Your sales problem isn’t your people

Your sales problem isn’t your people. It’s how the work has been designed.

Most leaders won’t say this out loud…In these current economic times where sales are more important than ever, I’m seeing sales systems that rely on a few people carrying everything. The top performers who are the ones who “just getting it done.”

And when results start to drop? Either more gets put on them…or they take it on without even being asked.

In leadership meetings, the question is usually: “How are we going to hit the numbers?”

A better question might be: "Who are we relying on the most to achieve it… and why?”

When sales sits on individuals, the consequences are subtle… but they build:

• burnout disguised as high performance

• inconsistency disguised as “normal”

• silence across the rest of the team

There is no amount of process, reporting or clever hiring to fix this as the system is doing exactly what it’s been designed to do.

The teams that are still growing right now are making a different shift.
Instead of asking “Who owns the deal?”, they’re asking “How are we moving this forward together?”

When this happens belief spreads faster, ownership expands and performance will improve, even when the market is showing it is unstable.

So this week when looking at your sales teams:
Are your top performers and leaders driving your results…or quietly holding together the cracks in your system?