6 ways to help your team avoid failure
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2024 8:28 am
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill
There is one absolute truth in the world of sales: at some point, we are going to fail.
But have you ever wondered why failure is especially difficult for sales professionals?
The answer is very simple, failure is beyond your control.
This makes you feel helpless. No matter how much time you put into it or how well you know your client, you will always be at risk of losing commission for something you simply cannot change.
There is a phrase often used to motivate people: “Work hard to get results.” Remember that most jobs have a direct correlation between effort and results.
“You have to fight to achieve your dreams. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it.” - Lionel Messi
Although this is excellent advice, the world of sales is not only about hard work. Therefore, this type of advice is a half-truth for a salesperson.
Why Lionel Messi's mentality wouldn't work in sales?
Sometimes working hard is not enough.
Sales is complex. You can be doing everything right and still be nowhere near closing your deal.
I'm sure if you go through your client portfolio, you'll find more than one prospect that you've been working with for months. You've invested endless amounts of time and work into it, and yet, you're still nowhere near closing.
Do you know what all this is due to?
Because sales are an exchange of forces that are usually beyond your control.
However, as sales executives we must deal with the pressure of a huge sales quota without flinching. After all, this is part of the role of a salesperson.
This leads us to ignore the emotional and psychological effects that failure can create in your sales team.
Remember that for your team, talking about not achieving your goals is “taboo.”
Everyone always focuses on victories and how to get them. For example: If you didn't reach your goals, make sure you reach the goal next month. Isn't that right?
There are times when managers use Messi's quote to motivate canada whatsapp their workers. A reminder about how hard work is what gets you where you want to go.
But all this puts workers under pressure, as they feel that their jobs are gradually being put at risk.
This method would be fine for encouraging people if failure were a very rare thing. Unfortunately, however, it is not.
The Bridge Group, a sales strategy firm based in Hudson, Massachusetts, released an annual report based on information provided by 266 B2B companies, primarily in the United States.
The 2017 results reflect an important aspect in almost all previous years:
Only 67% of salespeople consistently meet their sales quota.
So maybe a third of your team is failing to meet their goals. Yet they feel unable to speak up about their perception of failure.
Start talking more about the topic of failure!
If you want to be a good sales manager, you must learn to spot failure before it happens. Once you spot it, you will be able to provide the necessary support, motivation, and structure so that your team members can get back on track.
Likewise, you must have the ability to turn any failure into an opportunity for development.
In this post, we will discuss the taboo surrounding sales failure. I will also give you some practical tips on how to guide your team, develop their personal skills, and combat failure.
There is one absolute truth in the world of sales: at some point, we are going to fail.
But have you ever wondered why failure is especially difficult for sales professionals?
The answer is very simple, failure is beyond your control.
This makes you feel helpless. No matter how much time you put into it or how well you know your client, you will always be at risk of losing commission for something you simply cannot change.
There is a phrase often used to motivate people: “Work hard to get results.” Remember that most jobs have a direct correlation between effort and results.
“You have to fight to achieve your dreams. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it.” - Lionel Messi
Although this is excellent advice, the world of sales is not only about hard work. Therefore, this type of advice is a half-truth for a salesperson.
Why Lionel Messi's mentality wouldn't work in sales?
Sometimes working hard is not enough.
Sales is complex. You can be doing everything right and still be nowhere near closing your deal.
I'm sure if you go through your client portfolio, you'll find more than one prospect that you've been working with for months. You've invested endless amounts of time and work into it, and yet, you're still nowhere near closing.
Do you know what all this is due to?
Because sales are an exchange of forces that are usually beyond your control.
However, as sales executives we must deal with the pressure of a huge sales quota without flinching. After all, this is part of the role of a salesperson.
This leads us to ignore the emotional and psychological effects that failure can create in your sales team.
Remember that for your team, talking about not achieving your goals is “taboo.”
Everyone always focuses on victories and how to get them. For example: If you didn't reach your goals, make sure you reach the goal next month. Isn't that right?
There are times when managers use Messi's quote to motivate canada whatsapp their workers. A reminder about how hard work is what gets you where you want to go.
But all this puts workers under pressure, as they feel that their jobs are gradually being put at risk.
This method would be fine for encouraging people if failure were a very rare thing. Unfortunately, however, it is not.
The Bridge Group, a sales strategy firm based in Hudson, Massachusetts, released an annual report based on information provided by 266 B2B companies, primarily in the United States.
The 2017 results reflect an important aspect in almost all previous years:
Only 67% of salespeople consistently meet their sales quota.
So maybe a third of your team is failing to meet their goals. Yet they feel unable to speak up about their perception of failure.
Start talking more about the topic of failure!
If you want to be a good sales manager, you must learn to spot failure before it happens. Once you spot it, you will be able to provide the necessary support, motivation, and structure so that your team members can get back on track.
Likewise, you must have the ability to turn any failure into an opportunity for development.
In this post, we will discuss the taboo surrounding sales failure. I will also give you some practical tips on how to guide your team, develop their personal skills, and combat failure.