I wanted to share a quick story with you about a conversation I had with a client this past weekend. 

He was experiencing some stress related to missing his revenue goal even though his team had achieved over 60% growth last year. After discussing the situation, we realized the issue wasn’t with their strategy, but with the execution of that strategy.

So, I shared with him a framework we use to focus and motivate revenue teams, while still holding them accountable to their commitments. We call it the GPS framework, which stands for Goal, Plan, Scorecard. 

It’s similar to using a GPS when you’re traveling to a new place. You tell the GPS where you want to go, it creates a roadmap, and you use the information provided by your car’s dashboard to stay on track and arrive on time.

The first step is to set a 2023 revenue goal for each member of the sales team. While our initial focus is sales, you can use this approach to impact RevOps, marketing, customer success, and any team across the company. 

My recommendation is to take any revenue goal a rep sets for themselves and multiply it by 1.20. This is a great opportunity for you to tell your reps how much you believe in their potential and that you’ll support them as they stretch themselves to reach and redefine their potential.

After securing the rep’s commitment to the new number, your shared goal, the next step is to conduct a gap analysis to determine the difference between the goal and their results from last year. The secret here is to ask each rep a specific question, “what needs to change in order to achieve your goal?” and then listen for clues as to how they think. 

If they point to variables outside of their control like the economy, product, competition, etc., reframe their focus on what they can control and coach them to let go of the things they can’t. 

Top performers outperform their peers regardless of what’s happening around them because they focus on their own continuous improvement. They develop the mindset, skillset, and toolset required to successfully anticipate and respond to change. 

Only after each of your team members understand this, will they be ready to take the next step and build their plan. 

There does not have to be anything magical or extraordinary about the plan. It simply has to be capable of getting your rep to their goal, and one your rep will execute at the highest possible level. If your rep is unwilling to do the work, the plan is worthless and you’ll need to double down on a new coaching or recruiting plan. 

The last step is for you and your reps to adopt a dashboard or scorecard to track the execution of their plans. This will allow you to hold each team member accountable to the “what by when” of their plan and to delivering the highest quality work. 

Sounds simple, but it’s understanding your team’s commitment with this level of detail that will make the difference when the game gets tight toward the end of the year. There are only 21 selling days per month, not including vacations, PTO, sick days, holidays, travel days, etc.  How many days per month will your reps be truly committed to achieving their GPS?

Before wrapping up the call, I reminded my client that top performers love accountability and it can be a huge motivator when delivered appropriately. 

Show your reps how committed you are to their success by using the GPS as a tool to help them learn and adjust as they are challenged throughout the year. Not as a mechanism to provide or withhold praise or pay, via an old school “carrot and stick” approach to management. 

I hope you find this framework helpful. If you are curious about the impact the GPS could have on your sales organization, check out our FREE Sales Flow Benchmark Analysis. And hit me up if you have any questions.

We are here to help.