Danita Bye, president of Sales Growth Specialist is our Pillar Partner and guest blogger today. Learn essential tips that help a Sales Manager develop accountablity within his/her sales organization. Also, what clues indicate an accountablity problem.
Download the full white paper titled "Creating A Sales Culture of Personal Accountablity" CLICK HERE
Following are the highlights from this sales management white paper. Enjoy!
Accountability can be a sensitive subject because most people like to think of themselves as responsible employees or sales managers. However, excuse-making and “waiting for things to get better” generally don’t improve a business situation. Here are some tips for sales managers to foster personal responsibility and develop accountability within your sales organization.
Listen to what your sales reps are saying, they may demonstrate the need for accountability. Here are some examples:
- Why do customers expect so much?
- When will the market turn around?
- When is someone going to train me?
- When is someone going to put together a decent marketing program?
- When is management going to get its act together?
- When are we going to become more competitive?
- When are we going to have better products?
- Why aren’t my people motivated?
- Why do I have to do everything myself?
The sales pipeline, or flow of prospects from the first contact to the signing of the business, is weak. This weakness is due to not enough prospects in the pipeline or not enough qualified prospects who are being adequately prepared to make a commitment to buy.
The salesperson always discounts price in order to get the business.
There is a low conversion rate from those prospects who are qualified to those who make a decision to buy.
Ask the right questions
Match the right behaviors
Hire the right people
Set the right expectations