% who are solid and put in an acceptable performance that across the group averages out at around 85% of target.

Whatever the value of the sales target, the law of averages dictates that for every above average performer, there must be an equivalent below average performer. However, because under-performers regularly quit or are fired, over any given period of time, the under-performers significantly outnumber the over-performers. Again this is true of sales teams of all types and sizes but particularly so for commission-only employers who find it difficult to attract applicants of sufficiently high calibre.

So, returning to the question of cloning top performers in order to increase sales revenue, is there any value in such an approach ? Work undertaken by Sales Team Focus Ltd with clients in diverse markets from electrical retailing to financial services, has consistently confirmed the existence of a defined set of core skills and attributes that can be found in all average and top performers. In almost every instance, under-performers have been shown to lack one or more of these to a significant degree. However, what differentiates the top performers from the average isn’t quite so clear cut. Most very high performers are somewhat ‘renegade’ and don’t conform to many of the accepted ‘golden rules’ of selling. They are highly individualistic and, therefore, almost impossible to ‘clone’.

A more productive approach and one far easier to achieve in real life does not involve cloning top performers. In almost complete contrast, it sets out to avoid recruiting ‘no-hopers’. A quick reference to the table below will demonstrate the value of this approach. To simplify the mathematics, the table summarises the performance of a team of 10 salespeople each with an annual revenue target of £1,000,000. Given the different levels of performance found in such a team, the resulting revenue is likely to be around £8.3m as summarised in column A.

It could be argued that the top performers are already running flat out so an improvement in their performance isn’t realistic. Most ‘no hopers’ are usually square pegs in round holes and no amount of training or encouragement has much impact on their performance. However, let’s assume the sales manager pulls out all the stops and achieves an increase of 10% across the board. Column B summarises the impact of the result - a substantial increase in revenue but, in reality, one that would be very difficult to achieve.

Analysis of team performance - team size 10

Taking into account the difficulties associated with improving the performance of those at the extremes, an alternative approach would be for the sales manager to focus on bringing the ‘average’ performers up to target (approximately a 20% improvement in individual performance). The overall impact is similar and is summarised in column C. Again, such an approach would involve almost superhuman effort on behalf of the sales manager.

In contrast, compare these results with those of column D. In this instance we haven’t changed the performance of the top 20% for we know how difficult that is. Nor have we changed that of the average performers, they are still at 85% of target. What we have done is avoided recruiting the two ‘no-hopers’ and instead, hired two average performers. Note, these are NOT top performers, just average performers!

Whilst there isn’t a huge difference in the total revenue figures under these three scenarios, ask any sales manager how much effort would be involved in improving the performance of the bulk of his/her team by 20%. In contrast, how much extra effort would be involved in hiring two average performers rather than two ‘no-hopers’? The answer is none. The sales manager may need to be better at hiring but he/she doesn’t have to do more work. He/she just has to work smarter, not harder.

This simple analysis quickly and easily demonstrates that rather than seek to clone your top performers, a more productive approach is to avoid recruiting those who will never make the grade. Not only will this generate an overall greater improvement in performance, in practice it involves a lot less work! However, it's not as easy to achieve as it is to say. It necessitates recruiting the 'right' people in the first instance then managing and motivating them to optimum performance.

Who are the 'right' people? Simply put, it’s those with all (or at least most of) the basic ingredients proven to be critical to a successful sales career within your company. But without assessment tests specifically designed for the task, the existence of these skills and qualities is notoriously difficult to measure. In fact, the least reliable method is the typical recruitment interview!

In recognition of this, Sales Team Focus Ltd specialise in helping companies improve their recruitment procedures to recognise and avoid the ‘no hopers’. We use a small battery of three assessment tests that between them assess 27 sales-specific core skills and attributes. These include to what degree applicants have:

• the ability to think on their feet
• the drive and energy to maintain a suitable work rate
• a sufficient goal focus to achieve and exceed sales targets
• been trained in sales techniques such as questioning, overcoming objections and knowing when and how to ask for the order.

The relative importance of many other factors such as prospecting skills and telephone technique varies widely between different types of sales roles. Using the same test battery to assess each member of a company’s sales team, Sales Team Focus Ltd can quickly and inexpensively determine those skills and qualities which truly differentiate the top and average performers from the ‘no-hopers’. Armed with this knowledge, sales managers can recruit in future with greater confidence than ever before.

© 1999 Sales Team Focus Ltd