(By Rick Fink) Top athletes and top sellers have several things in common. Number one is that they have great discipline. Discipline is followed very closely by having set expectations, and they have someone, other than themselves, inspecting them.
Regardless of whether you are a media rep or a manager, ask yourself these two questions… Are you setting expectations for yourself or those you manage? Do you have someone other than yourself inspecting the expectations?
I learned a long time ago that the best sales reps want, and even expect, to be inspected. Overachievers, regardless of what they do, will tell you they set expectations of themselves and appreciate having their leaders or mentors set expectations for them, and then help hold them accountable.
I recently ran across this short but powerful message, “Holding people accountable is uncomfortable. What’s worse, is having people fail because you won’t coach them. Accountability is something you DO for someone, not TO someone”.
For everything we do, we should set minimum and reasonable expectations; everything from the amount of time we put in each day, to the number of packages, asks, spec ads, prospects, and presentations you expect per week. If you don’t know what is expected of yourself, there is really no way to measure success.
But setting expectations and not inspecting them can have an even more negative effect than not setting them. There’s another saying that says, “People will only respect what you inspect”. If you don’t inspect them, can you expect them to respect you? Just think about the message sent to your sellers when you ask them to do something, but you don’t follow up on it. How important do they then think it really is or was?
Setting expectations and then holding them accountable is key to being a strong manager, key to running a good business, and key to individual success! Are you setting expectations? Are you holding yourself or those you manage accountable?
Remember, “Accountability is something you do FOR someone, not TO someone”.
If you would like to discuss this topic or anything related to sales management,
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Rick Fink from ENS Media (www.ensmediausa.com) can be reached by phone at 605-310-2062 or e-mail at [email protected]
