How the Right Sales Leader Can Turn Around Sales Performance

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Dave Kurlan
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Here are the first 30 I thought of. Is it:

  1. Improved Selling Skills?
  2. Change in Attitude?
  3. More Intensity?
  4. Written Goals?
  5. Effective Targeting?
  6. Stronger Motivation
  7. Stronger Desire?
  8. More Pride?
  9. More Determination?
  10. Tenacity?
  11. New Sales Talent?
  12. Training?
  13. Coaching?
  14. Assessments?
  15. Tools?
  16. Accountability?
  17. Competition?
  18. Killer Product?
  19. A Sale?
  20. Buying Incentives?
  21. Performance Incentives?
  22. Optimized Sales Process?
  23. Better Sales Methodology?
  24. Improved Sales Model?
  25. Effective Sales Management?
  26. Ultimatums?
  27. Deadlines?
  28. Bertter Demos?
  29. Professional Proposals?
  30. Economy?

I was listening to a Boston sports radio show where the topic was how future Basketball Hall-of-Famer, Kevin Garnett (KG), single handedly changed the culture of the Boston Celtics when he arrived there several years ago.

Here are ten of the things they said he was responsible for (in no particular order):

  • Holding everyone accountable
  • Team dinners
  • Leading by Example
  • Taking Younger Players Aside
  • Intensity
  • Raising Expectations
  • Presence
  • Physical Play
  • Attitude
  • Unselfishness

The Celtics were a struggling franchise and KG, along with his 10 competencies, led them to an NBA championship and playoff competition each year he was there.

So is there anything that KG brought to the table that a key sales leader couldn’t introduce to his sales force? Not a thing.

While each of the 30 sales related items (yes, there are more) listed above are important and some are instrumental, it begins with people who can make a difference. Do you have the right people? Do you have people who can step up? Do you have people who should have stepped up but didn’t? Did the wrong people step up and model the wrong attitudes and behaviors?

One of the biggest mistakes that companies make with their people is allowing or asking the wrong people to take leadership roles on their sales force. It doesn’t have to be a VP, Director or Sales Manager. Even a salesperson who is well-liked and/or respected by his peers, who doesn’t model the right behaviors, skills and attitudes, will have a significant, detrimental effect on the entire organization.

What kind of people problems have you created?

How can you fix them?

Republished with author's permission from original post.

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