Chapter 7

D & M Insurance “Hiring Pressures”

SCENARIO

Doug Bloom, the newly appointed branch sales manager of the Des Moines location of D & M Insurance, recently had to fire his assistant sales manager because of consistently under-performing accounts. In seeking to fill the position, he wanted to promote from within – and put on a list three reps that have solid sales performance and the skills and personality traits necessary to succeed as an assistant manager. However, before he could arrange to meet with those reps to discuss the situation, the company CEO, George Treadgold, gave Bloom an order: Do whatever it takes to rehire Susan Kelleher.   While an assistant sales manager at D & M, Kelleher had increased the revenue and profitability of her accounts by 47 percent. Two years ago she left the company to move to a competitor. Treadgold’s mandate was so firm it implied that Bloom’s own job would be in jeopardy if he couldn’t convince Kelleher to rejoin the firm.

During the next few days, as Bloom prepared an offer to woo back Kelleher, two of the reps he was initially considering approached him to apply for the job. Now he was feeling the pressure.

Questions

1. What do you think Bloom should do?

• If he didn’t at least meet with these reps, would he lose them – either physically (to the competition) or mentally (the reps might be disappointed because they were not considered for the spot)?

• If he does meet with them, how does he conduct the interviews when he knows that he has only one true choice to fill the spot?

• Should Bloom take a huge risk and confront Treadgold with a solid explanation of why he should promote from within rather than rehire Kelleher?

SUGGESTIONS

1. What do you think Bloom should do?

Treadgold has made it clear that he wants Kelleher in the position. Bloom, therefore, should make that his first priority. For whatever reason, Kelleher left the company two years ago to work for the competition, Bloom has no guarantee that she will accept his offer and return to the company, but he has to exhaust all resources to try to win her back.

Assuming Kelleher is interested in returning to D & M, Bloom should prepare a package with very strong incentives for Kelleher to return to D & M. However, the incentive must be based on turnaround results and be in keeping with the current sales compensation package.

• If he didn’t at least meet with these reps, would he lose them – either physically (to the competition) or mentally (the reps might be disappointed because they were not considered for the spot)?

Bloom should also interview his three inside choices. More harm would be done by refusing to interview them all and banking on Kelleher returning to D & M. No doubt the three inside choices have all heard of Kelleher and her reputation for increasing sales. Chances are they would understand her receiving the offer just as they would understand any competitor winning the position.

• If he does meet with them, how does he conduct the interviews when he knows that he has only one true choice to fill the spot?

Bloom should make it clear to the internal candidates that there is only one assistant sales manager position open and there are two other internal candidates and one external candidate. One thing Bloom could do is to have the three internal reps present a detailed action plan for generating new business within an allotted time period. Performance in this task could help in his decision if Kelleher does not want to return to D & M. However, once the interviews are over and Kelleher has accepted the position, Bloom needs to communicate directly to each of the three reps that the rationale for selecting Kelleher over them was because the accounts, due to their poor performance over the past few years, required an experienced assistant sales manager at this time.

• Should Bloom take a huge risk and confront Treadgold with a solid explanation of why he should promote from within rather than rehire Kelleher?

There is a lot of value from promoting from within. However, nothing is gained by confronting the boss. One approach that would create a solid argument for promoting from within is to assemble data to validate why one of the three sales rep candidates is (or is not) a good choice for the position of regional assistant sales manager. A study could also be performed of Kelleher’s past performance. If she shines head and shoulders above the three existing reps being considered, then the directive from Treadgold is a sound one. If, however, the numbers and performance of the existing employees show they are better choices, Bloom can present a business proposal to Treadgold to consider the existing employees.

Promoting from within promotes performance and morale within an organization. Hiring back people who left could possibly send mixed messages about the company’s hiring and promoting practices.

