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How is your 2011 so far?  Are you exceeding your sales goals so far this year?  Here are FIVE steps to get your sales on track to exceed your 2011 goals.  It is not to late to restart your year.  If you are the sales leader, let’s get started….

  1. Engage your sales team in regular discussions about your competitive landscape.  I am often surprised how surprised sales people are that their sales are not better, and yet they seem to know so little about their competitve landscape.  Make sure that they are informed.  Have these conversations often.  What is the competition up to?  What are customers asking for?  Why have they lost recent deals?  What is getting in their way of success?
  2. Set expectation for both results and behaviors.  Results won’t happend without the right behaviors.  Are you keeping team members focused on doing the right things and doing them right?  This is the job of the leader.  Make sure that YOU are being both a teacher and a coach by communicating clear expectations.
  3. Invest in skill development.  Keep your own and your team members skills fresh by investing in training and development activities that build knowledge, skill, and industry contacts.  All are critical to the ongoing success of your business.
  4. Inspire your team.  You have heard it said that success is as much inspiration as perspiration.  What daily and weekly inspirational behaviors have you incorporated into your daily activities?  How often do your recognize successful behaviors as well as results? How well do you know the individual motivators of each of your team members and leverage them to inspire the team?  Inspired team members often go above and beyond, giving them an edge over competitors to win that piece of new business.  Stack the deck in your favor by inspiring your team.
  5. Deal with non-performers.  Those who are unwilling to do the right things and those who just can’t seem to close the deal need to be dealt with.  If it is not a question of training, development, or investment on your part, then deal with it.  Chances are the non-performers are just as dissatisfied in their role as you are in their performance.  Make the tough decision and then hire a top sales person.

You still have plenty of opportunity to make 2011 a fantastic year.  It is not to late to start your sales engine.

If you need help jump-starting your sales and seeing your team make Visible Progress, give us a call.  We would love to help. 

Start Planning NOW for your Success!