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A MUST READ
Accountability:
The Key to Sales
Have you ever noticed how people who enroll in a not getting results.
weight-loss program that involves accountability When you hold sales people accountable, they
and long-term maintenance most often do will resist — until they start seeing results. Once
better than those who try to go it alone? The those results start to happen, and we celebrate
same is true in sales. those results with them, the desire sets in to not
It is not enough to simply “train” your team with only repeat the results, but to up the ante. The
a one-shot, one-size-fits-all motivational “rah, key is we have to hold ourselves accountable to
rah.” Often, I am invited by a company to do be the leader our team needs.
training on a particular discipline with the sales Sales results happen in the field, not in your office
team because there is the feeling that the team or corporate headquarters. You must be in the
“is not closing enough” or “they are not doing field, spending quality time with your team every
enough to drive traffic,” or their “follow-up needs week. If you can’t spend at least two to three
work,” etc. hours, one on one, with each member of your
However, once I begin, I often discover that there sales team every week, then either your territory
is more of a systemic breakdown and that those is too large or your priorities are not straight.
particular challenges are merely a symptom of a You must have, in writing, minimum performance
greater issue. expectations, have each one of your sales staff
Sales people, like any other, perform in direct sign it and have it placed in their files. You can’t
proportion to the level of expectations set, make exceptions. Reward not only results, but
and when those expectations are reinforced, effort. Celebrate successes every step of the way.
coached and inspected. Yet all too often, we Finally, hiring a trainer/consultant adds credibility
leave these sales people out in the field alone to your efforts. This may sound familiar to
without a weekly planned encounter. parents, who often notice how their kids will
We are not working with them on their very listen to a teacher or a coach, but the same
specific and time-oriented goals, or even giving advice from a parent falls on deaf ears.
them a road map on how to reach those Your team can perform at a higher level.
goals and checkpoints along the way where Successful teams are focused; they have a plan
we, as leaders, should be stepping in to guide and they are disciplined in working that plan.
them. Then, when our sales teams fall short, They know the only way to get out of a hole is
we start to make excuses for them about what to stop digging, and start filling it in by getting
the competition is doing, or they did not have more and better sales!
enough traffic. And then we wonder why we are NAHB FEB 2018
MARCH 2018 | GREATER SAN ANTONIO BUILDERS ASSOCIATION 25
