An inside rep and a field rep were standing at the base of a flagpole, looking up.
Their sales manager walked by and asked them what they were doing. "We need to find the height of the flagpole for a customer," said the field rep. "But we don't have a ladder," added the inside rep.
The sales manager took a wrench from his pocket, loosened a few bolts and laid the pole down on the ground. Then he took a tape measure from the other pocket and announced, "Eighteen feet, six inches," and walked away.
The field rep shook his head and laughed. "Ain't that just like a sales manager! We ask for the height, and he gives us the length!"
Moral of the story. Communication is the key folks. For any sales team to be successful, the members have to be able to communicate from top to bottom as well as end to end. Trust is also key. Without trust, communication breaks down and individuals spend the majority of their time covering their own backsides from potential attack rather than being able to focus their energies on moving forward with prospects. The New Year is a great time to make sure you're on the same page as your manager and get an exact understanding of how you are being measured. If you don't, you may as well just the raise the white flag of surrender and give up your fight to attain your quota this year.
"There are two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery."
- Enrico Fermi
Their sales manager walked by and asked them what they were doing. "We need to find the height of the flagpole for a customer," said the field rep. "But we don't have a ladder," added the inside rep.
The sales manager took a wrench from his pocket, loosened a few bolts and laid the pole down on the ground. Then he took a tape measure from the other pocket and announced, "Eighteen feet, six inches," and walked away.
The field rep shook his head and laughed. "Ain't that just like a sales manager! We ask for the height, and he gives us the length!"
Moral of the story. Communication is the key folks. For any sales team to be successful, the members have to be able to communicate from top to bottom as well as end to end. Trust is also key. Without trust, communication breaks down and individuals spend the majority of their time covering their own backsides from potential attack rather than being able to focus their energies on moving forward with prospects. The New Year is a great time to make sure you're on the same page as your manager and get an exact understanding of how you are being measured. If you don't, you may as well just the raise the white flag of surrender and give up your fight to attain your quota this year.
"There are two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery."
- Enrico Fermi
