As you take stock of the last 12 months and reflect on your sale’s teams targets, are you thinking about what needs to change in the year ahead? Are you considering how your own leadership and accountability could be influencing outcomes and might need refueling?
Take Bill, for example. Bill’s numbers are below target, and he struggles to get clients on the phone for follow-up calls to close. This is a good time to ask if Bill needs a sales manager to provide supervising to stay on target, structured training or one-on-one sales coaching—or if he’s really the best fit for your organization.
Building a culture of sales accountability starts with you—and it starts long before Day 1. What does that really mean for you and for your team? To help you pinpoint if this is an area that needs refining—and fast—we’ve created a five-point checklist and some next steps so you can set your team up for a successful year in 2022.
Sales accountability checklist
Score each of the sales issues below on a scale of one to five.
1 = you have the problem under control
3 = it’s troublesome and irritating for you as a sales leader
5 = the problem costs you serious time and money
___1. You do not deal with personal accountability very well.
___2. Your organization doesn’t have a culture of sales accountability.
___3. You hesitate to say what you really want from the sales team because you don’t want to seem demanding.
___4. You often accept sales results that are less than you expect.
___5. The same sales frustrations keep happening with the same salespeople.
Did you score five on any of these points? A five means the problem is mission-critical and requires immediate attention.
Sales managers usually have a pretty good sense of what the concerns are and how a team member is falling short. But few want to deal with the challenging but critical process of supporting a team member to get where you need them to be: The business need is that they will reach targets, and your own role relies on their sales success too.
If you find yourself tackling the same sales issue with the same salesperson, it might be time to make a change and “get the right person on the bus.” Yes, it is an employee’s market, but if it’s not working and you know it, break up now. The business is counting on you to find the right person—and you will, but only if you take that first step.
Find the right new sales hire, talking accountability early
Hire slow, fire fast. It’s a saying that worked its way into the leadership lexicon. We believe in hiring even slower when it comes to salespeople, so firing becomes a thing of the past. When you take your time in the hiring, onboarding and training phase—and make accountability targets clear at the outset—you’re more likely to be a position to take stock of a good year and a great team.
Before you extend an offer, discuss targets with your prospective hires to build a foundation of sales accountability from the very beginning. Set expectations around metrics and KPIs, and discuss expectations proactively long before problems fester.
When you find and cultivate the career of the right salesperson for the right sales role, you can lead your team to success.
Are you ready to meet your next great sales hire and start the new year on the right foot? Let’s talk. Contact Hire Me A Salesperson today to schedule a 30-minute introductory call.