Salespeople Need To Measure Their Performance

Establishing goals provides a measurement tool for your sales performance.  When you are held accountable to yourself or others for reporting your activities you will not just reach your goals, you will exceed them.  Thomas S. Monson is often quoted relating to performance.  He said, “When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates.”  No statement could be more applicable to salespeople.

To be successful at selling you must establish a system of accountability.  Hold yourself accountable for performance on a daily and weekly basis.  Strive to increase your efforts from one day to the next and to improve your results each week.  By doing this you can take corrective action as well as reinforce your positive performance 52 times each year.  Common sales practices separate personal performance from accountability.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  There cannot be a separation of the principle assign & report.  They are one and the same – inseparable.  To set a sales goal without reporting on the performance is to imply that there is no value or importance to achieving the goal.  If you are not going to establish a pattern of reporting your performance, then don’t waste your time setting goals.  Reporting establishes the value and importance of the goal.  You can’t have one without the other.  The number one reason for lack of sales performance is due to setting goals without establishing a procedure for daily and weekly reporting.

Create a structure of accountability relating to your goals.  Discuss your accountability plan with your supervisor.  It is not good enough to just be accountable to yourself.  You might also consider involving family, friends, co-workers and anyone else you feel comfortable with discussing the steps and achievement of your goals.  You will find strength and courage when you involve others.  It requires courage to hold yourself accountable.  My favorite, yet simple definition of courage is “doing what you say you will do even when the emotions of the moment are past.”

Here are five benefits of measuring your performance through applying the principle of Assign & Report in your sales activities.

1. The importance of achieving your goal will be firmly fixed in your mind.
2. You will focus intently on doing those activities that will allow you to reach your goal.
3. Knowing that you will be reporting your performance will inspire you to not fail.  No one likes to report failure.
4. You will feel empowered through a heightened sense of achievement that comes from the power of sharing your success.
5. You will be driven to perform beyond your goals because it feels so good to communicate that increased success to others.

Remember, sales success is nothing more than the establishment, achievement and reporting the performance of worthwhile goals.  You will never achieve your true potential until you measure your performance through goal setting and then hold yourself accountable for your activities.  Applying the principle of Assign & Report will become one of the most important reasons for your increased sales success.