Your least effective team member determines your strength
As a new sales manager, it’s tempting to see the best in everyone and believe that each team member will meet your standards with time. But I’ve learned a hard truth through experience: you’re only as strong as your weakest performer. This is the #1 mistake new sales managers make:
### Tolerating Underperformance 📉
I’ve experienced this error personally. At one point, I had an employee on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). They performed sufficiently to be removed from the PIP and immediately requested a promotion. I was astonished.
Here’s the reality: improvement alone doesn’t equal high performance. Yes, effort matters, and improvement matters—but output matters most. New sales leaders often fall into the trap of lowering their standards instead of making the tough calls, believing improvement is the same as results. While some reps may improve, meeting minimum standards is often insufficient. And that’s where performance problems start to snowball.
😡 Reps who don’t meet minimum standards take more of your time while delivering less than their peers. You’re spread thin, trying to support everyone equally, but in reality, your time is finite and needs to be invested where it delivers the best results.
But here’s the good news: you don’t have to lower expectations or give up on anyone outright. Here are two tactics I’ve used to maintain high standards without sacrificing your team’s growth potential.
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### 1️⃣ Encourage Self-Assessment for Growth
Self-assessment is more than just a checkpoint—it’s a powerful tool that builds self-awareness, a cornerstone of real improvement. By encouraging reps to reflect honestly on their performance, you establish a clear starting point for development and create a shared understanding of where they stand.
#### Steps for Effective Self-Assessment:
1. Identify Core Performance Metrics: Start by pinpointing the specific skills and benchmarks critical for success in the role. These could include: – Meeting or exceeding sales quotas – Effective time management and follow-through – Customer engagement and feedback – Adherence to team values and culture – Personal accountability in meeting objectives
Make sure these metrics are well-defined and measurable to avoid ambiguity about success.
2. Provide a Structured Self-Assessment Template: Design a simple template or rubric with a rating scale (e.g., 1 to 5, where 1 is “needs improvement” and five is “exceeds expectations”). Cover each key performance metric, allowing reps to rate themselves against clearly defined standards.
3. Encourage Specificity and Reflection: Ask them to provide examples that justify their ratings. If a rep rates their time management as a “4,” ask them to note specific actions or changes they’ve implemented to stay on track. This deeper reflection reveals blind spots and prevents them from glossing over weaknesses.
4. Compare Self-Assessment with Your Ratings: After completing their self-assessment, review it and add your ratings for each area. The goal isn’t to match scores but to identify gaps in perception. Underperformers may rate themselves higher than reality, often because they lack the self-awareness to see where they need growth.
5. Discuss the Gaps Together: Schedule a one-on-one meeting to review the results, primarily focusing on areas where their self-assessment differs from yours. You can encourage open dialogue to understand why those gaps exist. For example: – “I see you rated yourself a 4 in customer engagement, but customer feedback shows a few areas of concern. How do you see these interactions?” – “You rated yourself highly on time management, but your quarterly results reflect a pattern of missed follow-ups. Can we talk about why that might be happening?”
6. Establish Actionable Goals Based on Self-Reflection: Once aligned on their current standing, collaborate on an improvement plan. Self-assessment opens the door for reps to take ownership of their growth. Set achievable targets that address their weaknesses and schedule follow-ups to track progress.
#### Why Self-Assessment Works
– Builds Accountability: When reps acknowledge areas for improvement, it increases their accountability, as they’ve identified the need for change. – Encourages Ownership: Rather than you pointing out weaknesses, they’re recognizing them independently, which fosters greater ownership over their development. – Enhances Coachability: Self-assessment requires humility, which is crucial for any rep willing to grow. Building this habit fosters a culture of coachability and continuous improvement within your team.
Self-assessment isn’t just about identifying weaknesses; it’s about empowering reps to look honestly at their growth potential. This process, paired with your coaching, reinforces team standards and keeps everyone striving toward high performance.
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### 2️⃣ Prioritize the Team Over Individuals
As a sales leader, your time is limited, so allocating it where it delivers the most impact is crucial. Spending equal time with every rep isn’t a practical or effective strategy. Instead, prioritize the team’s success over individual attention. Ask yourself two key questions when evaluating your team:
– Would a top performer struggle in the same role? – If the answer is no, it’s likely a performance issue with the rep, not a role mismatch. Strong reps can generally find ways to succeed within the role’s structure and challenges.
– Knowing what you know now, would you rehire this person? – This question cuts through ambiguity. If you wouldn’t rehire them based on current performance and growth trajectory, that’s a clear indicator that it’s time to consider alternative actions.
If the answer to either of these questions is no, and you’ve invested effort in coaching them, it’s time to replace the rep. Not making this call doesn’t just lower your team’s performance; it risks your position. Lowering standards to accommodate underperformers reflects poorly on your leadership.
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### Final Thoughts
As a new sales manager, it’s normal to want to see the best in everyone. But tolerating underperformance can quickly derail your team. Set high standards, encourage self-awareness through self-assessment, and invest your time where it makes the most significant impact. If you don’t move to uphold these standards, someone else might do it for you—and potentially replace you in the process.
Embrace the hard calls and keep your team reaching higher.
