The answer may surprise you.

As sales professionals though, I think we would concur that we’ve all been here before. Maybe as a sales rep, or possibly as a sales executive, but we’ve all been here.

So what is the answer?

In this post, you will learn how to diagnose the problem of a flat sales curve, before you try to fix it.

You will also learn what might work and what might not work before you even try to address the core issue.

So let’s dive right in. Are additional sales incentives the answer? Maybe, but let’s take a step back first. As a sales executive, you need to look deeper at the root cause.

So don’t notify your hiring manager or staffing agency partner that you’re looking for new sales reps quite yet!

A good start would be to evaluate if there have been any significant changes to your sales ecosystem recently.

Some possible changes to consider:

• Have you, or your competitors, recently changed pricing or pricing models, from subscription to usage models for example?
• Have sales employee compensation plans changed?
• Has new competition entered your market space?
• Have effective sales and marketing campaigns come to an end?

These are just a few things to consider. Talk to your sales team. They’re your feet on the street. Your sales team is the best resource to help you determine if the answer to any of these questions is “yes.”

One way or another though, something is driving sales in the wrong direction, and you will need to take action.

Stay out in front of the issue. You’ve begun to take the right steps by engaging in a proactive analysis of the core problem. If there have been no significant material changes to your sales ecosystem, next you should consider additional techniques to boost sales.

As a sales executive, you are there to support, grow and mature your sales team. Punitive measures, although sometimes necessary, are a last resort. In addition, these types of measures will usually not effectively address core sales performance issues.

Conclusion: Spend some time diagnosing the root problem.

Spend appropriate time with your team to diagnose the core issues before you try to fix anything.

Also, consider some changes to your marketing and sales support platform to incentivize and grow sales. Make sure you review programs for both new customer acquisition and improved customer retention.

Are you looking for some help with sales staffing or workforce management? Whatever employment issues you’re up against, we’ve probably seen them before. Call us today and let’s see if we can help!