Chapter 8

D & M Insurance “Training Woes”

SCENARIO

It was the first day of D & M Insurance Des Moines office three-day sales training meeting. The company’s 25 salespeople talked excitedly during breakfast about the upcoming events: a few rounds of golf, some white water rafting, and an awards dinner at which the annual incentive contest winners would be announced. They even looked forward to the three 5-hour intensive training session (one each day) that had been billed as unique and transforming. Also, attending the meeting were two recently appointed assistant managers and Doug Bloom who were quietly listening to the rep’s banter.

At 7:45 a.m., the salespeople got up from their tables and walked down the resort’s hallway to its meeting rooms. Finding the meeting room, the reps took their seats. At 8

a.m. sharp their instructor, Tom Baker, walked in and began the session. Five hours later the salespeople emerged and reconvened in the café for lunch. They were soon joined by the two assistant managers who had attended leadership training conducted by the same company.

The moment they sat down the rep’s ranting began: “This was the worst training I’ve ever attended.” “It was tedious.” “I could’ve learned more in my sleep.” The assistant managers were surprised, because their session was excellent. The reps, however, were so perturbed that they didn’t want to sit through the two remaining sessions. “Ten more hours would be pure torture,” one salesperson insisted.

Bloom suggested to the reps that they focus on enjoying that afternoon’s activity, rafting, then excused himself to handle the situation. He said he would have a resolution by the time he rejoined them for dinner.   Bloom didn’t want this meeting to turn out to be a bust; he also didn’t want to squander the company’s investment in the sales meeting and training sessions. As he sat in the lobby awaiting the two instructors from the training company, he tried to devise a solution.

Questions

1. What steps should Bloom take to resolve the situation? (Canceling the remaining sessions is not an option).

• How can Bloom avoid this situation in the future?

SUGGESTIONS

1. What steps should Bloom take to resolve the situation?

Bloom should first gather a quorum of sales reps prior to their departure for the raft trip. In this meeting, Bloom should do some discovery as to exactly why the training session was so painfully boring. He should ask questions such as: Exactly why was the training boring? What areas is the training redundant or not relevant? What subject matters would they like to see covered that were not covered? What pace is preferred? How could the delivery be spiced up?

Next, Bloom should meet with the two instructors and discuss the criticism of trainer Tom Baker’s session. Bloom and his sales managers should spend some time with Baker reviewing the material he had planned to present over the next two sessions, editing and spicing up the material as needed. If the material does not appear to improve, or if the problem appears to be Baker, then they should consider condensing the two days of material into one for the final five-hour session (focusing on the key messages) and have the salespeople sit through the leadership material presented by the other trainer on the last day’s five-hour session.

At dinner time, Bloom should begin to get the salespeople focused on the next training session. He should reassure them that they have been heard and that they should remain enthusiastic for the next two days. He should present what improvements will be made to address the problems, e.g., changes to the training materials and presentation format.

Have Baker start the second day’s session with a recap of what everyone learned the previous day by outlining all of the points made, then ask the participants how the training program could be made more valuable. Bloom should personally attend the salespeople’s course the next day so he can monitor the improvements and make a fully informed report to both the training company and her own company regarding the problems encountered and how they were successfully resolved.

Canceling the remaining session is not an option.

• How can Bloom avoid this situation in the future?

Bloom should have first found out what training topics were needed prior to hiring an outside trainer. A training needs analysis is a process for determining where problems and opportunities exist and whether training can best address the issues. A complete training needs analysis includes a review of the firm’s strategic objectives, management observation and questioning of salespeople, customer input, and a review of company records.

Specific sales training objectives should be established and put in writing. Like all good objectives, training objectives should be specific enough and measurable so

that the extent to which they have been met can be evaluated following the training program. Bloom should also never commit his sales reps to more than an hour’s sales training without previewing the material and the delivery ahead of time. He should have the trainer “teach” him a section of the curriculum. Bloom should also preview multiple trainers.

