We Treat our Sales Reps like Philly Sports Teams

So the Phillies, Eagles, Sixers and Flyers are just about as annoying as can be.  Why?  Because they are all either mediocre or striving to be mediocre.

So are the majority of sales reps.  And sales reps are viewed exactly like a Philly sports team.

"What have you done for me lately?" and the blue collar work ethic must be there.

Some company's have weekly goals, some bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.  But does it matter if you hit your weekly goal for the first 10 weeks and then miss it the next 3 weeks?  Sure, you might be given the slightest bit of slack, but in the end it doesn't matter at all.  As a sales rep, your job is to sell and to sell consistently.  And it is definitely one of the hardest things to do.  Think about the obstacles holding a sales rep back from selling every single week.  They are endless.  But it doesn't matter to upper management or ownership how good last week was.  It ALWAYS matters how good this week is.

Side-note - That should be all that matters to you as well.

Getting realistic pipeline projections from sales reps is tough. If it went the way they tell you, every rep would have 3-5 sales a week and every company on earth would be rockin and rollin.  But unfortunately, nothing is going to tell more of the truth than the numbers and the effort exerted on a daily basis.

So here is the harsh reality of a sales rep.  You will always be treated by what you just closed or didn't close.  Not what you plan on doing or what you did last week.  It's the deal you JUST signed at all times.  And that's how it should be.  The hungry ones will never stop because the money and recognition just pours in nonstop and it's an incredible feeling.

I mean think about it.  Why are we so hard on our Philly sports teams?  I'll tell you why.  We pay outrageous cable bills to watch them, pay $100 for our favorite jersey, and pay hundreds of dollars to sit in the nosebleeds at the Eagles games.  Guess how we get that money?  By working our butts off.  So to give it to an already rich organization is painful enough, but to do it and then see a poor product on the field is even worse!

Same for business owners.  You get a salary, benefits, a commission plan and the tools to sell a product.  If you can't do it week in and week out, why is a business owner paying to see you in the office every day?  That's why management is relentless with sales reps and constantly treats them like our good ol' Philly sports teams.  Because it's not about tomorrow or last week.  It's always about today.

Dave Altimari
"You become what you think about all day"