I was helping a client this week who was struggling to manage his sales team.
The team had grown comfortable. They had little oversight and it was ok to miss quota quarter after quarter.
How could he get his team to sell more and lay the foundation to replace underperforming members of the team who were not able to improve?
Accountability
Accountability is simply being answerable for our actions. In my experience the four parts of accountability interlock and reinforce each other.
The four circles are expectations, measurement, cadence & coaching.
Expectations
Crisp, sharp, clear expectations are the bedrock of accountability.
What do you expect from your team, by when, and what is the priority relative to all of the other expectations?
Examples of crisp expectations are an $80,000.00 quarterly quota, a 20% close rate, and an average time-to-close of 60 days.
Write down the top 2-3 measurable outcomes for each member of your sales team.
What do you expect from them and by when?
Think about the top 2-3 key leading and lagging indicators that goal attainment and predict future performance.
Measurement
How is each member of the team doing regarding their key indicators?
Put systems in place that feed data to a scorecard or dashboard that is visible to everyone on the team where everyone is at relative to their key leading and lagging indicators.
Cadence
Consistently review the key indicators weekly and monthly.
Review the data publicly in group meetings and privately in your one-on-one meetings as appropriate.
Coaching
Based on the data review the needs of each member of your sales team, and with each member identify the behaviors and skills that are counterproductive or need to be strengthened.
Provide feedback and put together an action plan with your salesperson to improve the one area of focus each month that will create the most improvement for them.
By consistently practicing these four keys you can systematically improve your team and grow sales.