Chapter 9

D & M Insurance “Confidential Documents”

SCENARIO

Doug Bloom recently hired Mark Martin as a sales rep to replace Bill Johnson, who’d just resigned his position. Martin was a top rep at AllSafe, the company’s biggest competitor. With Martin’s performance, AllSafe’s mid-western region grew about 35 percent annually over the past three years; D & M’s mid-western region has grown only about 12 percent annually during that same time.

Bloom thought that hiring Martin was a tremendous coup. He’s well-known in the industry, has an invaluable contact list, and easily ingratiated himself with his team at D & M. Best of all, within his first three months, D & M’s mid-western region sales jumped 25 percent.

Now Bloom was wondering if indeed he made the right choice at all.   Earlier today, when Bloom left a proposal on Martin’s desk (Martin was out on a sales call), Bloom noticed some partially hidden papers with the AllSafe logo on them.   Curiosity getting the best of him, Bloom took a look. The papers were confidential AllSafe sales information: pricing, marketing strategies, forecasts, and more. Bloom assumed that Martin used this information to formulate his current tactics with D & M, to D & M’s benefit.

Bloom was torn. On one hand, sales are way up and he was never meant to see those documents. On the other hand, using a competitor’s confidential documents has both ethical and legal ramifications. What’s more if Bloom confronted Martin, would Martin leave and take D & M’s confidential information to the next competitor? Bloom was unsure how to proceed.

Questions

1. What should Bloom do?

• Should he forget what he saw? Confront Martin? Or is there another solution?

SUGGESTIONS

1. What should Bloom do?

• Should he forget what he saw? Confront Martin? Or is there another solution?

Bloom should not forget what he saw. He should confront Martin, but not fire him. You might want to point out that mistakes are made every day by employees at every level of an organization and a good manager will use these mistakes as training, or coaching lessons. Bloom should meet with Martin to discuss the confidential AllSafe sales information. Bloom should make it clear that it was wrong

– ethically, legally, and morally – to take the papers. There needs to be an understanding that neither D & M nor Bloom will tolerate this type of behavior.

Bloom should have Martin mail the confidential papers back to AllSafe with a letter of apology. In the letter Martin needs to clearly state that all materials are being returned and any and all marketing and sales strategies developed around these materials will be discarded.

Finally, Bloom should have Martin develop and implement new marketing and sales strategies that focus on the strengths and benefits of D & M products, services and employees.

Bloom assumed that Martin’s success at AllSafe came from hard work, his knowledge of the industry, and the invaluable contact list he developed over the years. This sounds like Martin has credibility. Credibility is built on hard work, knowledge of the products and services, and good customer relationships. Martin should have the same kind of success at D & M utilizing the same special talents that helped him to be successful at AllSafe. People sometimes do things not realizing the consequences and not meaning any harm. This is normal. To fix the indiscretion and do the right thing, regardless of the consequences separates you from the masses and places you with the elite.

Chapter 10

D & M Insurance “Overheard Trade Secrets”

SCENARIO

Ken Rowland, a salesperson for D & M Insurance in Des Moines, was leaning comfortably back in his airplane seat. He was returning from an industry conference. His head was full of new sales strategies, so instead of napping, he pulled out his laptop and started jotting notes to himself. A short while later there was a break from the hum of the airplane. “I think it’s time for a price cut,” the man in front of him said to his seatmate. Rowland paused; he listened for what would come next.

As it turns out, the two men seated in front of Rowland were the vice president of sales and the president of D & M’s largest competitor, AllSafe. They were flying from the conference to a customer meeting in Rowland’s territory. They spent an hour discussing an upcoming pricing strategy, with Rowland feverishly taking notes the entire time. Rowland couldn’t believe his luck. Not only did he make a significant number of contacts at the show, he now had at his fingertips the competition’s entire pricing strategy for the second quarter of the year. This is too good to be true, he thought.

