Since 1990 I have focused on the three primary barriers which affect the performance of salespeople:-

1. Low confidence and self image

2. A low sense of personal responsibility for their performance, and

3. A low acceptance level of the need to practise selling skills

In all top performers, and in sales team this might represent only between 15-20% of the population, these barriers have been overcome, or at the very least compensated for.

Where many people make the mistake is in assuming that they can solve their overall sales force performance needs by employing people with the opposite of these characteristics.

These people only represent some 15-20% of the population anyway and the stark fact is that merely because people are successful elsewhere, this does not guarantee that they will be successful with you. The reason for this is that your management style may not be conducive to a) creating and b) retaining high performers.

80-85% of salespeople appear unable to overcome these barriers, but simply identifying what those barriers are is only part of the solution. In addition, if you do manage to employ the other 15-20%, without addressing the main influencing factors on performance you can also adversely affect top performers.

Most salespeople, whilst enjoying the perceived freedom and benefits of selling exhibit internal conflicts which can dramatically affect their self image, thus reducing their confidence. This in turn is transmitted to customers, bringing about a self-fulfilling prophecy of low performance. The beliefs which produce this are:-

a) no-one chooses selling as a first career choice. Most people drift into sales either because they can