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Guest post by: Joe Ippolito Become an Author

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The first quarter is over. Did you meet your monthly targets? Could you have done better? Are your new hires working out? Are the people you expected improvement from actually improving? Are you hoping and praying that things will get better or do you have a plan this time around that is actually different?

As you know, hoping rarely works and prayer should be reserved for more important issues. The achievement of your personal and professional goals depends on your team's performance, and getting them to perform is up to you. Ask yourself these questions: Why can't I get my salespeople to listen to me? Why can't I get my new hires producing like they promised? Why can't I get my salespeople motivated? Why can't I get my sales team to do what I need them to do?

The critical question to ask yourself is: Is it you, or is it them? You expect your salespeople to have a systematic process for selling. What's yours for managing? There is no doubt that sales leaders work hard and wear many hats. When you examine your day, is it spent mostly in meetings, putting out fires and repeating the same things over and over only to get the same or minimally changed results? Like telling kids to clean their rooms?

If so, chances are these are caused from your own lack of a systematic management process. As a sales leader, your ability to hire, assess, run effective meetings, coach for independence (not dependence), uncover the truth, change behaviors, and motivate, should all be a part of your daily management process if you expect the best results.

These skills require more than on-the-job training and trial by fire. If they did, success would come easily. These types of skills and processes need to be learned, developed and reinforced.

So the next time you are ready to point the finger at your sales team and externalize why something can't get done, look at yourself first. Ask yourself if your own skill set and management processes are at the level they need to be to maximize sales team performance. Often we need to change and develop first, before we can expect others to change and produce for us.

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