Better Than You Believe (A Note to the Sales Leader)

Your salespeople are better than you think they are. They deserve more credit than you sometimes give them.

The job your salespeople do is more difficult that you think it is. Selling is more difficult now than when you did it. It’s much more challenging, and in some ways, it isn’t the same at all.

Developing relationships isn’t what it used to be. It’s tougher and the need to create more value makes opening new relationships a serious challenge. They are trying harder than you might believe, and they need your help.

It’s tougher to create opportunities than it used to be because people (and companies) are overworked, understaffed, stressed out, and supremely risk averse. Getting the decision to move forward isn’t an easy commitment to obtain. They need your support.

Your salespeople are challenged beyond belief when it comes to pricing. Your margin is under constant and continuous assault. Your competitors are part of that margin pressure. And so are your clients (existing and dream clients). Capturing the value they need to capture isn’t easy—if it ever was. They need more help.

Your salespeople are better than you believe them to be. But there still not good enough. Your salespeople need more help than you think they do. They need more training, more development, and much more coaching. They need you to invest more time and energy in helping them to succeed if you want them to produce bigger and better results.

Your better than you believe you are, too. And you are going to need bring your game up a few notches to lead your sales force on the path you have chosen for them.