We are hearing it more and more these days - my reps were all doing so well but now only one or two are managing to keep up with their quotas or find new business or uphold the margins etc, etc.....

This economy is certainly one way to evaluate a sales force but not really the right way. Wouldn't it have been better to know the who and why - regarding performance ahead of time. At least then maybe you could have done something about it.

Let's look at the bright side - now is a great time to invest in your sales force, why? For a number of reasons: There are more candidates in the pool. The people you have are more committed because the idea of losing their job is scary. The people you have are probably working instead of looking at Monster for another job. It is pretty expected that some people will be let go so even the most chicken hearted of managers can move people out of the company with ease.

Now imagine this - if evaluating and fixing your sales force would have helped with a down economy what do you think it will do when the economy turns. That's right there will still be improvement but because you now have a refined sales force made up of over achievers you will take off sooner, get ahead of any competitors and gain market share more rapidly.

The great General Hannibal realized that the time to prepare his army was in peacetime - the day of battle would be too late to get ahead or make adjustments. Are you using this time to evaluate and grow stronger?