When a new sales person or a sales person who does not consistently achieve quotas is struggling, most sales managers have processes in place to handle the situation. But what happens if the sales rep who is struggling is your top sales rep? This can be a difficult scenario for any sales manager. Here are three ways to get your top sales rep out of temporary difficulties and selling again.

Help Your Top Sales Rep See the Entire Picture

Sometimes top sales reps lose their selling thread because they are too focused on the big picture. When this happens, the rep can lose sight of the small steps and overarching strategy that need to be addressed before big picture goals can be met. Discuss methods of keeping short term actions, strategy, and big picture thinking tied together with your top sales rep to bring him or her back to the business of selling. Although some of this may not be new to your sales rep, you can keep your top sales rep focused on the daily tasks that support sales by reminding him or her to:

• Spend between ten and twenty minutes at the end of each day preparing for the day ahead to streamline morning activities
• Prioritize daily tasks by committing to calling or following up with the most promising accounts every day
• Scheduling tasks in increments so that large scale projects do not become overwhelming and reduce the ability to pursue and close sales

Encourage Your Top Sales Rep to Regain His or Her Motivation to Sell

You can start your top sales rep on the path towards motivation, but if any results are to be realized your top sales rep needs to be able to motivate him or herself. An individual who was previously one of your top performers who is experiencing lost sales can become discouraged; discouragement over the outcome of a previous sale may even be part of the reason behind a drop in numbers. Sit down with your top sales rep and discuss ways that he or she can self-motivate to get back on track, such as:

• Writing out his or her personal career goals and identifying what needs to be done on short-, mid-, and long-term time horizons to accomplish these goals
• Setting goals tied to financial results, such as affording a luxury vacation, purchasing or renting a new property, or simply increasing net worth
• Identifying rewarding activities that he or she can enjoy for meeting smaller goals

Coach Your Top Sales Rep to Think in Terms of Real Value

Although recognition and incentives are important to all sales reps, chances are very good that before your top sales rep encountered obstructions he or she was driven by a hunger for creating value to earn his or her commissions. At some point before your top sales rep’s numbers began to slide it is likely that he or she lost sight of the fundamentals behind creating value not only for him or herself, but for clients as well. Bring your sales rep back to value driven thinking by:

• Running commission numbers for various scenarios including add-on sales and reduced sales cycles so that the differences in personal earnings are reiterated
• Reminding your top sales rep about key incentives in his or her commission plan, such as increased commission rates based on higher average selling prices
• Reviewing your top sales rep’s past ability to close sales by creating value for clients through the methods that your top sales rep honed with experience – and still has at his or her disposal

Every sales person is likely to encounter temporary periods of stagnancy during his or her career, and your former top sales rep can likely become your top sales rep again with a little coaching. Consider deploying these methods to help your top sales rep remain on top of the sales game.