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win rates by 75% on your documents.
A good sales team comprises a unique blend of individuals. Each individual in this team brings some special talent, skill, or experience to the table. By using these in a complementary manner, an effective team leader can turn the team from good to exceptional. The team leader should be able to motivate these diverse individuals to use their abilities and experience in an optimal manner. The best way to do this is by creating a culture of accountability in the sales team.
Accountability is of prime importance for steering a sales team toward high performance. Constructive accountability in sales is not unilateral. For maximum efficiency, a sales team must embrace three-way accountability wherein the sales representatives are accountable to the leader as well as to each other, and the leader is also accountable to the sales team.
Sales representatives need to align their efforts with the goals set by the leaders. They must be honest and show integrity. The input of sales representatives can go a long way in helping sales leaders make advantageous decisions, formulate rational goals and achieve desired outcomes. The sales leader needs to motivate the sales team and be a role model.
Lateral accountability is often overlooked, but it is highly important for a sales team. To achieve sales goals and exceed expectations, sales representatives need to willingly support and help each other. They should coach their peers and share secrets to success. They must discuss the reasons behind failures, identify problem areas, and find solutions together. The sales representatives need to be transparent with each other. They should learn to work around conflicting opinions and share best practices. It is the team leader who lays the foundation for lateral accountability in a sales team.
In general, accountability seems to have negative connotations. If you simply talk about accountability, team members might associate it with mistrust and suspicions. The success of a sales team largely depends on its accountability. How well a sales team responds to the concept of accountability depends on its leader.
As a sales leader, it is up to you to build a culture where accountability is not only accepted and practiced but also highly sought after and understood well. You are the person who needs to educate the sales team that accountability is not about pinning blame, but it is about taking ownership of efforts and recognizing hard work. You need to develop a favorable environment where there is no stigma attached to accountability.
A culture of accountability is one where there is intrinsic motivation and commitment to goals. In such a culture, it is a natural practice to take willing responsibility for one’s actions. Each team member strives to improve his/her performance, and therefore the performance levels of the team rise as well. Better alignment of goals leads to faster achievement. People do not make excuses for their actions, take feedback positively, and don’t have to be pressured toward team goals. The team members themselves will put in efforts to grow their skills.
The team under a leader with better accountability skills will perform better. See how better accountability impacts a variety of sales factors:
Accountability is about each team member doing their part and voluntarily choosing to take responsibility for the outcome. It is not about creating fear or intimidating the team members into performing better. Several problems arise due to the lack of accountability in sales teams. These include but are not limited to the following:
When a leader is successful in creating a culture of accountability, he will be able to see results in the form of a highly-driven, passionate team that consistently performs well. Read on to find out how you can achieve the feat of creating such a positive and engaging culture.
Creating and sustaining a culture of accountability requires consistent and well-planned efforts on the part of the leader. These efforts pay off in the form of a team that consistently performs well and aims higher.
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