Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
One of the most misunderstood findings from the evaluation of a sales force is Excuse Making. Managers often don't recognize the excuses but they are aware of the 'reasons' why performance or results fail to meet expectations. In some cases, those very managers are the ones providing the 'reasons' for this month's numbers. Reasons and excuses are one in the same and until we recognize that the excuses will continue to mount.Excuses generally show up in one of four categories, which I call DUDE:- Defensiveness - why you are wrong in your appraisal of them
- Understanding - why my prospect is doing what he said he is doing
- Denial - they never agreed to that
- Explanations - why they didn't do what you expected them to do
How then do you eliminate excuse making from your sales force? I call this RAW:
- Recognize it
- Address it - 'That's an excuse.'
- Warning - 'I won't allow that any more. You'll have to take responsibility for your results.'
If an excuse maker is a DUDE, how many DUDES do you have? How often have you gone RAW? It's never too late to start.
(c) Copyright 2005 Objective Management Group, Inc.
