Rally the Troops

I guess is depends on how how strong the company is. Companies that can weather a downturn, develop skills and focus on positioning themselves for future business will stay on top. Many of my clients have taken this time to focus and measure activity related to developing new strong future business relationships in addition to current revenue. Current revenue goals have been adjusted down to allow for the business to be successful at a status quo level. They are then focusing on positioning for a strong come back in the future.

I guess a key point is, however, that we should identify our "top sales producers" or our "A" players. In many organisations these are chosen for their ability to close deals. In others, though, their record of customer loyalty (personally to them, not just to the company) and longevity of sustained high performance are taken into account. In other words, will we build our hiring selection criteria around the people who can hit home runs more often than most or who can run home, even one base at a time, in every game through a whole season? I suggest the latter. Surely they are the real star performers.