Rogue Sales Operators: When You Give Your Salespeople no Choice but to Operate Alone

Coworkers might describe them as arrogant. As a business owner, you might describe them as difficult or unwilling to accept authority. No matter how many times you tell them how to sell, or how they should approach their sales responsibilities, they continue to buck the trend and chart their own path. They go against the grain.

Yet, despite their intransigence, they continue to raise the bar on performance. In fact, these salespeople just happen to be your strongest contributors. So, why is it that they refuse to listen? More importantly, why do they continue to produce despite their unwillingness to follow what you consider to be conventional wisdom?

The answers to these aforementioned questions may just surprise you. Often, the answers point to a bigger problem, one best defined by a changing market and a company whose outdated approach to sales is no longer conducive to winning business. Rarely does a business owner take the time to ask if their approaches are antiquated. Rarely do they take the time to be introspective and ask themselves where there is a better, more productive way to generate new business. Instead, most just assume that it's business as usual. In the end, it's worked for so long, so why change now?

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending upon your viewpoint, it often takes an outsider to change things up. Business owners either aren't used to being challenged or don't want to be challenged. If you've become that business owner who is resistant to change, then you may have forced these salespeople to pursue their own course.

If, as a business owner, you've given an aura that your decisions and directions can't be questioned, can't be discussed, and can't be deviated from, then you've likely given these salespeople no other choice but to do things their own way. After all, not all salespeople have the same strengths.

Not all salespeople can approach sales in the manner you deem critical to winning business. Some salespeople operate differently. In fact, these salespeople may be nothing more than honest and easygoing individuals who want to produce for your company, but can't go about it emulating or using your outdated strategies.

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Put Aside Your Ego for Just a Moment

As a business owner, it's comforting to hear daily affirmations that your strategies are working. It's reassuring to hear that your business success comes from your way of doing business. However, all that positive feedback has drawbacks. It can lead to an unwillingness and inability to accept change in a changing marketplace. You can become indifferent to the needs of your market and your customers.

Your market isn't static. It's constantly changing and so are your customers' needs. If you aren't willing to adjust strategies to a changing market, then you definitely aren't ready to deal with change from those you've entrusted to win business from your market. Maybe, just maybe, these salespeople aren't the problem. Maybe they aren't being difficult. Maybe you and your management team have given them no other choice but to cut corners, ones they see as barriers and roadblocks to success.

Instead of asking yourself why they refuse to listen, perhaps it's time to ask when you, your management team, and the rest of your sales team, should start following their lead. After all, they continue to succeed despite everything standing in their way.

Think about it for a moment: These salespeople go against you as a business owner, go against the advice and suggestion of coworkers, and they also go against the strategies adopted by your management team. Yet, despite all of this, they continue to win new business, they continue to open up new customer relationships and they continue to grow portions of your market you've never penetrated before.

Granted, this is a lot to consider. However, it's essential that you understand why these salespeople succeed despite mounting odds. It's essential that you know why they feel they have no choice but to do things their own way. Understanding why may just open your eyes to a new reality. In the end, change is never easy. However, when that change comes from your market, then you need to listen to those people closest to that market.