The Sales Archaeologist

When I speak with CEO's and other executives it is amazing how many times I hear them defend poor performance from their sales people. It is also true that when you talk to sales people they have a strong tendency to make excuses for why things are not where they should be.What an awful combination - nobody can grow in that setting!

If you are a CEO you have probably heard the economy blamed more than anything this year. If you are a sales person you have probably used the excuse more than a few times. The interesting thing about that is until you stop - nothing changes.

Of course the economy is a "factor" for which an adept sales person adjusts - but it is not a reason to under perform or accept a sub par performance month after month. Something becomes an excuse not when we acknowledge it or even speak about it - it becomes an excuse when we use it as an explanation of why we fail.

Yesterday however I had a very brief conversation with a CEO that stated his VP of Sales is a problem and that his sales people are under performing. He was not offering the usual defense of his people - he had had enough and had hit the wall. What would happen if as a sales person you simply decided to not accept or make up excuses for yourself any more. What if instead of excusing behavior you said " I screwed up by.....when....here". I know what would happen - you would grow and get better.

What if as a CEO you allowed yourself to hit the wall today? You stopped listening to the spin from your VP, you didn't allow him to defend his or his sales peoples under performance? I know what would happen - they would get better and your organization would start selling more.

Why not try it for a day. Let's make April 8th - Tomorrow - National No Sales Excuses Day and let's see what happens!