The more companies we work with, the more we see communication breakdowns being the root of most problems.  Our work with our clients spans more than just recruiting.  We assist them in onramping their new salesperson.  This function places us in the unique position of working with both the salesperson and the sales manager.

One of the more dysfunctional situations we encounter is a communication breakdown between the manager and salesperson.  One manager complained that the salesperson wasn’t doing what he asked, but he never confronted the salesperson.  Another time we had a salesperson who would not submit his weekly call report.  Ever.  Yes, he was let go (even we so-called experts miss on occasion).

Those experiences led me to this Selling Power article about compensation – a recurring theme on The Hire Sense this week.  The opening statistics are shocking (my emphasis):

According to a recent WorldatWork survey of compensation practitioners and HR managers, 76 percent of organizations report revising their sales plans every year as a matter of course. However, the same survey found that only 58 percent of organizations communicate these changes directly to the frontline sales manager.

Makes me wonder with whom do they communicate the change?  The article continues with an excellent point:

Since frontline sales managers are the people doing the hiring, their ability to understand the incentive plan is really critical to making the right hire and putting together the right recruiting message, says Stoeckmann. If they fully understand the compensation and incentive program and are kept up-to-date, they can be very effective recruiters.

As a recruiter, it is difficult for us to have a full understanding of the compensation (especially commission) plan.  One thing sales candidates always want to know is how “real” is the plan?  How many people make quota?  I can’t imagine a situation where a sales manager didn’t know those details.  That would be a tremendous red flag for a candidate.

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We have really come to enjoy Dave Stein’s posts.  They are timely and cut straight to the heart of the issue.  Today’s post is no exception.  Working strictly on the sales side of organizations, one of the areas we look at while profiling their sale is compensation.  Most importantly, we look to see if the compensation structure rewards the behaviors the company expects of the salesperson.  More times than not it won’t and from one of Dave’s comments, he sees the same issues:   

I am bringing this up because compensation is another dysfunctional area within many companies.  During the past quarter, I’ve been engaged with several clients where “errors of commission” are preventing them from achieving their team and corporate goals.

We ran into a situation a few years back where a company President wanted to upgrade his sales team and bring in an experienced national salesperson who could help him grow his company.  He was okay about having to pay more for sales experience, but his commission plan wasn’t aligned.  The commission schedule for a sales person to break the 6 figure mark meant he or she would have to more than double the total revenue of the company.  If they accomplished that feat, they should be running the company.

Through all this compensation discussion, Dave makes an extremely important point:

One important point: Having the right people in sales jobs comes first.  The best comp plan in the world doesn’t mean much when the salespeople it is intended to motivate don’t have the requisite skills and traits to succeed.

I couldn’t agree more.  If you don’t know where to begin, let us help you get started.

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