You hired based on a strong CV, a solid reference and a promising interview. And yet the results aren’t there. The energy feels flat. And you’re left asking yourself:
Is it the person or is it something else?
It’s one of the most frustrating challenges any sales leader faces. And the answer is rarely simple. But there’s usually a pattern and it’s a pattern you can learn to recognise.
It’s rarely about effort
The first mistake many sales managers make is assuming that a salesperson who isn’t performing simply doesn’t try hard enough. Sometimes that’s true. But most of the time, it isn’t the whole story.
Research into motivation and behaviour points to three far more likely explanations:
- The role doesn’t match the person’s natural strengths
A salesperson who is naturally relationship-driven will typically thrive in long, complex sales processes but struggle in a role built around high-volume, transactional calls. A salesperson with strong drive and an inner results focus will want to chase new business but lose momentum if the role is mainly account management and retention.If your salesperson is placed in a role that works against what they do naturally, that’s not a lack of effort. That’s a mismatch. - Motivation is pointed in the wrong direction
Two salespeople can share the same targets and yet be motivated by completely different things. One is driven by competition and recognition. Another is driven by genuinely helping the customer solve a real problem. A third is driven by autonomy and the freedom to manage their own day.
If you lead them both in exactly the same way, you’ll lose one of them. - Conflict style is creating friction
Sales teams are full of strong personalities. A salesperson who avoids confrontation will struggle to close a tough negotiation. A salesperson who goes straight into confrontation mode may push customers away during the presentation stage. And across the team, unmanaged conflict styles can quietly erode cohesion and turn collaboration into headwind.
What most sales managers do and why it doesn’t work
The typical response is some combination of: a conversation about the numbers, a revised KPI target, and perhaps a sales coaching programme.
That’s not necessarily wrong. But it’s blind because it doesn’t start from who the person is, only from what they haven’t delivered.
It’s like giving every salesperson the same race to run, without knowing whether they’re sprinters or marathon runners.
What you actually need to know
If you want to understand why a salesperson isn’t performing and whether it can be fixed there are three questions worth asking:
What are this person’s natural strengths?
Not what they’re good at on paper, but what comes naturally to them. Strengths like results-driven (an inner drive to reach goals), persuasive (the ability to sell ideas and shift how others think), or relationship-building (the ability to build genuine trust over time). These strengths are relatively stable. They can be developed, but they can’t be overridden in the long run.
What motivates them and what holds them back?
Intrinsic motivation is critical for sustained performance. Salespeople who are externally motivated (recognition, competition, pay) perform differently under pressure than those who are intrinsically motivated (autonomy, meaning, mastery). Neither is wrong but they require different kinds of leadership.
How do they handle disagreement and pressure?
A salesperson who consistently avoids pressure in negotiations isn’t necessarily conflict-averse as a person but they may be placed in a role that demands a confrontational style they simply don’t have. That’s important information.
What you can do right now
The good news is that these questions can be answered. Not through gut feeling, not through yet another conversation but through a structured, evidence-based analysis.
Humalyzer Profile maps exactly this: natural strengths, motivation profile and conflict style in one combined analysis. No certification required, no lengthy implementation process. You set it up, your salesperson completes the analysis, and you have a concrete foundation for a far more informed leadership conversation.
It doesn’t just help you understand the salesperson who isn’t performing it helps you see who you actually have on your team, and what it will take for them to deliver.