Author: Linda Dippenaar

Posted at h in Millennial Leadership by

“Accountability means having the emotional maturity and internal backbone to take responsibility for your own actions and choices, and not shift blame to external factors.” ~ Danita Bye

Is a lack of accountability the root cause for your lagging sales results? 1966 saw the emergence of the fictional movie trio, starring Clint Eastwood as ‘the Good’, Lee Van Cleef as ‘the Bad’ and Eli Wallach as ‘the Ugly.’ I regularly encounter this destructive trio in the world of Sluggish Sales Results… Low Accountability and his co-stars, Blame Game and Victim Mode can wreak havoc with your best sales strategies. Is your emerging sales leader acting out one of these roles?

Posted at h in Millennial Leadership by
Does your Millennial have clarity about his or her role to boost your business and sales growth efforts, or are they confused? In writing Millennials Matter, I interviewed Brandon Schaefer, the CEO of Five Capitals Brandon’s recommendations for business owners to build our next generation of leaders, confirms my research about Millennials.

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Andrew, CEO of a engineering company, voiced his concern and frustration about finding the right salespeople, especially millennials that will successfully sell. Six months ago he hired a salesperson who was a star performer in his previous company, a large financial institution. “After giving him enough time to prove himself I’m just not seeing the results,” Andrew sighed. What does your company’s perfect salesperson looks like?

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I still savor Jim Collins’ sage advice: “First, put the right people on the bus. Then, get the wrong people off the bus and get the right people into the right seats. Then you can drive the bus anywhere.” To get the growth you’re charting and envision in your strategic growth plan, one of the “right people” needed on your business bus is a competent sales manager and leader. A sales leader who – gets it, wants, it and has the capacity to do it. So, what are the components of “it”?

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Alan, CEO of engineering firm, says, “Danita, I’m feeling very frustrated!  The pipeline looks great, but the sales cycles are so incredibly long. I need to see business this year, not in three years! Is there any way of shortening the process to get the business sooner, rather than later?” Alan is one of the business CEO’s and sales leaders I work with who want to increase the capabilities of their sales teams so that they can consistently meet and exceed their strategic growth objectives. Many salespeople don’t even realize why deals are languishing in the pipeline and they have such difficulty cracking new accounts. Why? They keep doing the same old thing year after year. What do they need to do differently to shorten the sales cycle?