Sales Management For Dummies

Chapter 15

Making Cuts: When It’s Time to Let Someone Go

In This Chapter

Deciding when to fire someone

Knowing when the time is right

Keeping it professional

You knew I’d have to talk about it sooner or later, and there’s no getting around it. Part of the job of a professional sales manager is making the decision to and terminating an employee.

If you’re new to sales management, let me go ahead and tell you firing someone doesn’t get any easier with time. It’s always tough because you’re dealing with a human being and his ability to provide for his family. If it gets to the point where it doesn’t bother you, perhaps you should do something else because you’ve become extremely jaded.

Like anything, there are good and bad ways to let someone go. It’s never a fun process — for either party — but there are definitely ways you can make it worse.

In this chapter, I touch on the when, why, and how of the firing process. You can sugarcoat it with any word you want — termination, reduction in force, laying off, letting go, or whatever — you’re still firing someone. I talk about what goes ...