Does your sales organization operate in what I call “a culture of chaos”? It’s prevalent with teams I have worked with over the years. Here are some of the symptoms:
- Sales meetings and reviews happen on an occasional irregular basis (if at all!);
- Sales Managers would like to coach their salespeople more, but they “just don’t have time” given all the other demands they face;
- Salespeople are too busy to prospect or plan their sales calls;
- Reacting to customer issues and demands dominates people’s time;
- Priorities and plans are constantly changing as sales leaders chase the latest “shiny object”;
- When meetings are scheduled, they typically don’t start on time and often run late;
- At the end of the day, people frustrated because they’ve accomplished very little of what they set out to do;
You may say “Wait a minute, we need to be flexible and responsive to customer issues. And priorities are constantly changing so we need to adapt”. I’m not suggesting that responsiveness, flexibility and adaptability aren’t necessary. They’re important. But often we get so mired in the chaos that we lose focus on the what really matters: doing the jobs we’re paid to do. That means making the REAL work of sales and sales management a top priority, allocating time for it and actually doing it!
So how do we keep the chaos in perspective and not let it interfere with our REAL work? While planning is a critical starting point, it’s not enough. We must also execute. And execution requires discipline. Discipline to actually do what we planned while putting the chaos in the backseat. If we make our REAL work the highest priority, plan it’s execution, make time for it, protect that time and execute in a disciplined manner, we have a much better chance of being successful!
How do we do that? Here are a few suggestions (that work):
- First, recognize what the REAL work is and make it a top priority. For salespeople it’s things like prospecting, sales call planning, sales calls, personal and professional development, etc. These are the things that drive new revenue, which is what we’re paid to do! For sales managers it’s coaching, pipeline and deal reviews, call plan reviews, one-on-one sessions, ride-alongs, forecasting, performance management and so on.
- We may have to let some things go so we can focus on our REAL work, minimizing things like unnecessary meetings and reports, being dominated by our inbox, getting lost in social media thinking we are actually working, wasting time around the “water cooler”, playing super customer service rep and other non-sales activities.
- Plan our REAL work, schedule it in advance and protect the time as if it’s sacred. Time blocking is a proven effective strategy for this.
- Leave some gaps or “white space” on our calendars for urgent things that do pop up and to provide flexibility.
- For sales managers, be sure sales meetings are productive and valuable for the sales team, which means they shouldn’t be group reporting sessions. Instead focus on skills development, process improvement, sharing successes and best practices, etc. Also –
- Start and end meetings on time.
- Create a regular cadence for territory planning, pipeline and deal reviews, account reviews and one-on-one sessions; block the time in advance and stick to it.
- Don’t forget your own personal and professional development as a sales manager. It’s a very different role than that of a salesperson. Read, attend a workshop or seminar, hire a coach.
Setting the right priorities, planning for them, and having the discipline to actually do what you planned (execute) will help you change a “culture of chaos” to a “culture of success”!
