Should Your Sales Teams Take the Next Detour?

As the Tour de France kicked off on the July 1st weekend all eyes were watching the world’s greatest cycling champion prepare to make his final laps in professional cycling. Lance Armstrong retired in 2005 due to a “ton of stress.” The seven time Tour de France winner knew when to stop, reevaluate his situation and gain perspective. Sales Management Process; Strategic Sales Plan

Had Lance kept going around and around lap after lap, he knew that he would burn out.

In the sales management process, we often get caught in the same loop, clocking lap after lap. We keep focusing on the green jersey in front of us but our sight starts to become blurred. Our defenses against our competitors surrounding us weaken. Then, our judgment wavers as we lose our focus. All of a sudden, we find we are crashing more and our sales wins are going to the competitors.

At this point, as I advise in the Leadership Shift, it is time to put on the breaks. A good sales leader knows when to stop and reassess the situation. Entering the 2010 race Lance Armstrong is not only physically and mentally strong but he has a renewed focus: he has reentered one of the world’s most grueling races to raise awareness for cancer and his charity LIVESTRONG. When he returned in 2009 he placed an impressive third. Now he is cycling for his eighth Tour de France, or maybe not. His only goal may be to raise awareness for cancer.

Whether competing in a sales cycle or a cycling race, the reality is if you are not thinking clearly because the competitive threats are getting bigger and the stress is intensifying, you need to call a time out before you crash. Rethink your thinking and your Strategic Sales Plan and come back with a renewed focus.

The Sales Lesson: When the facts of past and current reality become overwhelming declare a moratorium on those facts for a short time. Give yourself permission to worry all you want about those things later, but not now. Then, get to work on your strategic sales plan and review your current sales processes.

The Sales Question: When was the last time you stopped to rethink and refuel your sales management processes?

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