Notes from running the floor.
Eleven short pieces on what actually moves a field sales organization, written from having run one rather than having read about it.
Pay for the process, not the close
The number everybody watches is the one a rep cannot control.
What you allow, you endorse
Every standard you do not enforce gets taught anyway.
The leader is the script
A sales team talks the way its manager talks.
Every lead has a price, and the person running it should know it
Ask a rep what a lead costs and watch what happens.
The five reps that cost you the most
All five are pleasant to have around. That is the problem.
Busy is not producing
Motion is the most convincing thing a struggling person can produce.
Confidence is a receipt
You cannot install it with a speech. I have tried.
Comfort is what kills a good team
Teams rarely fall apart. They settle.
Stop letting the field set your price
A discount is a decision about the P&L, usually made by whoever is most tired.
Nine offices, one appointment
Growing past one office means the thing you built stops being watchable.
Getting it out of one person's head
Every organization has somebody who is good at something nobody can explain.