The next morning in his Des Moines office, Rowland wrote a memo outlining all of the key points of the competition’s pricing strategy. He sent the memo via e-mail to all of M & D’s sales managers and regional managers, the vice president of sales, and the company president. Bloom, Rowland’s manager, was dumbstruck when he read the e-mail. He was shocked that Rowland would send the e-mail without first consulting him on the appropriate action. Rowland’s decision to e-mail sensitive information without checking with him first could have any number of repercussions.

Questions

1. What are the ethical issues involved in this case?
2. What are the possible actions Bloom could take?
3. What are the possible reactions from the field (i.e., customers) to Rowland’s information?
4. What is an “ideal” course of action given all of the issues involved?

SUGGESTIONS

Ethical issues of the case include the following:

• Did Rowland act ethically when he purposefully eavesdropped on the conversation? Was Rowland morally wrong to have taken notes about their conversation?
• Did Rowland have a responsibility to tell the two executives that he worked for D & M?

• Are the executives at D & M at fault for being so open about their marketing plans?
• Is the pressure to succeed at Rowland’s firm so great that he felt he needed to eavesdrop? Ethical problems tend to occur when three factors come together: pressure, perceived opportunity, and a way to rationalize the act as appropriate. This situation has all three components. Rowland could rationalize that he didn’t do anything illegal. He was just listening and taking notes on what he overheard.
• Did Rowland act ethically when he distributed the information he gained to all of his co-workers?

Bloom has a number of alternatives available to him. Below are three possibilities.

1. He could do nothing about the email. However, by doing nothing Bloom is essentially agreeing with Rowland’s actions of “stealing” competitive information.

• Bloom could congratulate Rowland for being opportunistic by eavesdropping on a conversation between two executives of a direct competitor. This action makes a clear statement about Bloom’ and the company’s ethical standards. It also signals to others that this type of behavior is encouraged, thus, providing an incentive for others to do whatever it takes to get a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Where would Bloom draw the line the next time someone cheats to get ahead?

• A reprimand (or forced retraction statement by Rowland) will send an entirely different signal to the employees about the ethical and moral culture of the firm. The values of honesty, do no harm, act responsibly, accountability, and trustworthiness would be made clear to the employees if some type of retraction statement is given by Rowland as a result of management intervention. In addition, there is the possibility that the information the executives were discussing was wrong. What if the pricing information was not implemented or a different pricing structure was used instead? Did Rowland think of this when he emailed everyone in the firm? Is it possible that the executives of the competitive firm purposefully did this hoping that Rowland or some other competitor listening in would use it?

If Rowland uses this information with prospects and customers, it is possible that he could damage his company’s reputation. For example, it is highly likely that some customers may figure out that Rowland had to have access to the competition’s pricing information if he uses it to undercut the competition’s bid. Some customers may attribute the manner with which Rowland conducts himself (in terms of stealing competitor information) to the entire firm.

Bloom should meet with Rowland to discuss the issue with him. Since Rowland believed that he was helping the firm by disseminating the competitive pricing information, Bloom should politely inform Rowland that he was wrong to email everyone

without consulting with others first. Apparently, the issue of whether the information was incorrect was never considered by Rowland. In addition, the ethics of eavesdropping also needs to be discussed. Gathering information this way is likely to be viewed as somewhat unethical. While the executives from the competitive firm used poor judgment in discussing sensitive pricing strategies in a public space, the conversation was meant to be private. Under normal competitive situations, Rowland would not be privy to such information. While he didn’t technically “steal” it, he did use poor judgment when he emailed the conversation to everyone in his firm.

Rowland should have to re-email everyone with a strong disclaimer about the information. In his email, he should use the strongest terms possible that the information should not be used – even suggesting that the information may be incorrect.

