In 2001, the company I worked for was going through a ton of changes and getting hit by a recession at the same time. There were higher and higher expectations put on the sales team, most of which were unreasonable and ineffective. Almost everyone seemed to be complaining and making excuses for not hitting their goals. All 25 of us had a lot of daily windshield time, so I received multiple calls every day: “What do they expect us to do in this downturn?” “Is he nuts … has he seen the new system run in the field before?” “If they think I’m accepting that new commission plan next year, they’re crazy.” On and on and on … from every part of North America.
I’d like to say that I didn’t fall into the trap, but I did. I was a new manager, and was enjoying the attention and trust the other people the team gave me. I didn’t really become a complainer, but I listened and bought into it. I saw all the reasons that my team wouldn’t be able to sell. Guess what … they all manifested.
I mentioned above that almost everyone was making excuses. There was one regional sales manager, one of my counterparts, who never complained. Neither did his team. They weren’t delusional cheerleaders either. They knew the odds, but they didn’t talk about them. They didn’t really say anything – they just did their jobs every single week and did it well. Did they kill it? No – the issues were real and it effected everyone. However, they came closer than any other region to achieving their sales goal, and they were the only region to achieve their demo goal (our key metric).
I think about those folks all the time and how they handled their business. They were great, and they avoided what all the great ones avoid … the great ones avoid making excuses.
I work with owners and executives every day. I know that expectations of sales people are usually too high and the resources provided are usually too low. It’s just the way it is. (BTW, if it were easier, sales people would be paid less, but that’s a different topic.) Forget about logic, forget about fairness, and forget about making yourself feel better. No matter how much sense it makes or how logical your argument, don’t make excuses. If you have to express your frustration, write it down and burn the paper (seriously, it works). However, do not vocalize your excuses and do not feed on the contagious discussion that might be going on at lunch or happy hour. If you want to be great, then don’t allow yourself to make excuses for not reaching your sales goals. Project management screwing up jobs? Take care of that customer. Your video system not integrated with the right access control systems? Deal with it. A competitor low balling you? Continue to stay in front of their new customers and be there when they fail … and they will.
Are these excuses usually valid? Yep. Valid or not, refuse to make excuses and watch your performance soar.
