MN Perspectives Leadership, Talent Management

Is This Missing in Your Sales Strategy?

It may sound simple, but the biggest missing component amongst the dozens of sales departments and organizations Gary Braun has helped over the years is performance management.

“A lot of people put comp plans in place to help drive the right behaviors and I agree with that—to a point. Comp plans help. But people manage people,” says Braun, who along with brother Mike, own and lead Pivotal Advisors, a Prior Lake, Minn.-based firm that helps organizations improve their sales results.

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“If you were on my team, and I sat down every week with you and said, [your name], you’re supposed to have five new opportunities this week, how are we doing? If you say you have five, I’d go, ‘rock on, way to go, keep going!’ Or if you tell me you don’t, I then need to say, ‘this is third week in a row that we’ve not hit our goal here. What do we need to differently?’ Having that conversation makes a world of difference. It’s about driving the right behaviors and holding people accountable. But I don’t see it happening out there. Usually, when I see a sales leader and salesperson get together, it’s just a pipeline review every week.”

You can see or hear more from Braun in this week’s edition of One Take CEO Interviews by clicking here to watch, or here to listen or download (and for Apple users, here for a podcast).

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One Take interviews are unscripted, unedited discussions on how Minnesota CEOs are leading during the Covid-19 pandemic and its unprecedented impact on their operations, and the economy. The series of frank-talk conversations is produced by Dale Kurschner and sponsored by Platinum Group, Minnesota’s most experienced advisory group helping business owners and leaders with extreme challenges including financial setbacks, lender and landlord re-negotiations, turnarounds and bankruptcies. Kurschner is one of its consultants and specializes in business analysis, strategic communication, reputation management and crisis communications.

Catch up on All One Take CEO Interviews, which can be found on You Tube, and also on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts. Recent episodes include:

 

Complementing the CEO series are interviews with key members of Platinum Group, who provide additional insights based on what they’ve seen in helping more than 2,000 companies through challenging times during the last few decades.

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All Platinum Group interviews, which can be found on YouTube and also on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Recent episodes include: