Today I want to talk about the concept of ‘no coasting’, especially as a top sales professional in Chicago. It’s one of the main rules from my book The Contrarian Salesperson, but this article today is written specifically for sales managers. Next week I will publish a blog that focuses on this concept from the salespersons perspective.
But today as a manager, do you have salespeople who are in comfort zones? Do you have salespeople that, when you look at them you think, "Why are they stalled? Based on their territory, based on what they know about our industry, they ought to be growing. What's going on with that?"
The concept of no coasting in my book, The Contrarian Salesperson, is really about comfort zones and the idea of salespeople getting into the mindset of ‘coasting’. When you have salespeople on your team that are stagnating, you've got to look at what's going on with their mindset. People often strive for excellence, but then they tend to settle at a certain level.
People have different levels of ‘comfort zone’. Many times, it's money-related. They get to a certain income level, and then they get comfortable. Or they get to a certain activity level or a certain sales level, and they get comfortable. All the while, they have the potential to 2X or 10X or whatever the factor may be.
Here are some things to keep in mind with your salespeople, if you have some of them in comfort zones.
First of all, don't accept mediocrity. Mediocrity can become cultural in an organization, and I want to make sure that doesn't happen to you.
Second is to make sure you have a robust, ongoing goal setting program. Not just quotas and numbers that salespeople commonly have.... But a personal and professional well-balanced goal setting program. The Keystone Goals Program I'm attaching here is something I’ve developed and use internally. You may have done it near the end of last year, because I did some videos on it, but if you missed it or if your salespeople missed it, I'd highly encourage you to have them spend some time with this program (or another goal setting program). You then should review it with them and share your goals with them as well.
One of the rules you may have heard before, but I really want you to understand and think about is “you become what you surround yourself with”. If your salespeople are hanging with mediocrity, they're going to achieve mediocrity. Be really careful with your team and be real careful where you let your salespeople spend their time, both literally and with mindsets, because that will have a huge impact on their comfort zone. Think about your people. Identify the people in comfort zones and pick one of these strategies to implement and break them free.
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Here are some of my recent articles:
How Do you Expect To Manage Salespeople, If You Aren't A Student First?
Creating Value in Every Interaction
Coaching The Contrarian Salesperson in Chicago - Adult to Adult
This One Mindset Can Help You Transform Your Selling Dynamic
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