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June 29, 2017
3 Ways to Move ‘B’ players to ‘A’ players in Less than 3 Months
By: Scott Gruher
“I am down headcount and the only way I am going to hit the number is if my ‘B’ players step up.” That is a common dilemma sales leaders share with me. “Tell me what I need to do to get them to ‘A’ players?” is a question we can answer. Leverage the How to Make Your Number in 2018 to access a revenue growth methodology to hit your number quarter after quarter, and year after year.
But what can you do today? It’s important to get the behaviors and actions going in the right direction. Extra effort is required of your sales management team and the ‘B’ players. Extra coaching, increased accountability, and more field rides are all actions that need to be implemented immediately (along with a candid conversation on their willingness to put in the extra effort). Make sure your team is booking time in calendars and blocking out the days. The effort should give you a 5x revenue lift over what they are already producing. Remember, the revenue will show up according to your sales cycle length. But behaviors can change today.
And during your conversations with them, implement the 3 steps below to reinforce the new habits they will need to learn to change these behaviors:
3 Ways to Move ‘B’ players to ‘A’ players in 3 Months or Less
Remember, don’t have them ‘Boil the Ocean’ by trying to do too much. ‘B’ players want to try and accomplish everything. They want to sell every industry, manage the huge book of accounts and volunteer for every project. Ever heard the phrase: ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’. This is written for the ‘B’ players.
Let me wrap this up short and sweet: Break the bad habits ‘B’ players don’t even know they have. Pick one of them on your team, block your calendar for the next quarter with them and focus on the 4 ways mentioned above.
Have expectations gone up and left you wondering if you can make your number? Here is a tool that will help you understand if you have a chance at success. Take the Revenue Growth Diagnostic test and rate yourself against SBI’s sales and marketing strategy to find out if:
Scott joined SBI in 2010 with years of hands-on experience in sales leadership and enterprise selling. Since his arrival, he has helped dozens of organizations dramatically accelerate growth, from Fortune 10 organizations like Phillips 66 to fast-growing cloud service organizations like InfusionSoft. Scott specializes in cross-functional alignment. He helps leaders align around the growth goal and design the right processes to bring the strategy to life. His unique combination of real world experience and a pragmatic approach to problem solving have made him one of SBI’s most demanded resources.
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