What is underperformance?
Underperformance is results or behavior that stay below what the role requires over a sustained period. One bad quarter can be noise. A pattern across quarters, or a steady gap in behavior such as missing CRM records, is underperformance. The cause shapes the response. A seller who lacks a skill needs coaching, while a seller handed a weak territory needs a different conversation.
Why it matters to a revenue leader
Sales numbers make underperformance visible fast, which tempts managers to jump straight to a performance plan before they understand the cause. Jean-François Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsoux named a related risk the set-up-to-fail syndrome in a 1998 HBR article. Once a manager labels someone a weak performer, the manager's own behavior toward that person can help keep them there. Acting early still matters, for the team as much as the individual, because strong sellers notice how long weak results go unaddressed. OPM's guidance for federal supervisors also stresses prompt action and a real opportunity to improve.
Example
Fictitious numbersA mechanical services seller hits 55% and then 60% of quota in consecutive quarters while peers average 95%. His manager finds his activity is in line with peers, but his new territory has half the installed base of his old one. The CRO adjusts the territory and the quota before anyone raises a performance plan.
"For each seller below plan, do we know whether the cause is skill, effort or the territory we gave them?"
Sources
- The Set-Up-To-Fail Syndrome checked 9 Oct 2026
- Acting on Poor Performance checked 9 Oct 2026