COMMENTS
Aren't salespeople supposed to figure out what works and what doesn't? Isn't a major part of their job description to develop a "proven, time-tested, repeatable model" and then explain it to the CEO?
Or do you truly see salespeople as horses, just pulling the cart along, no matter what's in it (pardon the strained metaphor)?
Contrary to popular belief, Great sales people are cultivated. Sure there are time tested stratagies. But the culture of the business has to be one of success if it is going to bree more success. Without a successful culture what carrot are you dangling?
@Grant - Thanks for your question Grant. Actually, salespeople shouldn't have to figure anything out. They should walk into a time-tested, proven environment where salespeople are on boarded in a structured environment and everyone is following the same process and getting the same coaching.
If you seriously think that salespeople should tell the CEO what to do I promise we would have a case of the seat of the pants leading the seat of the pants.
I have personally helped hundreds of companies and thousands of salespeople in the past 25 years and haven't yet met a salesperson that had everything figured out or a company that had its systems and processes together.
My wife was away for two weeks. Anticipating an earlier return, I bought her a beautiful, lush begonia. The nursery attendant said, as soon as you get home, transplant this into a larger pot. At home, I found a large pot in the garage, complete with soil albeit gray and rock hard. I managed to soften the soil with water and plant the begonia. Within 3 days, and well before my wife returned, it not only didn't produce any flowers, it died! So will any sales person, planted in a non-existant or weak sales environment!
@Rush - great analogy! And you know how ugly a dead plant is, wilted, lifeless, hopeless; that's how a salesperson becomes once they are failing due to lack of direction, structure, process, coaching and accountability.