This sounds almost comical, but I have seen it first-hand.  BusinessWeek.com’s article – Is Praising Employees Counterproductive? – discusses the topic of praising employees for their good work.  The gist of the article:

After the meeting, James asked Tom, “What were you going to say at the meeting, and why did you stop?” Tom answered: “I was going to praise Penny on her marketing plan, but I’ve already praised her twice this week. I don’t want to go overboard.”

There is a fear—an irrational one, in my experience—among certain managers of praising employees too much. It’s as though they believe that one “attaboy” or “attagirl” too many can spoil a good employee.

I worked for a manager who took this approach.  I always felt his motivation was different – he didn’t want to praise me (or any other salesperson) because he thought we would use that praise to demand a higher salary.  Instead of praise, he would say good, ok, fine…those types of things.  He was always more thorough in his criticism.  The net result of his style was to feel like you were being criticized far more for your mistakes than praised for your successes.  The net effect was demoralizing.

If you praise an employee, s/he’ll expect more money.

This argument is easily countered if, when an employee asks about a possible uptick in pay, you share with him or her the financial drivers for your business. If you praise an employee and her response is “Thanks for the praise, now can I have a salary increase?” you can show her how the firm’s operating expenses and its revenues tie together—and most important, let her know the specific results that would make bigger salaries possible. Those might include an increase in sales, a reduction in costs, or both. The more specific you can be, the more your employee will understand where the dollars in her paycheck come from, and what she can do to influence her earning power.

May I also suggest that if you are praising an employee frequently, maybe they are deserving of a raise?  Voluminous opportunities to praise an employee are usually indicative of a strong employee.  That outcome wasn’t my intention in my previous position.  The fact that the manager had this thought pattern made me think he was a fairly shallow manager.

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ManageSmarter.com offers up an interesting article titled Do You Have the Right Talent?  First off, I love the fact that they advocating the pursuit of talent – that is the key to a successful sales hire (read:  not experience).  Second, the author strikes a chord that resonates with us:  There is no one-size-fits-all salesperson.  The right approach is to look at a salesperson’s abilities and see how well they fit into your sales model.  This approach is talent/skill-based, not experience-based.

Here is an excellent example of this principle in action (emphasis mine):

A client of ours is a partner in a construction company specializing in commercial ventilation systems. They have a good reputation and they bid on, and win, many commercial installation jobs.

A few years ago this company took on a new “product.” They felt that annual maintenance contracts for commercial building ventilation systems (not unlike an annual maintenance contract for a home furnace or central air conditioning) would be a relevant addition to their offerings. And they were right. But from a “need” point of view, these two sales jobs are completely different.

When the salesperson tries to illustrate why her company is the best choice for the construction side of the business, the need is known. That is, we already know that there is a building project going on. Without having to ask, we know there is the need for a ventilation system. The prospect does not have to use my client’s company necessarily, but they do have to have a ventilation system. The need has already been established before the sale even begins. But this is not true for the maintenance side of the business. Although there may be tremendous value to purchasing a maintenance contract, it is not essential. The need must first be created.

It is of course very common to have related product lines like this—it’s just good business. But in this example, the two sale types are very different for the salespeople, and certain things must be structured accordingly. This is why you have heard me say that you may well have several different sale types in one company—requiring different talents—and why many of you have had experiences where your salespeople just don’t do well with certain products or services that you feel are such “natural companions” to your core products.

The fact that the need has already been established is a subtle, but powerful differentiation in the sale.  This principle is true when hiring salespeople that have worked for a market leader in your industry.  The similarity is that the salesperson’s company has name recognition and market capitalization.  This market strength makes prospecting much easier.

Now imagine a smaller competitor hires a salesperson from the larger company.  The smaller company thinks they have scored a coup.  Yet, they find after a few months that this new salesperson is not getting appointments and, consequently, not closing new deals.  The skill set required at the smaller company is different than the larger, market-leading company. 

This hiring error occurs often in companies that believe they must hire salespeople from their industry.  Big, big mistake.  Yet, this conventional wisdom is ingrained in many hiring managers.  Talent and skill should be the first measuring stick for any sales hire.

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A good reminder from the JustSell.com newsletter:

Top 3 activities that can hobble a sales day…

1. Talking with people who can’t move the sales process along
2. Unnecessary research activities
   What’s too much? There’s really no definitive answer. It’s particular to your sales world. Many people start to get a gut feel for when they should move on. The key is to act on it and make the call (rather than making sure every little thing is known before the call – fine line, of course). You might be surprised what you can learn by asking a straightforward question of the person who answers the phone or responds to an email.
3. “Crafting” or “drafting” a script, email, or letter
   Needs to be done, but almost never during the money hours – and those who’ve worked the preparedness checklist should already have completed the basics of most standard written communications needed.

Always remember…

A real sales day is made of contact with people.

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