…The Tough Get the Hell Out of Town!
The above saying is something someone once spoke in jest…but too often it actually comes true.
Everything is fine until the going gets tough, and then the so-called toughest people leave the team behind.
This disintegration of the team is one of the most dangerous things that can occur inside any business. Team breakdown happens most often when no one has a clear direction of what to do in challenging times.
As a result, people start doing their own thing in hopes of something working.
This is rarely effective because individual efforts can never overcome challenges that require the power of the team.
You would not believe how much team disintegration has occurred this year—at all different levels.
Some team members got discouraged because they were not able to get farmers to follow them, so they just quit selling.
Others couldn’t get (or still aren’t sure if they will have) the inventory of the so-called “best” varieties to sell, so they just quit selling.
Then others altered company programs, without permission, in an attempt to keep a sale.
Nothing disintegrates a team and its ability to achieve goals faster than each member of the team doing their own thing.
Snowflakes are very delicate, but look at what they can do when they stick together—we’ve been prime witness to that kind of team effort in all Minnesota winters.
But what field sellers need to understand is the very worst thing they can do for themselves and their future is to ignore the well-thought-out programs and strategies that were put in place for the benefit of the entire team.
It doesn’t mean that everyone liked or entirely agreed with every strategy.
However, it does mean the strategy was good enough to outweigh any negative impact on the individual team member. In these kinds of marketing environments, sellers need to have every ounce of energy, momentum, support and direction they can muster.
All of these things are maximized by having everyone work together as a team.
Happy Selling,
Rod
