Selecting salespeople who need to be micro-managed is a waste of time.

Why do certain salespeople need to be constantly and consistently micro-managed and the best salespeople simply require appropriate coaching, guidance and development?

In strategic sales consulting work performed by Perpetual Development on the behaviors and motivators of salespeople, it was determined that a lack of results orientation and a lack of drive for financial gain were the most common contributors to needing to be micro-managed. There are several conclusions from our work that connect directly with the perception that the micro-management of certain salespeople is necessary.

Salespeople who aren't motivated by financial gain and a return on their time and resources will lack the drive that achieves results and will likely need to be micro-managed.

Salespeople who fail to understand the importance of a results orientation and want to be measured by other performance factors will likely need to be micro-managed.

Salespeople who have an excessive results orientation, extreme motivation for financial gain and lack the ability to communicate and develop relationships effectively will have a predominantly negative impact on their sales effort and will likely need to be micro-managed.

The frustration associated with micro-management is rooted in the fact that it requires more effort and it continues to build on itself in a negative way. Underperforming salespeople with misaligned behaviors and motivators will continue to require constant supervision and micro-management. Believing that you will impact an underperformer towards a results and financial gain orientation is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Training is a useful tool for salespeople who have a results and financial gain orientation. However, no amount of training will compensate for a lack of drive and focus. When misaligned behaviors are rewarded, it only serves to fuel the fire of mediocrity and the belief that micro-management will somehow improve the situation; which it rarely does.

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