Instead of focusing solely on closes, we need to track metrics like the number of prospecting dials made, number of appointments made, number of appointments kept, number of second meetings set, and so on. Tracking this type of information allows us to determine important ratios, like the ratio of prospecting dials to first appointments and the ratio of prospecting dials to closes. With this information, we can intelligently set sales goals and make real progress on coaching accountability in sales.

Why Tracking Matters for Coaching Accountability in Sales

To be effective sales managers, we must track, inspect, and coach each step in the selling process, such as initial phone calls, first contacts, opportunities, appointments, proposals, and closed sales. If we hold our salespeople accountable for their activities, we can better predict future sales.

This detailed information provides the raw data needed to identify patterns. It helps you recognize the correlation between each step: prospecting to qualifying, qualifying to first meeting, first meeting to presentation, and presentation to sale. Many salespeople and managers do not know how many prospecting calls are needed to make a sale (call-to-sale ratio). Yet this detail is vital to the success of each salesperson and organization. For example, if you know Jane averages 15 calls per sale but she is only making 10 calls, chances are she will not reach her sales goal.

Holding People Accountable

Tracking activity only matters if the data is used to hold people to their promised goals. Each salesperson should understand the consequences of failing to achieve those goals. Unfortunately, many companies allow excuses for lack of success, which often leads to failure in other sales systems and processes.

Consistency in holding salespeople accountable to their behaviors is key to coaching sales accountability. One effective approach is to have direct conversations:
“Bill, what will happen if you don’t reach this goal? If you don’t achieve the goals you established?”
Then wait for the answer, allowing them to think through the consequences. This helps them take ownership of success or failure and increases receptivity to accountability systems.

If someone responds with “Oh well, maybe next month,” they may not be the right fit for the role. If they scramble to figure out a solution, they likely are.

Creating a No-Excuses Environment

Approximately 66% of salespeople assessed in OMG’s evaluation process make excuses for lack of performance. They may blame the company, competition, or market instead of themselves. Left unchecked, this erodes standards across the organization.

For example, if Jane says she did not meet her phone call goal because of operational issues, she is blaming the company. A strong accountability-based response would be:
“Jane, if I did not let you use that as an excuse, what would you have done differently?”

This shifts responsibility back to the salesperson and encourages problem-solving. By asking this question regularly, you prevent excuses from lowering performance standards.

Remember, excuses come in many forms. Make it a habit to use the question:
“If I did not let you use that excuse, what would you have done differently?”

Track how often you use it in a week and watch how it strengthens coaching accountability in sales.

The 10% Difference begins with 10% more effort. It does not seem too tough to ask your team for 10% more effort, nor is it usually received negatively. Translating it: if a producer makes 15 calls a week, asking them to make 2 more calls is not a huge stretch. For those salespeople who truly want to improve and increase their revenue, they will welcome the challenge, especially when you explain that this is the first step to increase sales and potentially drive a 67% increase in their results.

Using your sales management mindset, it will be helpful to provide suggestions and training to help them accomplish their increased effort. Putting 10% more into prospecting can mean asking for more introductions, meeting with centers of influence, connecting on social media, and turning association meetings into new suspects. It does not mean they have to cold call more, so spend time in sales meetings and huddles focusing on warm introductions and networking skills.

The steps to increase sales are straightforward. They just take consistent and persistent application. Salespeople do not have to invent a whole new way of doing things. They just need to improve on what they are already doing by 10%. Here are the areas that will make a huge difference in improving results:

1. Effort – 10% more effort will result in more appointments, even without skill improvement.

2. Phone Skills – Improve phone skills and convert 10% more contacts to appointments. Ask your top producers to share their approach or try our 8-Step Phone Approach.

3. Qualifying Skills – Improve qualifying skills by 10% and gain 10% more opportunities. Share a list of “drill down” questions with your team and role play important sales calls.

4. Conversion Rates – Even if salespeople maintain their current conversion rates, they will increase results simply because they have added more prospects to the pipeline.

5. Increase Average Sale – Increase the average sale by 10%. For example, instead of $10,000 deals, aim for $11,000 deals. Helping the team understand and communicate their value can support this.

In case you receive the time objection when introducing the 10% Difference, here is how to address it:

“I Don’t Have Time” Myth – We know that if a salesperson attempts to call ten people a day, they will not talk to eight of them. So, how long does it take to not talk to eight people? Eliminate excuse-making by asking, “What would you do differently if you could not use that as an excuse?”

Sales leaders, if you can get your team to increase effort, qualifying skills, and average deal size, they will achieve much more than a simple 10% improvement. We say 67% increase because it catches attention and we have math to back it up. Go see what kind of increase in sales you can achieve with the 10% Difference.

At a recent leadership conference, there was a breakout session just for business leaders focused on discussing the challenges they were having with building, growing, or sustaining their businesses. Here is the list of items identified by this group as necessary for growth and sustainability. Reviewing this list with your sales management mindset in place, are you thinking presidentially about your business or sales team?

Thinking Presidentially with a Sales Management Mindset

• Diverse Revenue Generation (products) – Are your people selling only one solution to your clients? Or are they developing multiple financial relationships through multiple solutions?

