Imagine you’re on a crowded company bus.
It is a dark rainy night so you can’t see outside. The
bus is on a winding mountain pass. You notice the bus
driver is not sure where they are going and both the
headlights and wipers aren’t working. As scary as this
may sound, it is exactly how some sales people feel with
directions from sales management.
If a company has a united vision for
growth, everyone works better together. Unfortunately,
many companies and organizations choose not to share a
vision for growth. When this occurs, the sales team has
no direction and must determine where and how they will
find customers. If they don’t know where they are going,
any direction will do. Naturally, this makes reaching
sales goals impossible. Having a clear vision for
success is critical for sales management.
Turn the High Beams On
Sales people are more likely to deliver
the right type of customer when they know what
management is looking for. Better yet, if the
organization offers sales incentives and a clear profile
for new accounts, the sales team becomes motivated.
Sharing a clear vision is like having clear windows and
turning the high beams on. Everyone knows what to look
for and how to get where they are going.
Creating A Vision Is Easy - It Only
Takes Two Steps.
The first step is to imagine you are
sitting behind the wheel this time. Because it is still
dark, you turn on the high beams to light up the highway
as far as you can see. You think about the entire
journey. You list your goals and map out the entire
route. You use a voice recorder to describe the sales
route with clear details. Most importantly, you must
take pictures along the way and draw your vision of the
journey and destination.
The second step is a little different.
You must sit in the back of the bus this time and take
the journey as a quiet and restrained passenger. This
time the drivers will only use your notes and drawings.
Fortunately, you have an opportunity to share your
vision of the journey and destination with the driver.
When you are finished with this
exercise, you will have a clear vision of sales growth
mapped out for your sales team. Giving them a copy of
what you drew and tell them what to look for provides
the direction they need. One of the advantages of doing
this exercise is that now, if anyone joins your company,
you can share the vision of where you are going and
provide a map of how to get there. Good Selling.