What To Do When You Feel You’ve Lost Control Of Your Territory…
To continue our discussion for those Account Executives that are feeling lost, here are a few more tips on how to get back in control of your territory and start to feel like you’re focused again…
1. Stand Your Ground: Don’t throw your power away, don’t give in to the negative thoughts crashing around in your head. Too many Account Executives give away their power by letting negative thoughts rob them of their confidence and their determination. You possess all the power that you need to create the desired outcomes for yourself in your territory, don’t you? Recognize how capable you are, how powerful you are, and how prepared you are. You didn’t get that way overnight; you worked at it, to become the powerful force that you are today. Exercise your considerable power and MAKE POSITIVE RESULTS HAPPEN. NOW!
- Don’t Stand Still, Don’t Coast: As awesome and as powerful as you are right now, you can become even better. Invest in yourself by increasing your knowledge of your industry, technology, the best techniques of selling and building valuable business relationships. Don’t let yourself be tempted to stand pat, because if you do, you need to realize that your competitor will begin gaining on you immediately. Don’t give them a chance to catch up. Extend your lead over them….
- 3. Focus, Focus, Focus: I am amazed at how often when I ask an Account Executive to share with me their plan for how they’re going to generate demand, and develop relationship capital, and build a pipeline, and improve their closing ratio, they look at me with that sad puppy look. You have been placed in charge of a territory, and you MUST spend time frequently thinking strategically about how to maximize the potential yield of your territory. Who will you call on? How will you ensure that you’re extending value? What solutions can you sell, and who needs them most? Spend time weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually thinking strategically about your territory and set goals. Then execute against them accordingly. Leverage the 80/20 rule and figure out how to INVEST your time so that you can gain the maximum yield from your time serving customers.
- Operational Excellence: I know AEs who execute and I know AEs who disappoint and fall short. The main difference between the two categories of AEs is that one makes excuses and the other makes great choices and works diligently to make their best ideas happen. There is no secret to success. Success is thinking, and planning and executing by doing things that make sense and lead to results. You must become an operational machine! You must update your sales campaign information regularly into your CRM system so that others may maximize their ability to help you. You must under promise and over deliver so that when you make a promise, you deliver ahead of time. Follow-through and act upon operating against your strategic and tactical plans is the key to success. Nobody can do it for you, and nobody can do it better. Get after it, and make it happen.
So, if you’re an Account Executive who wants to get back in control and feel like you’re doing everything right in your territory, this list of ideas would be a great way to start. I used this very list with one of my clients who told me this week that after six months of working on this list he’s moved from next to last on his company’s leaderboard to bouncing monthly between #1 and #2. There is no getting around it, you have to be filled with intent and purpose to become a revenue rainmaker. The reality is that with a disciplined focus, 90% of the people who are struggling can turn that situation around quickly, by thinking and making tough choices about how they’re going to spend their time differently in the future. Admittedly, these ideas are more general bromides than they are deep action plans for how to become an Account Executive Superstar, and yet they work like a charm. If you’d like to go deeper, reach out to Michael and set up a free 30-minute consultation, with no cost or obligation.
Michael is an award winning business coach in Minnesota, where the leaves are turning this time of year. Michael enjoys working closely with many emerging sales professionals to help them ascend the leaderboard in their organization. He has built a powerful coaching program that helps Account Executives to maximize the potential in their territory, by focusing on the fundamentals of mastering the art and science of selling solutions. Subscribe to Michael’s “Coffee With Michael” e-newsletter where he regularly gives away valuable content to subscribers and offers special once in a lifetime offers to workshops and online courses of extraordinary value. Michael is the CEO of Michael Beach Coaching & Consulting and enjoys helping Emerging Leaders to deliver ambitious results.
