1. Nepotism. This is the most common mistake made by family businesses that start from scratch. Individual bosses who start from scratch find every penny hard-earned, so 'reliability' naturally becomes the highest standard for selecting talent. Who is most reliable? Of course, family members. Thus, in such enterprises, the promotion of salespeople becomes a showcase for peripheral relatives, whether distant relatives, close neighbors, or fellow townspeople. When a company promotes salespeople not based on their own abilities and market performance but on kinship, the result is that excellent salespeople do the work while trusted salespeople hold the positions. Those who do the work look down on those who hold positions, and those who hold positions cannot correctly view those who do the work. Over time, excellent talent gradually leaves, and trusted talent gradually expands. In the end, the enterprise becomes a bureaucratic family business, loyalty becomes disloyalty, and the enterprise inevitably falls into chaos and self-isolation, ultimately failing.
  2. Sycophancy. Many enterprises have such leaders who love to hear flattery and appreciate attentive subordinates. As long as subordinates are good to them and serve them well, they like and promote them. When leaders go on business trips, some salespeople are particularly good at ingratiating themselves: opening car doors, carrying bags, holding umbrellas, moving stools, smiling all over, showing loyalty, worshipping, and nodding vigorously—these eight tricks make leaders feel very pleased. Such salespeople do not work diligently but are very attentive to people; they are hardworking in front of others but lazy behind their backs. They act like lapdogs to their leaders, always calling them 'boss,' while being arrogant and abusive to their subordinates, showing no respect. Such salespeople account for a large proportion. They are good at reading people's moods and are skilled at disguising and presenting themselves, with a strong dual psychology and personality. Some leaders also prefer sycophants over talent, giving this type of Zhao Gao-like talent a big market and continuous promotion. Other salespeople follow suit, and the whole enterprise develops a culture of flattering superiors and bullying subordinates, leading to inefficiency and ultimately management difficulties.
  3. Rigid and mechanical. Some international enterprises have regulations for everything, standards for everything, and procedures for everything. They establish a very good talent selection model and system. Everything is applied according to the model and system: those who qualify are promoted, and those who do not are ignored. They do not care, pay attention, observe, or deeply understand the actual situation. Such a promotion mechanism is mechanical and rigid. Typically, the top cannot see the bottom, and the bottom cannot see the top. Many salespeople are promoted, but they are like Zhao Kuo, who only knew how to talk on paper. Excellent salespeople become mediocre sales managers after promotion. Some salespeople also feel that promotion is too distant or under strong time pressure. In this way, many salespeople are buried, and international enterprises become talent training centers. When salespeople learn standardized operational business knowledge, they fly away like peacocks flying southeast. The loss of enterprise talent is actually a failure of enterprise talent management.
  4. Performance above all. 'Whether it's a white cat or a black cat, if it catches mice, it's a good cat' seems to be a wise saying. Some enterprises, to reflect so-called fairness, promote salespeople solely based on performance. As long as performance is good and sales are high, they are directly promoted, without considering the salesperson's overall quality or actual management ability. A combat hero may not be a good general, and a swimming coach may not be a swimming champion. The performance-first promotion method may be effective during the startup or early development stage of an enterprise, as it can motivate people to forge ahead. But when the enterprise becomes standardized and scaled, this kind of promotion leads to management deformities. Management, besides straightening things out, requires more 'managing.' Super salespeople may have strong business abilities, but their management abilities are questionable. The first four promotion methods for salespeople are all wrong, especially the first two. These mistakes will inevitably lead to enterprise failure, even collapse or bankruptcy. The third and fourth situations are wrong because the selection methods are too simplistic; therefore, they need to be corrected, optimized, and combined. -END- Content Selection Click the title below to read directly: [Line Sales Representative Practical Operation Guide (with full PPT download attached)]