Are Sales Superstars Hiding Fatal Team Flaws?

Recently, a college football program went from having a Heisman Trophy winner and a reputation as an exciting, winning program to a 2 & 10 train wreck. How could a dynamic, successful program fall so far, so fast? How could a team so loaded with talent manage to allow opposing teams to score more points than 128 other college teams – while having one of the most anemic offenses in the country? The obvious answer is that their superstar quarterback had moved on to the NFL and the team was in a rebuilding mode. But upon closer inspection it becomes clear that there is much more to the story – and this story is very relevant to sales organizations who may well be headed down the same path.

So, what was the real problem?  Well, if you looked closely you would notice that for the two years the team showcased their Heisman quarterback, you would discover that their offensive prowess most often came as a result of poor protection by the offensive line and the pure athletic ability and creativity of the quarterback to turn nothing into something.  Too often, a victory would result when a high scoring offense (again, because of the quarterback) would simply outscore the other teams – who scored often on the defensive unit, a group that ranked 70th out of 130 teams in points allowed.  Now move forward one year, after the stellar quarterback moves on, and you find a team that goes 2-10 with no conference wins, has no offensive firepower and could not score points on anyone – combined with a defense that allowed an average of 44 points a game (128th out of 130).  So the real problem was the fact that one star player managed to hide a wide range of weaknesses which turned out to be fatal flaws.  Players left the team, recruits baled out, the coach was fired and the team was something akin to a dumpster fire – and now the reconstruction must begin.

Sales organizations can find themselves in the same dangerous situation as the team mentioned above.  Too often, the Pareto Principal is obvious – with 20% of the sales reps producing 80% of the sales productivity.  The alarming thing that I have personally observed is the large gap between the sales performance levels of the stars and the rest of the sales team.  If one of the top performers leaves, a catastrophic – potentially fatal – drop in sales revenue would occur.  The organization has been lulled into a false sense of security and are failing to address the weaknesses that are hidden by the “Heisman-caliber” sales stars.

How does our college football team recover?  They hire a new coach and staff and begin to rebuild the program with improved talent levels in all facets of the game – not just one aspect (gifted quarterback).  They emphasize full development of every individual player while working to instill a new culture and mindset. Tragically, they waited until the wheels came completely off before addressing the weaknesses.

In a sales organization, we avoid the potential catastrophe by looking deeper than our top performers on a regular basis.  We must clearly communicate goals and expectations to the entire team, assessing performance levels, coaching and training and replacing individuals who can’t deliver required results with talented, future top sellers.  It is too easy to be lulled into a false sense of security when a few team members are carrying the entire team.  Don’t let that be the fatal error you make with your team.  Initiate an assessment and performance improvement process today – before your stars move on and leave you in last place in the conference.