The Biblical Sales Force Part 5 – Consequences and Some Baseball

It’s been a while since the last installment of the Biblical Sales Force Series where we discuss the similarities between biblical days and the sales team.  For newcomers to the series, the previous installments are:

Part 1 – Hiring and Firing

Part 2 – On Boarding and Coaching Salespeople

Part 3 – Numbers: Metrics and KPIs

Part 4 – Accountability

In part 5 it’s all about consequences.

Deuteronomy, the 6th chapter of the Old Testament, shares God’s commandments, doctrines, declarations, ordinances and statutes.  Most people are familiar with the Ten Commandments but God didn’t stop there.  In Deuteronomy, God commanded Moses to share dozens of laws, some of which are still observed today.  The laws were part of God’s plan for the Israelites.

Most companies have plans – business plans – which, in order to achieve the desired outcome, demand the execution of strategies found in the business plan.  An effective strategic plan has specific requirements (laws) for the sales team to observe.

There are differences between the laws in Deuteronomy and the requirements in the strategic plan, with the major difference being consequences.  God’s remedy for many crimes was getting stoned to Death (termination), while leadership’s remedy for failing to meet the requirements in the strategic plan is to ignore the crime.  Sell another day versus possible Death.

Biblical Times:

• Eat the wrong kind of creature – Crime
• Work on the Sabbath – Crime
• Sleep with your dead spouse’s sibling – Crime
• Touch someone who is unclean – Crime
• Charge interest on a loan you gave to someone in your tribe – Crime

Of course there are dozens more.

Companies:

• Failure to fill the pipeline – Excuses made and accepted
• Failure to close a forecasted sale – Excuses made and accepted
• Failure to hit the forecast – Excuses made and accepted
• Failure to meet quota – Excuses made and accepted
• Failure to hire productive new salespeople – Excuses made and accepted

What do you suppose salespeople would do if their sales leaders imposed consequences?

One sales leader contemplated this and went through the hypotheticals.  In a normal week, two of his eight salespeople book two meetings each so he thought that he could inform the team that, “I just want you all to know that effective Monday, booking five new meetings per week is a condition for continued employment here at At-A-Boy Excuserations.”

He continued thinking that next Friday, three of his eight salespeople would book five meetings each, three would book three meetings each, and two will not book any new meetings.  He considers the message he hypothetically delivered to his team the previous week and realizes that while he would be thrilled that the team will have booked 24 new meetings, 20 more than usual, following through on his consequences would require him to terminate all but three of his salespeople, leaving him in a terrible spot.

He decides that the consequences, while delivering pipeline growth of 5x/week, are too risky, and the status quo will need to remain in place.

But what if our sales leader mixed in a little baseball to the Biblical-like consequences?  What if he first reduced the five meetings required to three and modified the consequences to three strikes and you’re out?  He would still terminate two salespeople – two that needed to be terminated – and at the same time, send a message to the rest of the team that he will no longer accept mediocrity and if they fail to perform to expectations, they’re gone.  Consequences and follow through.  Just like in the Bible.

And how would the three strikes work?

The first week a salesperson fails to book their three meetings is strike one – a reminder of the forthcoming consequences if  this conversation occurs twice more. It can also be a warning that another such conversation – strike 2 – will result in something less unpleasant than termination, but unpleasant nonetheless.  This could be anything from a reduction in the size of their territory, having an account reassigned, a reduction in salary, a reduction in the percentage of commission paid, or no longer reimbursing for certain expenses.  And of course, a third occurrence of this conversation does result in termination.

What can a sales leader do to prepare for an exponential growth in pipeline, and an impending loss of some salespeople?  Rejoice! Less is more.  Recruit!  Start before you notify the team of your plan.

Leading a sales team should be fun and exciting and the only way to experience that is to make things happen.  Take charge.  Put some rules and expectations in place and enforce them.  Coach them and guide them. Give them what they need relative to training and tools, but don’t enable them.

On May 6, at 3pm ET, I am hosting a 30-minute walkthrough for CEOs on What Your Expectations of a Sales Leader Should Be. Learn More/Register