Tight employment markets require a successful hiring processes and strong retention programs.  Companies have to play good defense when it comes to the rainmakers within their sales department.  CareerJournal.com ‘s Six Reasons Top Performers Seek Out Greener Pastures lays out a handful of clear pitfalls to avoid in this present market.

First off, number 1 is rudimentary…and, in our experience, the most abused of the list:

They receive few rewards for good behavior. If high performers receive no extra kudos or compensation for their extraordinary performance, they’ll begin to wonder whether it’s worth putting in the extra effort. It’s important to acknowledge those who work to promote the success of the whole company. If you can’t afford to reward them financially, find another way to recognize their contributions.

In sales, you have many different egos.  Part of the sales manager’s job is to sort out the right buttons for each individual.  That is an area in which we help managers.  The most common transgression we see is the sales manager who projects his or her reward pattern on to all of their salespeople.  They assume every is like them and responds to the same rewards.  Big mistake.

They feel underutilized or unchallenged. Because of their need for mastery, high performing employees can get easily frustrated and bored when their roles become too circumscribed or stagnant. The antidote: Feed them a steady diet of challenges.

Monotony drives change for many salespeople.  If they begin to view each day as the same day over and over (remember the movie Groundhog Day?), they will start to look for a new challenge.

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