Chapter 11

“Motivation and Role Conflict”

SCENARIO

Jonathan MacMillan has worked as a rep for D & M Insurance in Des Moines for almost three years. His first year he made 110 percent of quota, generating $750,000 in revenues. In year two he hit 120 percent of quota, a hefty $1.25 million. To do this, he worked 14-hour days during the week prospecting and meeting with customers, plus whatever weekend time was necessary to complete reports and write proposals. Keeping this pace, MacMillan was on target to reach this year’s quota as well – that is, until he became a first-time father two months ago.   He’s now working only 40 to 50 hour weeks. The result is, of course, fewer sales.

Doug Bloom is worried. D & M is in the process of introducing the new First-Plus account program and has ambitious growth plans. Bloom also had hoped to make MacMillan a member of the management team. But when talking casually with him about goals and future plans, Bloom discovered that MacMillan is not interested in becoming a manager because at D & M the big money is in sales. Even working fewer hours, MacMillan is earning a fat paycheck.

Bloom is at a loss. He wants to get back the fiery, hard charging MacMillan he was told of, but he’s not sure how.

Questions

1. How can Bloom re-motivate Macmillan?

• How should a manager deal with family role conflict? How can Bloom make Macmillan more efficient?

• Is Macmillan now a slacker?

• Macmillan is now only willing to work 50 hours a week and is not interested in changing. Is he going to be dead weight from now on? Is he worth the sales manager’s time and effort if he will never work more than 55 hours per week? Should he be reprimanded?

• Why is Bloom so worried about Macmillan’s lack of interest in management? Is this important?

SUGGESTIONS

1. How can Bloom re-motivate Macmillan?

Re-motivation is a constant challenge for sales managers. No salesperson works 80 hours a week all of their life. However, there are some tools available to Bloom that can help to re-motivate Macmillan. Macmillan may be reaching a stage were recognition, rewards that translate to his family, or other issues are becoming important. True, he is still money motivated as most salespeople are, but we can not ignore that he is changing. Bloom needs to sit down with Macmillan and discuss Macmillan’s goals and desires. By identifying the future possessions and accomplishments that are important to Macmillan, Bloom will have a better handle on how to motivate his star salesperson. Perhaps Macmillan wants a new house. If so, Bloom can draw out a strategic plan for Macmillan to get there. Of course, this plan will be based on big sales numbers. This is basic marketing. Identify the need and you are halfway there.

• How should a manager deal with family role conflict? How can Bloom make Macmillan more efficient?

Role conflict always exists in sales. One way to deal with family role conflict is for the family to become part of the firm and for the firm to become part of the family. Family/firm picnics, meetings in nice locations, etc. are a good start. The firm needs to communicate that they support the well being of the family and are looking for the family to reciprocate. Possible ideas are 1) for the firm to give Macmillan a computer at his home so that he can do his paperwork from home, 2) let the spouse realize the financial benefits of the extra hours, 3) day care options/bonuses, and 4) family trip bonuses.

Bloom can increase Macmillan’s efficiency with notebook computers, cell phones, increased secretarial support for report generation, providing Macmillan with trainee salespeople who can handle smaller accounts and some of the paperwork, etc. Bloom needs to make the most of Macmillan’s hours. The best use is to have as much of those hours as possible in front of the customer. He should try to eliminate as much of the other tasks as possible.

• Is Macmillan now a slacker?

Macmillan is not a slacker. However, he is now becoming average. It may be a year or two before Macmillan is an overachiever once again. Re-motivation and increases in efficiency should be Bloom focus at this time.

• Why is Bloom so worried about Macmillan’s lack of interest in management? Is this important?

Bloom is a typical manager that likes to use the promotion “carrot” as a means of motivation. Bloom could present an in-depth presentation of the management path to Macmillan, its advantages, its rewards, etc. If Macmillan buys in great, otherwise Bloom must move on and find other motivational tools to use with Macmillan. This

is not a big issue and Bloom is somewhat short sighted here. Bloom needs to realize that Macmillan is a top sales performer which would be very difficult to replace.

