No, I'm too scared to know the truth about my sales force...
In fact, I don’t want to know how the situation is regarding their performance.
When the CEO of a medium sized corporation with about 150 sales staff tells you this, you know there is something very wrong going on.
Facts are:
The gentleman in front of me already knew that more than 70% of the sales force was underperforming. The company is the leader in their market, the sales people drove comfortable German cars, enjoyed many benefits and were quite happy working for the firm. Unfortunately most of them were complacent and the staff turnover was almost zero! Revenue and profits were not growing in the recent years.
What lead to my meeting with the CEO:
I fixed my appointment with this CEO after understanding that his business was not doing well and that something needed to be done.
Was I surprised by his reaction? No, not really. This is a situation which is seen more often. It’s like people who see and feel that there is something wrong with their health, but do not dare to go to a physician. They don’t not want to know the truth and don’t want to get bad news. And in the end when they do consult a specialist they are too late for treatment…
So why would I start out at the beginning of 2015 with a message like this?
Because there is time. 360 days to do something about things that don’t work the way they should. And time to bolster courage and take though but good decisions, decisions which in the end will benefit all: workers, peers, the company and especially customers! Time to put a stop mediocrity, procrastination and make way for change. A change to alter your way of work and deliver high quality performance and results.
Concluding,
if you don’t dare to face the truth, you can’t make the necessary changes. Realise that you are missing out in creating opportunities to assist all those people around you who depend on the decisions you make to achieve what they are paid for: giving their best to achieve the best results.
Let’s meet and discuss opportunities. Call me at +31 (0) 6427 13033 or mail me r.peterson@peterson-company.com .