Lee Salz is a Featured Columnist for The Business Journals.
A salesperson could easily be promoted and fired on the same day. Based on how you frame a company’s data, employers could easily justify promoting or firing any of their salespeople.
Several years ago, I was hired to lead an inside sales team. As I accepted the role, I was cautioned by my boss not to disrupt a particular sales representative. I was told he was their “rock star.” People in this company thought the guy walked on water because he was the top revenue producer. While he was certainly the top revenue generator, there was more to the story.
This wasn’t just an inside sales team. The marketing department generated inbound leads for the team. In essence, we made the phone ring for the salespeople. While the “rock star” was the top revenue producer, after some analysis, it turned out that he was actually the lowest performer.