YourSalesManagementGuru

Blog archive

High-Performance Sales Teams: Discipline

I enjoy cooking, and that spirit, we'll build these next three blogs as my secret recipe for creating a wonderful and satisfying entree.

Last time, I listed three ingredients for success:

Discipline: Orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior.

Accountability: Obligation to give a reckoning or explanation for one's actions.

Control: A standard of comparison for checking the results of an experiment or process.

This time, let's review Discipline. This relates to self-discipline for the manager as well as organizational discipline. To use an old phase, "It's great when the trains run on time" is the prescriptive analogy for what I am suggesting. A well-run sales organization knows that meetings start on time, are well organized, information that is expected is delivered on time -- no excuses, training is completed and all sales processes work!

When we interview top performers who leave organizations, their reasons for leaving are seldom earnings; it's the organizations sloppiness; frustrations that "nothing" works easily and lack of professionalism. Building discipline is an every day focus.

Our recommendation of the quarter was that in tough times, sales execution/training needs increased levels of focus. Twice a year, your entire team should read a new sales book. Our recommendation: Selling to Big Companies, by Jill Konrath (2005, Kaplan Business). Also check out http://www.sellingtobigcompanies.blogs.com/, a great site to find information and order your copy.

Posted by Ken Thoreson on March 03, 2009


Featured

  • MIT Finds Only 1 in 20 AI Investments Translate into ROI

    Despite pouring billions into generative AI technologies, 95 percent of businesses have yet to see any measurable return on investment.

  • Report: Cost, Sustainability Drive DaaS Adoption Beyond Remote Work

    Gartner's 2025 Magic Quadrant for Desktop as a Service reveals that while secure remote access remains a key driver of DaaS adoption, a growing number of deployments now focus on broader efficiency goals.

  • Windows 365 Reserve, Microsoft's Cloud PC Rental Service, Hits Preview

    Microsoft has launched a limited public preview of its new "Windows 365 Reserve" service, which lets organizations rent cloud PC instances in the event their Windows devices are stolen, lost or damaged.

  • Hands-On AI Skills Now Outshine Certs in Salary Stakes

    For AI-related roles, employers are prioritizing verifiable, hands-on abilities over framed certificates -- and they're paying a premium for it.