about yourself . The owner is also robbing him of the opportunity to take full responsibility for himself and his family while finding something he is good at and does enjoy .
Let ’ s go back to the example in which a company kept an underperformer around for seven years . This man , who came in confident and assured , was a shell of a man after seven years . He had no self-esteem , no self-worth , and was also experiencing significant marital and other family issues . People in a bad job situation similar to this look for distractions and these distractions are rarely good . Also , how you feel about yourself affects every part of your life , not just work . Keeping this person in this job was far more damaging than a brief blow to the ego by letting him know early on that this wasn ’ t the right job for him . They finally let him go but even years later , the significant negative effects are still evident .
When you keep people around that you shouldn ’ t , you do everyone a disservice . You hurt the employee by not allowing them to see and deal with reality , you kill morale and attitude within the organization , and you set a bad example . Also , what you put up with you condone , promote , and create more of . This approach also builds resentment and disdain . You look weak as a leader . People start talking behind your , and one another ’ s backs , and rumors start flying . It creates the worst possible scenario .
3 ) Getting rid of 20 % of your salespeople will give you a bump in motivation and production . A real estate manager had been putting up with very bad behavior out of her top producer for 5 and a half years . When I first suggested letting her go , the office manager told me I was “ loony toons ” because she comprised 41 % of total office sales . When she finally had no other choice but to let her go , she said the next day it was like a weight had been lifted . That day , two of the bottom producers quit , and the other people started working because they realized she meant business . The result was a 53 % increase in sales the following year and in the cases where they competed head-to-head with the former agent , they won the business 11 out of 13 times .
The point of this story is : first , your 20 % aren ’ t always your lowest performers , and second , in addition to low performers , you also have to deal with your attitude issues . Underperformers and negative people infect everyone . It is literally like letting someone with a contagious , deadly disease openly walk the floor of your business .
No one likes to fire people and yet , that isn ’ t a sufficient reason for not doing it . The goal of laying off your nonproducers and attitude problems is to eventually end up with a sales team that is hitting on all eight cylinders and in which you don ’ t have to fire anyone . You want a professional , accountable sales force that shows up every day , does what needs to be done , and brings in lots of good , clean business . Once you have these people in place , you no longer need to lay people off . You will however continue to improve the work environment and invest in personal and professional development . How do you attract better employees ? Become a better company , one in which people are held accountable and negative attitudes are jettisoned .
Note : Your number may be something other than 20 %. It may be 40 %, or only 10 %. This is really a question of who is hurting your organization and who is helping ?
Getting rid of your chronic underperformers and attitude issues will make you a more credible leader . It will motivate all others to either leave or get to work . Resentment will disappear . You ’ ll stop wasting the time of all your support people . Morale will increase . And you will see a positive impact , and most likely a substantial one , to the bottom line .
John Chapin is a sales and motivational speaker and trainer . For his free newsletter , or if you would like him to speak at your next event , go to : www . completeselling . com John has over 28 years of sales experience as a number one sales rep and is the author of the 2010 sales book of the year : Sales Encyclopedia . For permission to reprint , e-mail : johnchapin @ completeselling . com .
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