Making It Real

Often the difference between average and outstanding performance is simply the ability to execute.

Sales leaders are primarily responsible for putting the people, systems and processes into action. On a daily basis they influence the behavior, accountability, retention and motivation of the entire selling team.

Many times, organizations will implement a process, strategy, or methodology only to have it fall by the wayside a few months later; their investment is all but lost. This is often due to the lack of reinforcement.  Not because the sales leader does not believe in the new approach, but because they lack the skill, time or tools to consistently adhere to the new plan. Therefore, the reps and the leader fall back into the old way of doing things. 

To truly make a change happen, people must continually demonstrate new behavior. This means that someone needs to insure that they are not going back to their old way of doing things. Things like structure, tools, processes (and more) need to change in order for people to adapt. If a new process or methodology is introduced to the organization, then the sales leader needs to manage to that process, speak that language, hold reps accountable for following those steps, coach the reps on how each step should be handled, and develop the measurements to find areas where people are having issues so that they can correct them. Without this type of structure, and continual reinforcement, the team will undoubtedly revert back to their old habits within a few weeks.