Chapter 12

D & M Insurance “The Elusive Commission: Now You See It, Now You Don’t”

SCENARIO

Doug Bloom, the branch sales manager of D & M in Des Moines, is appalled. The district director, Liz Shute, again adjusted one of his sales rep’s commissions.   When the rep, Nancy Carr, finds out, she’ll certainly quit.

Since the introduction of the First-Plus program at D & M, the reps’ compensation has changed in accordance with company CEO’s new policy. Now 70 percent of the commission would be based on a sales quota, and 30 percent would be based on each sales rep’s numbers from the First-Plus activities. Lately, however, on several occasions, once the sale was made, Shute decided that it didn’t warrant the original commission, and lowered it by whatever she felt was appropriate. In this case she lowered the commission by $8,000.

Bloom did his best, as usual, to keep the commission as promised, but once Shute’s mind is made up, that is that. She feels that the handsome base salary and benefits package is more than enough to compensate for any discrepancies in commissions.

When Bloom tells Carr about the commission change, Carr’s response is as Bloom expected: Get my $8,000 back or today’s my last day.

Bloom doesn’t want to lose one of his top performers.

Questions

1. What could he do to broker a compromise between Shute and Carr?

• It is obvious that Bloom should try to change Shute’s mind about sticking to one standardized commission program. What would you recommend he do?

SUGGESTIONS

1. What could he do to broker a compromise between Shute and Carr?

Bloom should approach Shute and reiterate the fact that he agreed to the commission percentage at the start of the First-Plus project. He could point out that if a customer of D & M received insurance products and services as agreed upon, he would expect them to pay. If Carr performed by making the sale as agreed, then she earned the compensation. If she made any concessions to make the sale, then the commission percentage may be negotiated. Perhaps part of the commission can be

paid back in stock or the company can invest it in the retirement plan for Carr to soften the blow to the company’s bottom line.

Bloom should also make it clear to Shute that losing staff and having to hire new reps and retrain them will cost more than the $8,000 in question. Shute needs to understand that the staff will leave and become competitors. Their inside knowledge of D & M will give them a strong, if perhaps short-term, advantage in the market.

Bloom could also allude to the fact that the sales staff believes that Shute’s behavior is unethical and even immoral. In this case, sales reps are starting a job thinking the compensation is X and then, while they have performed their end of the contract, they find out the compensation is Y. Shute must realize the destructive impact her policy has on staff retention.

• It is obvious that Bloom should try to change Shute’s mind about sticking to one standardized commission program. What would you recommend he do?

Bloom needs to get Shute to commit to a firm, reasonable sales commission policy. Shute is apparently comfortable with the idea of salespeople making a percentage commission on sales until she translates it into real dollars.

Bloom could mention that his integrity is on the line with the sales force. As mentioned in the answer to the first question, his actions, based on Shute’s orders, will send a clear signal to the staff that his word is worthless.

Bloom could point also out to Shute that, if Carr left over this issue, the information about how Carr was treated could quickly get to their competition, who may use it as an example of the company’s lack of ethics. This could cause customer problems, potentially hurting future sales, and will certainly make it difficult for finding good replacements in the future.

Another possible way to get Shute to commit to a firm commission policy is to suggest that Shute also pay herself a commission on sales. Since she is district director of the mid-west operations and is ultimately responsible for D & M’s success or failure, when a sale is made, she should also reap the rewards. Maybe Shute has a fragile ego and does not like her subordinates enjoying success more than she is. By rewarding herself directly, she is in effect giving herself, as well as the salesperson, a pat on the back for successful sales. In addition, Bloom should suggest this plan in an off-hand manner so that Shute believes that it’s her idea.

Chapter 13

D & M Insurance “Missed Quota”

SCENARIO

Jon MacAllister has been one of the lowest performer at D & M’s Des Moines location. Every month since being hired he has sold 60 or 70 percent of quota, but he just can’t seem to get any higher. MacAllister keeps saying that he is on the verge turning things around in his performance, and that introduction of a new First-Plus account program would only make things worse if the change was forced upon him.

