When to let a seller go

You'll know a seller isn't going to make it long before the numbers prove it. The mistake is waiting for the numbers anyway.

In services, the sales cycle is long enough that a weak seller can hide for a year. That's a year of lost pipeline, wasted accounts and a team watching what you tolerate.

Why leaders wait too long

Services deals take months. So when a seller misses, there's always a reason. The pipeline is building. A big deal is close. The market's slow. Give it another quarter.

And firing is hard. The seller is likeable. You hired them. Admitting it isn't working feels like admitting your own mistake.

So leaders wait. And the cost grows quietly. Target accounts get bad first impressions. Buyers who got a generic note won't open the next one from your firm. The best sellers on the team notice that effort and results don't seem to matter.

Look at the work, not the result

Revenue lags. The work that leads to revenue doesn't. You can see it every week.

Is the seller's research sharp? Pull five recent notes. Do they name something real about the account and guess at a specific problem? Or do they read like templates with a name swapped in?

Are buyers engaging with substance? A seller whose notes draw corrections and real questions is on the right track, even with a thin pipeline. One who gets silence or one-line brush-offs is not.

Are they reaching the whole committee? A seller who only works single contacts will lose deals even when they find good ones.

And do they own their accounts? Do they know which ones have live signals, which are stalled and why? Or do they wait for leads to arrive?

Measuring a seller's first 90 days lays out the same signals for new hires.

Coach first, with a clear bar

When the work isn't there, say so directly. Not in a vague "let's improve your pipeline" way. In specifics.

"Your hypotheses are too general. Here's one of yours, here's what a sharp one looks like. Over the next six weeks, I want every note to name a real event and a specific guess."

Then do research alongside them. Review notes before they go out. Listen to calls. Give fast, honest feedback.

Set a clear bar and a date. Both of you should know what good looks like and when you'll decide.

Signs it's time

The work hasn't changed after real coaching. Same generic notes, same single contacts, same thin research.

They blame the market, the leads or the product, every time. A seller who never owns the result won't fix it.

They resist approval of what they send. Owning every send is part of the job. A seller who wants to blast templates without anyone looking is a risk to your firm's name.

Or the team has started routing around them. When other sellers quietly take over their accounts, the decision has already been made. You're just catching up.

A scenario

Say a services firm hires a seller with a big résumé. After two quarters, pipeline is light but there's always a deal "about to close." The leader reviews twenty recent notes. Every one is a version of the same template. No buyer has replied with anything beyond "not now."

The leader coaches for six weeks with a clear standard. The notes improve slightly, then slide back. That's the answer.

Doing it well

Be direct, be kind and be quick. Tell them plainly why, with the examples you've already discussed. Offer what help you can with the transition.

Then take what you learned into your next hire. What did you miss in the interview? Which of the early warning signs showed up first? The next decision will be easier, and it'll come sooner.