Written for The Burnside News
The Rolling Stones once sang that “You Can’t Always Get What You Want?” The fact is you can usually get what you want. The important question is what do you need to do to get what you want? Is there a clear vision about what that is? Is it planned with measurable goals that are achievable, realistic and specific? It’s basic stuff but are your salespeople poised to make it happen and do they have the support it takes?
Winning sports teams don’t win every game but they win most of their games. Do you believe your sales team is in a position to do that? Do they lose sales and miss opportunities that should be increasing your top-line revenue? How accountable are you at making them accountable for achieving those wins? I sometimes meet with sales leaders that believe they don’t want to micro-manage or be a ‘baby-sitter’. You don’t have to do that but you also can’t absolve yourself from the job of leading, managing, and holding your salespeople accountable for the behaviours that are needed to make it happen.
Successful sales managers know what they want to happen, provide the tools and support to assist making it happen, and track the behaviours to ensure that the people mandated to achieve the goals are continually on the right path. Would it be better to continue putting out fires or to manage the team to success? Are you working on the right end of the problem?
To develop business people in sales you must treat them like business people. Good business people plan for success. Do you know what each salesperson’s plan is for the month or the quarter? What would happen if you had a one-on-one business meeting with each rep prior to each of the month that reviews the current month to praise achievement or analyze what hampered their success? You can also provide a written format that not only looks at the target number for the coming month but shows the specific behavioural plan they have to achieve it. Would that help guide their behaviour and give you the confidence that they can achieve their financial goal?
It’s not over however. You have to periodically check-in to ensure that they are accountable to their plan. It’s the adult way to communicate, motivate, and set accountability with business people in sales. Is this all that needs to be done? What do you think? I wish you success in 2013.
©2012 Sandler Training Inc. (www.atlantic.sandler.com) is an international sales and management training/consulting firm. For a free copy of Why Salespeople Fail And What To Do About It, call the Sandler Training at 902-468-0787 or e-mail salescareers@sandler.com
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