IDEA: Ask sales personnel “Who/what is keeping you personnally from making more bonus money?”

When sales personnel are behind their sales goals or targets, ask them what they need, what is keeping them from achieving their goals or possibly who is getting in their way of earning more incentive bonus money. They will tell you if it is impacting their paycheck.  Eliminate obstacles in their way. Cut any unnecessary paperwork or tasks from their plate that keep them from selling and give it to a clerk.  Fix the departments that do not support the sales organization (i.e. late samples to the customer, late paperwork sent to the customer, bad product shipped, missing or incorrect backup sent to customers with the product, wrong counts, wrong price billed, lousy inside customer service, rude employees to outside customers’ buyers, etc.).  Maximize the sales representatives’ time serving customers and not entering data into a computer. Give them all of the things they need to sell, fix all of the issues that they claimed were a problem and then, if they remain unsuccessful, replace them.