People get fired in sales all the time. Like any other career or industry, people come and people go. For sales organizations, it’s important to find the right person for the job and hold onto them. But we all know that recruiting is not an exact science, and hiring mistakes are made.

While there are countless reasons why sales professionals can get fired, our sales recruiters have put together a list of common reasons they get let go:

1. Consistently missing quotas

To be successful in sales, you need to make sales. No surprise here. So, it’s natural for sales reps who do not consistently make their quota to get fired. It usually takes months of missed quotas for reps to get fired for poor performance.

2. Losing clients

Your customers and clients are the backbone of your business. You can’t afford to lose them, especially your top dollar accounts. If sales reps have a track record of losing clients or even ruffling feathers and making them unhappy, you can expect companies to fire these reps. In today’s competitive landscape, you can’t afford to lose any business.

3. Not taking ownership of poor performance

There are ups and downs in sales. It’s common for reps to go through slumps, have poor performance months, and miss quotas from time to time. This doesn’t concern sales managers. What they find alarming are reps who struggle but don’t show a willingness to grow, add new skills, and work on improving performance.

4. Negative attitude with customers/employees

Negativity can hurt company culture, and it can impact customer relationships. People don’t want to work with coworkers who regularly have a negative attitude. Sales managers don’t want negativity spreading throughout their sales team, especially if it starts to impact performance and sales numbers.

5. Not following the sales process

A company’s sales process was created for a reason. Companies have invested in and believe in the sales processes they have established. However, it’s common for many sales reps to go off script and take their own approach. This may be okay if you receive permission, but if you do so without talking it over with your manager first, it could be grounds for dismissal.

More Sales Career Advice from Sales Recruiters

Too Good to Be True? 3 Reasons Why You Should NEVER Accept a Counter-Offer

Do You Suck as a Candidate for a Sales Job? 5 Things Bad Sales Candidates Do

3 Tips to Be the Best Sales Candidate in 2018

SalesForce Search is a sales recruiting company which specializes in the recruitment and placement of sales professionals. We recruit salespeople in every sector of the economy including, software, manufacturing, financial services and medical devices. Find the right salesperson for your organization, start your search here.