Win the Chief...Win the Tribe

I started out my career as a life coach and still get calls today to help teenagers.  What I learned early on is that I can help the child but if I don't help the parent (the chief) problems still persist.  

It's the same with a sales team.  Weekly I get asked to train sales staff but it's the leadership (the chiefs)  that must create the systems to influence the sales team.  There is an old saying that "A tree dies from the tips in, not the roots up." I'm usually the mediator between upper managment and a sales team.  There is usually two different perspectives on what is wrong.  The biggest gap is a lack of systems and processes.  There must be a benchmark for results! 

Anytime a new sales person is hired they come with good habits and bad habits and I promise you, they don't come knowing your expectations.  

If you don't have standards in place, everyone will set their own standards ~ 
This is the danger zone! 

The Solution; Managing the Expectation Gap
Expectations must be set up front!  I was telling a mortgage lender the other day that you must set expectations properly at the beginning of a sale...ie you must tell the client that 90% of the time everything goes smoothly but 10% of the time there is a problem, but thats why you are using me to assist you in one of your biggest purchases.  Why say this? Because sometimes a client forgets about their bankruptcy that they casually forgot to tell you lol ... today, in this market cash is king but why not set the expectation?  Why not protect yourself from the client getting mad at "YOU" when really problems are just something "you" hear about first and are paid to handle.  It's all about communication.  Communicating expectations clears the air.  

I used to do marriage coaching and it is the unspoken expectations that cause problems.  The same way you cannot hit a target you can't see,  a sales person cannot reach an expectation if they don't know what the owners expectations are. Also, if there is no clear system (in writing) success at best is "hopeful" not "expectant" 

Watch this video on how one client scaled their business with one simple form of accountability