Modern-Day Sales and Marketing Blog

Today I share the third of three ideas on how a sales professional can continue to develop their skills while keeping a hectic, unpredictable, and crazy schedule. On Monday I shared Idea #1: Don’t read, listen; and on Wednesday Idea #2: Block off time wisely. Today I will share idea #3 …

Recruit an accountability partner. Oh no, another one of those new-age terms. Yeah, I sort of dislike the term too, but it’s a great idea. So, who should be your accountability partner(s)?...

The best candidate is your boss, for obvious reasons. This is the perfect time of year to approach your boss with something like: “I’ve got a New Year’s Resolution of improving my sales skills. Will you hold me accountable? All it will take is meeting with me once a week for 10 minutes, and keeping score of my presentation skills once a month. You already go on appointments with me every now and then, so that shouldn’t take any extra time.” Word of caution: you’ll have to drive this program by sending the calendar invitations, confirming your meetings, etc.

Of course, you can select a peer or your whole sales team as partners. In this case, you’ll end up gaining some fantastic ideas and feedback. You’ll also have a lot more fun. However, you’ll have to set the tone with guidelines for them. If someone doesn’t like the guidelines (e.g. attend a weekly demo practice at 6:30 am), then don’t force them to join. If you have seven sales people on your team and only four join, that’s ok. Remember, this is about you and developing your skills.

Finally, you can always find a friend outside of your company that you can trust. This probably shouldn’t be your best friend, but someone you know who is into this type of self-improvement and would hold you accountable. Be prepared to do the same for them. This is a partnership relationship, not a teacher – student relationship.

Alright … now you’re ready to roll. Use these three ideas and put a quick and easy plan together for your 2016 Professional Sales Development Program. Enjoy!