Your ability to build an over-achieving sales team at your company is directly proportional to the level of responsibility and accountability each team member takes for the outcomes they produce. Top producing sales people understand and accept the role they play in the results they produce (or fail to deliver). Average to mediocre sales people avoid this level of responsibility and accountability. Instead they engage in blame games and excuse making exercises. Which do you prefer, reasons or results?
You've heard the phrase "a chain is as strong as its weakest link." The same idea applies to your sales team. It only takes one whining excuse maker to bring everyone down. You've heard it all before:
- We would have closed the deal if we had a lower price
- We missed that opportunity because XYZ Corp. took them to the basketball game
- I wish we had better marketing materials, then I'd have more to talk about during meetings
- These leads from marketing are terrible, they're not even the right targets
- I'm soooooo busy, I don't have time to prospect
- Operations screwed up that last deal so bad, we were two weeks late
- And on, and on, and on.....
Responsibility starts by looking internally rather than externally. Rather than blaming everyone and everything around them, a sales person with strong responsbility and accountability looks to themselves first when trying to figure out how to improve. Instead of the excuses above, you will hear things like:
- We would have closed that deal if I had been more effective at communicating the value our solution creates
- I should have known XYZ Corp. was closer to them, I didn't invest enough time in building a strong relationship
- Our marketing materials are fine, I need to ask better questions when I meet with prospective customers
- I'm grateful for the leads marketing provides, every time I can talk with a prospective customer is valuable - it's up to me to make something happen
- I organize my day so I can spend at least 60 minutes prospecting for new business - I treat this time like a "can't miss" million dollar meeting
- I didn't set appropriate expectations with the client for the delivery date
- And on, and on, and on......
When you purposefully hire sales people who avoid excuse making and take personal responsibility for the sales results and outcomes they produce, many good things will follow:
- You will build a culture of responsibility and accountability
- Your sales managers can spend more time focused on coaching and moving opportunities forward
- You will attract stronger clients
- You will attract stronger sales people
- Revenue and margins will go up
- You will gain market share
- And on, and on, and on.....
How strong are your sales people and sales managers when it comes to taking responsibility for their outcomes? Can you immediately implement a "No Excuses" policy across your sales organization? Establish a culture of responsiblity and you will be on your way to building an over-achieving sales team.