80 percent of a company’s revenue is driven by 20 percent of its workforce. The stars comprise perhaps 2-5 percent of a company’s sales force. What is in the DNA of a star performer? For one thing – they don’t acknowledge quota. They eclipse the average standard which we term “quota”, and raise the bar to their expectation of performance.
In every industry there is “making it” and then there is “making it”. Game-changers don’t measure themselves against quotas. Quotas are for the mediocre. They are the lowest bar of validation. They are the bottom rung of expectation that a company can foist upon its sales force. Most quotas are wild-ass guesses or assumptions with no basis of fact behind the number. Some companies penalize non-performers when quotas are not met. Others reload and encourage the rep or the sales person to do better next year.
To be effective, quotas must be measured by result and tied to reward or sanction. The reward, in some cases, may be to maintain current employment. But, in all cases, unless the failure to meet quota is accompanied by a sanction, this form of empirical expectation is simply a useless, archaic tool that attempts, but does not measure performance.
When it comes to quotas, managers must inspect progress on a monthly basis rather than expect a miraculous ending. Those who seek to exist by meeting quota will attempt to find a way or fake a way to survive. Your stars will find a way or create a way to thrive.
