In many flooring businesses, it seems that sales personnel are too often operating without knowing where the “goal line” is. Imagine a football player who is running with the ball down the side line not knowing how far he has to advance to score a touchdown. As he runs by the coach he might hear “run as far as you can” or simply “keep going. I’ll let you know when you get there”. Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? How is this player supposed to stay motivated when he doesn’t know what his target is?
How does this differ from a sales person who doesn’t have a real idea of what performance is expected of him? Or worse yet, what he should be expecting of himself?
The football coach can’t grab the ball and score himself. It is only his responsibility to insure that his player is fully prepared to succeed when the opportunity presents itself. A sales manager’s job is much the same. They must both have team members who have bought into the game plan.
I have found that the best way to achieve this winning attitude is by allowing the sales person to assist in setting his “goal line”. Don’t just assign them a quota. Let them share with you what they feel that they can achieve. They usually will surprise you in a positive manner. Once you and they establish a goal, they will own it. Your job is to remove the barriers to their ability to achieve it.
Do your staff members know where their individual goal line is? Or are they just running blindly down the sideline waiting for you to tell them when they finally score?
Tom Jennings
