Ask the questions
So what happens if goals aren’t being met and revenue isn’t growing in your business? Greg Harris says you can start by appraising your own performance.
“Are they responding to your message?” says Harris, founder, president and CEO at Backhaul Direct LLC. “Are you giving employees the proper tools to meet those goals? Are they targeting the right clients? Have they not been taught appropriately from day one?”
If you determine that you’ve done your job, start looking at what’s going on with the employee.
“Do they not like the product they are selling?” Harris says. “Do they not like they are selling? Are they just not interested in what they are doing anymore? Is there something else I can challenge the person with? Maybe they have outgrown what they are doing. Ask the question: ‘You seem burned out. You seem complacent. Is there a reason for that? Can I do something different? Is there something within our scope that you can do in the company?’”
In addition to these questions, you also need to make it clear that there is a problem if an employee is not performing to expectation.
“Show concern and try to set something else for them to do,” Harris says. “But let them know, ‘Right now what you’re doing, it’s just not working for us. Is there something we can do to help?’”
How to reach: Backhaul Direct LLC, (800) 518-1664 or www.backhauldirect.com
