The #1 priority of sales management is people development - that is to help each salesperson grow both individually and collectively as a team. It’s through people development that we ultimately achieve our goals and generate results.
Do your salespeople make excuses for lack of results? Worse yet, are your managers?
“It’s the economy…” “It’s the competition…” “It’s because our prices are too high…” The list of excuses could go on and on.
Which brings us to our other top priority as sales managers and that is ACCOUNTABILITY.
There can be no accountability as long as excuse making is tolerated at any level. When there is a lack of accountability, there can be no growth. If your sales team is not growing - meaning becoming more effective - then excuse making is likely one of the culprits.
Are there challenges that come up on the job and get in the way of goal attainment? Sure, absolutely. But there is a difference between circumstantial challenges and excuse making. Growth requires accountability. Therefore if we as sales managers don't foster a culture of accountability, there can be no growth.
One of the strategies that we sales managers use for eliminating excuse making and redirecting the sales team’s energy to where it needs to be is The Success Formula. Sound familiar? If you read "The Success Principles," you'll see it's an idea borrowed from Jack Canfield.
The Success Formula
E + R = O
E stands for an “Event” or circumstance (i.e., the economy, the competition, your pricing, etc.)
R stands for your “Response” to the event or circumstance
O stands for your “Outcome” or result
Any Event + your Response to that event determines your Outcome or result.
When salespeople don’t get the outcome or result that they want, they tend to blame it on an event or a circumstance - or the economy... or the competition... or the pricing... We can’t change the event - it is what it is. So focusing on these circumstances is a waste of time and worse, it undermines accountability.
A better strategy is to have your sales teams focus on the one thing they can control - THEIR RESPONSE to these circumstances. If your sales team is not getting the results that you and they would like, then stop the excuse making and change your response. It will almost always get you a different and better result.
Good selling…
Mike Zaruba is a business consultant at entreQuest who has worked around the world with all types of organizations to create, implement, and lead effective sales management strategies at the executive, managerial, and frontline levels.
