When people are held accountable for their actions, they learn to value their work, thus reducing distractions and the amount of time they spend in low-payoff activities. When done right, accountability can increase a team members' skills and confidence.
Salespeople want to make sales. They want to keep their job. And they want to please the boss. Studies show they also wish for more supervision. Until now, most team leaders didn’t know how to provide adequate guidance. Having a system, like the HPA System, allows the team leader to provide that guidance in half the time.
Providing an environment in which accountability is a team effort will better the chance of everyone spending more time on High Payoff Activities, which leads to more sales.
One way accountability can be done objectively on a weekly basis is having each salesperson provide a Performance and Projection Accountability report. This report gives the team leader information regarding the High Payoff Activities the salesperson completed that week. The team leader and associate can then project the sales goal that will be expected for the next week.
Another way to encourage accountability is to have your associates to think in terms of a one-day contract. Based on a salesperson’s performance today, should they be “rehired” for the job tomorrow? There is no literal hiring or firing, but it’s worth reminding sales associate to earn their spot on the team each day.
Nothing will make more of a difference in an associate’s performance than knowing they will be monitored daily and weekly. Your success as a sales team leader is based on the degree to which you hold your sales team accountable.
As their leader, you must make your expectations clear. For example, what do you want each agent to accomplish in the next week as it relates to the number of calls, tours, reservations, and contracts. You have to be very clear about your expectations, and then you can show them how they can satisfy their NEEDS by achieving your goals!
Once they see their financial needs in black and white, and convert these needs to the number of sales that would earn them that money, they become motivated to focus on High Payoff Activities. By holding their feet to the fire, you keep them in focus each day.
An African proverb sums it up, “If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together.”
