Q&A: Manage an Unmanageable Salesforce?

by Dave Kahle

Manage A Salesforce that is Not Manageable?

 Q.  I’m frustrated.  My sales force just doesn’t seem to be motivated.  They agree with me at sales meetings, but then don’t follow through.  Any ideas?

 A.  Yes.  I just had a phone conversation with a client who had a familiar story to tell.  He had built his business on the model of an entrepreneurial sales force –give them a territory, pay them straight commission, and tell them they are in business for themselves, free to develop the customers they chose with the products they wanted. 

And for a couple decades it had worked well.  The business grew and expanded.  More entrepreneurial salespeople were added, and the model was duplicated over and over again.

So far so good.  But then the growth in sales began to slow down.  Three flat or declining years in a row has caused this company president to question the status quo.  Not only is business flat, but he’s unable to get his sales force to promote the lines that he wants to promote, he’s unable to get them to use some of the new technology that the company wants them to use, and he’s unable to get them to prospect for new customers.  Now he’s faced with an experienced sales force, who for the most part, are unmanageable.   

The culprit?  A sales model that was built on the concept of the entrepreneurial salesperson.  There was a time when this model was effective, but in today’s competitive economy, there are serious difficulties with the entrepreneurial model.

Sales Management by Crisis? 

It doesn’t have to be that way.  The truth is that very few sales managers  have ever been exposed to the best practices of proactive sales management.

We can fix that.  Our Kahle Way® Sales Management System has transformed thousands of sales managers, enriched thousands of sales people, and spearheaded the growth of countless companies,

“The seminar was outstanding. It was straightforward and simple to understand. We will be implementing the management system immediately. Thanks, Dave!”

– Doug Cowan, Sales Manager, Professional Salon Concepts

For years, we taught it in a live seminar.  Now, we’ve made it available in an on-line course, complemented with live Zoom meetings. 

In today’s competitive environment, it’s important that sales organizations field a ‘directable’ sales force. The key word here is directable.  It means that your sales force can be counted on to quickly, thoroughly and positively carry out your directions. Such a sales force is both rare, and incredibly valuable to the company.  In this podcast, I explore that concept.