So what exactly is excellence to a salesperson?

Not an easy question to answer.

“Excellence” probably means different things to everyone.

Because every salesperson has different potential and differing talents (some better, some worse), each salesperson’s level of excellence varies widely.

In “The Secret of Setting the Bar High” we discussed that a sales manager sometimes needs to be a dictator.

And when it comes to sales performance, the top-performing sales manager is positivey “Stalin-esque”.   He is completely INFLEXIBLE on what he wants from his sales reps. However, he is completely FLEXIBLE on how each rep will go about getting it.

Even though the potential of each salesperson is varied, the level of excellence in sales is very clear, quota is the only true measuring stick. So, here it is:

1. If a salesperson has never achieved quota, excellence is hitting quota, period.

a. However, after the sales rep hits quota two or three times, the goal of excellence then becomes #2.

2. Any goal that both exceeds quota and is also a stretch for the salesperson, while at the same time being realistic.

What is far exceeds? Let your salespeople tell you this one. Your job is to play editor-in-chief when they tell you.

Reel them in if they shoot too high and crank them up if they shoot too low.

My experience has been that most salespeople, somewhat eager to “impress the boss”, set their goals way too high. With unrealistically high goals, these salespeople end up just getting frustrated while simultaneously engendering skepticism and losing interest in your message.

They soon become discouraged and disengaged. Safeguard against that by being extremely critical of their direction.

Learn more valuable sales management tips by clicking on the form to the right of this post – Ill send you the FREE Video and Audio on How to Motivate Your Sales Team.

Add a comment to this post and tell me what you do to prompt your salespeople to achieve excellence.

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Management By Walking Around (MBWA) took the management world by storm in the 80’s.

The author of this ground-breaking management theory was Tom Peters.

He was immediately hailed as a “leadership genius” and touted as “one of the top management gurus to come along in over a century”.

It really wasn’t that big of a deal.

MBWA is really just common sense… (more…)

Back when the idea of a “virtual office” or a “paperless office” was all the corporate world could think about, for many of us, the concept sounded very appealing. Everything was to be done and stored in computers. You could do it all in the flick of  switch, the click of a mouse. You wouldn’t even need to talk to your co-workers anymore.

In 2007, a study showed that by the year 2009 (this year), 41% of the time employees spend in the office would be used for responding to emails.

Forty-one percent! In case you haven’t noticed, that’s a pretty big number. But who could blame anyone? Emails are quick and easy to use. No wonder the people in your office would rather just send emails than have to talk to anyone face-to-face.

That’s the problem. Sending emails is safer, more convenient, and to a sales person, its so darn ineffective. (more…)

The Japanese are known for being industrious and productive people.

There’s a good chance your sales reps are cursing through their teeth whenever their cell phones sound, they look at caller I.D. and it’s your name. Let’s face it. We all hate being called by our bosses—that is, unless you’re Japanese. That special ringtone buzzing only means one thing and one thing only: more work. “Hi Boss, anything I can do for you?” they answer sheepishly.

“Yes, actually there is…“, you say.

Companies are always looking to hire people who take their careers seriously and who get right down to business. So the moment the sales rep picks up, you typically jump straight into the list of errands you need him or her to do. Chit chat is for company gatherings and Christmas parties. (more…)