Is Your Team Falling Flat on Their Resolutions?
gather dust. They would fail my grandmother’s white glove test for thoroughness. What if you could be different? Part of the failure behind most resolutions is that they lack a plan to hold yourself or your team accountable. Meeting goals, such as increasing sales, requires consistent monitoring. You need to watch both leading and lagging indicators and correct the course as needed. If you don’t consistently monitor your progress, a lag or lapse becomes the new normal like the dust bunnies behind the couch.
So, what is an aspiring sales manager to do? True confession: I am NOT a fan of the old saw “Beatings will continue until morale improves.” You cannot achieve long-term results or employee longevity with that approach. However, a completely hands-off method will also guarantee that you miss your goals. People need to know you are cheering for them, removing obstacles, adding needed support, and, most importantly, inspecting what you expect.
Here’s how you can find that healthy middle ground with your sales team:
1. Establish clear, objective, measurable goals. No emotion. No squishy qualitative nonsense. An example might be selling 2 new product categories to existing customers. (This is known as a penetration strategy.)
2. Work with your Salespeople to establish the actions that you are confident will help you meet your goals. Continuing with our example from above, one action could be to conduct Quarterly Business Reviews and White Space/Gap Analysis with your top 10 existing customers. This action would identify those product categories currently going to your competition and set up a conversation with your customers about how you could be an alternative supplier.
3. Finally, break down the goals into the milestones on your path to success. For example, earning permission to cross a competitor’s product line and quote said parts would be a key result on your path to selling two new product categories.
This is breaking down the big task into smaller, more manageable tasks. It also helps the salesperson prove to the sales leader that they are making progress. This is also a coachable moment for both the sales leader and the salesperson.
Sometimes these coaching sessions reveal the need for additional product training, and a lack of bringing in other members of the selling team (ex: Specialists, other more knowledgeable salespeople, or even Supply-Partner salespeople.) Further, these sessions can open the door to very targeted joint calls with the seller.
4. Ideally these progress meetings should be consistently planned and purposefully brief. Don’t confuse short chats at the water cooler with a real progress meeting. Do you want weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly meetings? Make sure to check your progress at least once a month. If the actions and initiatives are not leading to key results, or getting you closer to your goal, this is the opportunity to dig deeper and find out why. Explore. Is the issue tied to skills, poor organization, or lack of desire?
Let’s further unpack lagging and leading indicators. The lagging indicator is the sales growth or the sales of new product categories. Sales leaders should focus on leading indicators—actions that drive results.
If the QBRs are not happening, and if the competitive product categories are not identified, those are the leading indicators that require course correction. One of the biggest challenges for salespeople is to maintain focus and actions on long-term goals.
Being human, they naturally respond to inquiries and react quickly when needed. Continuously being proactive beyond the day-to-day is what distinguishes the sales team that meets and exceeds goals from those that fall short.
This is a successful team that digs deep and searches every nook and cranny for details that others might overlook. Just like housecleaning is a continual task, so is sales. Stay focused on your goals while consistently monitoring your actions and results according to a set schedule, and you will succeed. Additionally, you will be able to pass the white glove test.
Desiree Grace is an advisor, consultant, and mentor with 30+ years as a senior leader in the electrical distribution and manufacturing sectors. Desiree leads and supports special projects for River Heights
Consulting. She builds brands, grows revenue and motivates teams, facilitates strategy and execution, and offers special expertise in helping international companies enter the North American market. Experience with Fortune 100 companies, private start-ups, and mid-market businesses enables Desiree to help a variety of B2B organizations improve market share, revenue, and profits. She is a sought-after speaker for topics such as professional development, sales leadership, industry trends, and team leadership and motivation. You can connect with her at www.linkedin.com/in/desireecgrace.
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