Its a results business

If you don’t want to know the score – look away now.

We see it on TV week after week, the manager comes out and discusses the positives, glosses over the negatives, their own poor decision making or risk averse tactics, downplays the excellence of the opposition and instead highlights their good fortune. He blames the pitch, the referee, the long journey or the start time. You can do all of that and it might make you feel better and act as a smokescreen for the short period after a defeat. But when the end of the season comes the clear fact is it is a results based business. It may have been an ugly win or an unlucky defeat but that is the result that has the net impact on the outcome of the season.

It is the same in sales. We have ugly fortunate wins, some great performances that don’t get the results they deserve, team members who might be a stylish good fit but are ineffective or who may have lost their way. We could blame operations or marketing delivery or development but we in sales are accountable for the result.

I am invited to step into roles and invariably see similar issues. The business didn’t know the honest reality of what was happening with sales. They knew lots of detail and stories but were short on hard facts.

So top tip for sales leaders: When reporting up to your MD, CEO or board, start with the honest result. Don’t build up to it, don’t tease them, give them a clear dashboard and expand from there. If there isn’t such a mechanism in place, create one. Sit with finance and build it out and make sure you know the numbers inside out. It is as important for you to manage upwards as it is for you to lead your team so simply sharing the truth, the result, goes a long way towards building your credibility as a leader.