• Multiple Generations – Are your people talking to the families of those they work with, developing relationships that last for multiple generations? Here's a startling statistic: $84 trillion is expected to transfer from Boomers to Millennials within the next 15 to 20 years. Financial institutions need to deepen and broaden their relationships within their customer bases.

• Diverse Revenue Streams – As a manager, is your success dependent upon the few? If 80% of your business is coming from only 20% of your producers, your performance is at risk if you lose one or two salespeople from the 20% side of the equation.

• Systems and Processes – Think dashboard, not just odometer. Knowing how much has been sold and how much is in the pipeline is a look back. What systems and processes do you have in place to help you predict how many calls to quality prospects your team makes, and how many appointments, proposals, and wins you can count on?

• Reasons to Stay – If you have only two or three people keeping your sales numbers healthy, what are their reasons to stay? Understanding the motivation of individual producers is critical to retaining quality people.

• Management of the Firm – If something were to happen to you, what would happen to the team? If the answer is “nothing changes,” is that because you are having little impact on the outcomes or because you have built a structure that allows for sustainability?

• Financial Predictability – This ties back to systems and processes. If your president asked you what you thought would close in the pipeline in 6 days, 6 weeks, or 6 months from now, what could you tell her?

• Cash Flow – How do the presidential numbers look? The “sales numbers” are just part of the equation. You have business contracted for, realized revenue, and profit. It isn’t just about what is sold or top-line revenue. It is also about how much are we keeping and when the money will be realized.

• Risk Management – Where are you at risk today? Competition, losing key salespeople, pricing, the economy, investment in bad hires? Are you aware of the risks, and what are you doing about them?

Thinking presidentially is a critical sales management mindset for anyone who is leading or managing a sales team.

Now is a great time of year to work on your business. Take a look at the list and do an honest evaluation of where you are and how you stack up. This may not be the end-all list of things to consider when building or managing your sales team, but it’s a great start.

FAQs

1. What does it mean to “think presidentially” in sales management?
Thinking presidentially means managing beyond just sales numbers. It involves considering long-term sustainability, risk management, team structure, cash flow, and financial predictability—much like a president would oversee the entire organization.

2. Why is it risky to rely on only a few top producers for revenue?
If 80% of your business comes from 20% of your team, losing even one top performer can drastically affect your performance. A healthy sales organization diversifies production and builds strength across the team.

3. How can sales managers improve financial predictability and reduce risk?
By implementing systems that track leading indicators like calls, appointments, and proposals—not just past sales—managers can better forecast revenue, manage cash flow, and proactively address risks such as turnover or market shifts.

Powerful messaging is still needed; a unique sales approach that captures the attention of your specific market. A unique sales approach that helps the market become aware of one or two things:

• A problem or potential problem they were unaware of, or
• A growth opportunity or positive outcome that is available.

Mark Roberge, in his book The Sales Acceleration Formula, describes this first step in a prospect’s buying process as the Awareness Stage. Effective marketing helps create awareness. But there are many stimuli, which aren’t internet-based, that would cause someone to buy, change behavior or take action:

1. A neighbor raves about a new movie – you go see the movie.

2. A friend suffers severe water damage in their 25-year-old home, hires a company to repair the damage and relates the story to you – you call the company to inspect your basement to head off potential problems.

3. A co-worker talks about completing a financial plan that will help them secure their future – you want to know who they are working with and you call that advisor to set up an appointment.

These “leads” for the movie, the basement sealant company, and the financial advisor take place because of great reviews by current clients. These informal introductions/referrals have always been, and probably always will be, the best way to get GREAT leads. But what else should you be doing—must you be doing—to generate leads that don’t come from personal introductions and referrals?

You must have your own unique sales approach that stands alone; a message that when read, heard, or seen causes awareness that takes a buyer from passive to active. The question becomes: “What must that message say to procure this transition?” This may take some time and mind space to figure out.

No one communicates to the marketplace the negative aspects of their products. Everyone has top-of-the-line products, great pricing, unparalleled service, professional and courteous sales associates who care only about you and your family. With that as the backdrop, in creating your unique sales approach, the question becomes “What is the one thing I can say or do to differentiate and get the market’s attention?”

The answer? Deliver a message that doesn’t look, act, or sound like everyone else’s message. Communicate in such a way so that people instantly think “This is different.”

• The elevator pitch
• The value proposition
• The 30-second commercial
• The Unique Sales Approach
• The brand promise

The Unique Sales Approach Message

The message has many names, but it should communicate, in a brief, appealing, and effective manner, how the company and product will work for the end user. You must of course have the broader talk nailed to support the brief intro.

• Nike – “Just do it.”
• The Late John Savage (Insurance professional) – “I deliver buckets of money when people need it the most.”
• Geico – “15 minutes or less can save you 15% or more on your car insurance.”
• Verizon – “Can you hear me now?”
• Anthony Cole Training Group – “We help organizations sell better, coach better and hire better.”

Your compelling message should elicit one of the three following responses:

• “Tell me more.”
• “How do you do that?”
• “That’s me (us). How can I fix it?”

The best way to create a powerful unique sales approach is to listen to your message as if you are a prospective buyer. Better yet, gain the feedback of your message from current clients within your niche market. When you deliver your message to you, do you look, act, or sound like everyone else? If so – change your message.