When MacAllister, a two-year insurance sales veteran, joined D & M he was given the accounts of the rep he replaced. Those accounts are performing well. Doug Bloom went on sales calls to these customers with MacAllister, and observed that he’s a natural at developing relationships and partnering. The problem is he is unwilling to change the way he handles his accounts and his prospecting activities. Bloom wanted to help MacAllister improve his performance by showing him a more efficient way to organize his work schedule in order to see new prospects. However, MacAllister was angry at Bloom and said that he realizes that he’s not the best performer in the company, but he is not incompetent and is close to turning things for the better on his own. MacAllister even turned in his letter of resignation after a heated argument with Bloom regarding his performance. After some time Bill reconsidered his decision and wanted to return to D & M. Bloom didn’t mind taking MacAllister back, only if he knew for sure that changes will be made to MacAllister’s performance and attitude.

Bloom could tell that MacAllister is not going to change a thing about his current performance, and neither would he accept any changes forced on to him. Doug assumed that MacAllister was capable of doing better, but was having a difficult time finding a way to get him to improve.

Questions

1. How should Bloom handle this situation?

• Should Bloom keep investing his time in helping MacAllister to improve?
  • Should he let MacAllister try to prove himself on his own?
  • Or is there a better approach?

• What behavioral-based evaluation activities could Bloom use to help improve MacAllister’s performance?

SUGGESTIONS

1. How should Bloom handle this situation?

• Should Bloom keep investing his time in helping MacAllister to improve?
  • Should he let MacAllister try to prove himself on his own?
  • Or is there a better approach?

One question that could be used to open discussion is: Why did Bloom let MacAllister’s poor performance continue as long as it did? He appeared to misjudge MacAllister’s sales skills and assume his personal skills were enough to make him a star performer. Similar to many misconceptions about salespeople, personal relationship skills are often not sufficient enough to make a successful salesperson.

Bloom obviously sees excellent potential in MacAllister and should, therefore, invest more time training him. MacAllister has obviously not been able to work things out for himself for quite sometime, so there’s no reason to believe he will do so in the next three months. Help is needed if Bloom really wants to keep MacAllister on. An added incentive to keep MacAllister on is the fact that there will be significant costs incurred by having to replace MacAllister – as discussed in Chapter 10.

First of all, Bloom should sit down with MacAllister and clearly explain that making his numbers is a must and that the new First-Plus program will indeed be implemented across all locations, and nurturing new business plays an integral role in that process. Maybe suggesting that MacAllister shadows a star performer for a while to see how different personality and techniques can close a deal could be an effective method.

Bloom might also consider retraining MacAllister on basic skills such as overcoming objections, conquering fears of rejection and on being more professional. Procrastinating and not following up on leads doesn’t help achieve company or personal goals.

As an alternative suggestion, Bloom could reevaluate MacAllister’s position in the company. After several months it should be apparent that he is not well-suited as a closer. It’s possible that MacAllister would be better in a marketing role or in account management His experience with sales could be essential to either role, and his being a “natural” at developing and maintaining relationships is an inherent quality of any good account manager.

• What behavioral-based evaluation activities could Bloom use to help improve MacAllister’s performance?

Bloom should focus on developing behavioral-based activities such as: (1) prospecting goals, including a plan to obtain leads, (2) qualifying and follow-up

procedures, (2) closing attempt goals and (3) organization goals (e.g., recording contacts, appointments and call-back dates). After these mutually agreed upon goals and procedures are established, Bloom should consistently monitor MacAllister’s performance for the next three months. Bloom should meet with MacAllister once a week (e.g., Friday) to make sure that he’s met the goals set out for that week, and is clear on the plans for the following week. Bloom should also spend additional time in MacAllister’s territory to personally evaluate MacAllister’s development on these dimensions. The key is to have these behaviors translate into increased sales for MacAllister to keep his current position with the company.