5 warning signs that your sales team are unfulfilled
So, you think that some of your sales people may be unfulfilled at work? Well, that doesn’t mean it’s game over. There are many reasons your team can start to feel frustrated or unsatisfied with their work, you just need to spot when this is happening and be quick to intervene. Otherwise, you’ll have the very real issue of presenteeism, which affects 86% of UK organisations, and left long enough you’ll face a drop in your retention rate.
To help you keep your sales people engaged we’ve collated the top five warning signs that your team are unfulfilled and how you can tackle each.
The visual cues
Let’s start with the glaringly obvious signs of an unfulfilled team. Are they sighing, leaving their desks for extended periods of time or giving you the feeling that they’d rather be anywhere but work? These signals are easy to pick up on and are a good indicator of a disengaged team. This doesn’t mean to say that you should be tracking how long they spend away from their desk but if their body language implies that they’re detached from their work you need to engage your employees.
The solution – check in with them. 9 in 10 HR managers confirm that regular catch ups with their team have a positive impact on the wider business. Just taking a few minutes out of the day can help improve your sales team’s performance.
Your sales team are doing the minimum
This is another obvious sign that your sales team are unfulfilled and even better, it’s easy to track. If someone in your sales team isn’t getting involved in team discussions or bringing new ideas to the table this communicates that they’re only interested in doing the day job. But the reason that they’re not contributing might be because they’re dissatisfied.
You must keep your sales team motivated by focusing on workplace recognition. After all, less than half of employees who don’t receive recognition have trust in their leadership team. If your sales team lose trust in their management this harms the morale at work but it’s also one of the key reasons why your sales leaders are leaving.
They’re creating a negative environment
If an employee starts coming into work late this signals that they’re not fully involved in their work and it harms the performance of the team. It’s frustrating for committed employees to see their co-workers blatantly ignore rules and if you don’t respond to their tardiness it sends out the wrong message. Other things to watch out for are employees spending a lot of time on social media.
The easiest solution for this problem is to monitor your sales team but this won’t boost their engagement. You should get them more involved in their work by asking for their help in developing a sales playbook.
They don’t seem committed to long term goals
Watch out for sales people who are disinterested in your team’s long-term goals. It’s easy for employees to feel unfulfilled if they don’t have sight of how they are contributing to the success of the business.
The solution here is easy – demonstrate how they play a crucial role in the team’s success and support them to pursue their own goals. Put together a performance plan and involve them in the process; this is crucial since staff who are given a voice at work are 4.6 times more likely to feel empowered to deliver high-quality work.
There’s a drop in their work quality
It’s no surprise that unfulfillment will lead to low work quality. But it isn’t a two-way relationship, meaning that a drop in your sales teams work quality doesn’t always mean they’re unfulfilled. If their performance is suffering they may be feeling burnout, a common problem for 61% of the workforce. The wellbeing of your sales team is an area to tread lightly so you must have a discussion with them before you can determine the reason their performance is suffering.
Bespoke sales training is a great solution to reengaging sales people that are unfulfilled and if you can offer it to your entire sales team you can help prevent some people from reaching the point where they feel unsatisfied.
Contact BMS for any sales recruitment advice
Now you know the warning signs that your sales team are unfulfilled you have the tools to reengage them. For more advice about how you can attract sales talent and deliver sales results contact us. BMS has over 30 years’ experience helping our clients energise their team with the right sales people.
