Activity Metrics for Adults

Outcomes are better than activity. If you could have the outcome without having to do the work, that would be the right thing to do. You could reserve your time, energy, and resources for something else, having already achieved the outcome.

One law of this Universe is the law of cause and effect. Without a cause, there is no effect. So you know that you cannot obtain the outcome you need (the effect) without the cause (the activity).

Why then would you ever expect that you could obtain your goals without the requisite activity?

Two Different Approaches

There are many salespeople who don’t like to track their activity, nor do they like to report it. Mostly, this is because their activity is abysmal. The lack of activity is embarrassing, and so they think of activity management as micromanagement.

Many sales managers fear asking adult, professional salespeople about their activity, to both of their detriments. Poor activity leads to poor results. As a sales manager, you fail your people when you don’t hold them accountable for results. And when your salespeople don’t produce results, you fail them when you don’t improve their activity, both the quality and the quantity.

When you produce micro results due to a lack of activity, you can expect to have someone ask you about your activity. You may call is micromanagement, but it wouldn’t be necessary if you managed your own activity.

The Second Choice

There are some salespeople who generate a lot of activity. Almost without fail, they also generate better results than their half-measure-taking peers. These salespeople never mind telling you about their activity. They’re proud of what they do from day-to-day.

People who take action without having to be asked are rarely asked to report on their activity. There is no need to police people who act independently; they’re policing themselves. Because they work, they produce results. Because they produce results, no one worries about what they’re doing, as their results speak for themselves.

If you can’t, don’t, or won’t manage your own activity, you are always going to have someone manage you. If you manage your own activity, doing more than anyone else would ever expect of you, you will never need to someone to manage you.

The level of success you reach is directly proportional to your ability to exercise personal leadership.