Over the last two decades, Z3 Performance Development has helped many hundreds of business owners and CEOs build world-class sales organizations.  During this time, I’ve also personally observed several thousand companies struggle mightily to achieve better sales results (most of them never break out).

From my vantage point (and tons of additional research), the difference between those companies that create consistent, predictive, profitable, scalable, effective sales teams and those that continuously wallow in mediocrity has become abundantly clear. The difference can be summarized in just two words.

I’d love to tell you that the difference between superior and inferior sales teams lies in some unique recipe, magical formula, newly discovered revelation, or space-aged technology; in some type of quick fix. But that simply is not true. Before I share the two words that make the difference, let me start by sharing some popular misconceptions–tactics that many CEOs think may be the difference, but are not.

The difference between a great and a mediocre sales team never lies in…:

1. A sophisticated reporting system.

2. A phenomenal sales compensation or incentive plan.

3. A complex CRM or sales automation system.

4. Paying big bucks to sales recruiters.

5. Sales Manager ride-alongs

6. Motivational speakers  

7. Group Sales Meetings

8. The latest and greatest new sales webinar, LMS, training program, or YouTube video.

Although some of the above strategies, and several other sales improvement tactics or philosophies, may add some incremental improvement to some sales organizations under certain conditions, none of these items (or even the combination of all of them) will create a superior, consistent sales organization.  The difference is much more fundamental.

Predictable, visible, profitable growth is simply borne out of PROCESS and DISCIPLINE.

Process & Discipline. So, if you are struggling, these two words are the difference between where you are today, and a reliable, effective, world-class sales organization.

Here’s just a few reasons why a solution based upon Process & Discipline (P&D) is such great news:

·         The P&D Solution is time-tested and battle-tested, removing all mystery. P&D doesn’t operate on a “let’s try this to see what happens…”. You need not worry if it is “going to work”. It does.

·         P&D works EVERY time, for every type of sales organization, market, product, or service.

·         P&D works for sales teams of all sizes.  It doesn’t matter if you have 1 or 1,000 salespeople.

·         P&D becomes a behavioral rhythm in your organization, creating a world-class sales culture.

·         P&D is the least expensive potential solution. It is a highly profitable approach. Once you’ve implemented effective sales, sales management, sales recruiting, sales assessment, and on-boarding processes, you have NO additional incremental costs. You and your team simply need to maintain the discipline (habits) to execute your processes (in the same way your payroll department pays employees with discipline).

·         P&D is highly visible. This approach produces all sorts of leading indicators that will provide objective insight into your true sales pipeline, future business, trends, and accurate forecasting.

·         P&D is incredibly time effective. Your salespeople and manager(s) will be spending their precious time generating new, profitable sales growth instead of wasting it on distractions, CYA, and other useless activities that cut deeply into missed opportunities and margins. 

Whether you’re just beginning to develop a new sales team, or whether you’ve been seeking ways to improve an existing one, I strongly encourage you to seriously evaluate where your sales organization resides with regard to Process and Discipline. If there are deficits in either, I can promise you that these deficits are costing you dearly.

If you need more information or have any questions, please let me know.

If not, please share your success stories that result from implementing a P&D solution.  I’d love to hear from you.

Copyright ©   Joe Zente  2019.   All Rights Reserved.