How to Foster Accountability in Your Sales Team

Strengthening your sales team: Accountable salespeople work harder and don’t need constant supervision

Key takeaways

Strategies to build sales accountability:

• Provide the right tools
• Let salespeople guide their own development 
• Establish clear goals
• Share sales metrics with the team 
• Show that you’re accountable to them

Strengthening your sales team is an ongoing and multifaceted process and building sales accountability is a key component of this journey. Accountability means taking responsibility for your own actions. 

Accountable salespeople work diligently toward their goals. They keep themselves on track. You don’t need to look over their shoulders to ensure they’re doing their job. You can rest assured that they care about the organization, and they’re committed to their role in it. 

Some people are naturally accountable. They’re intrinsically motivated and they work hard regardless of who’s paying attention. But what about the rest of your salespeople? How do you make them accountable? And how do you increase accountability in the people who are already naturally inclined in that direction? Let these strategies guide the way. 

1. Give salespeople the tools they need to succeed

You can’t just throw your sales team in the water and expect them to swim. You need to give them the sales tools they need to survive and thrive in the water. To continue with the swimming analogy, you need to teach them how to float, show them a few swimming strokes, and give them a life vest for troubled waters. 

In the sales arena, this means providing detailed training about the products and services the team is selling. It also means showing team members how to use your CRM and sales management tools so they can work effectively with the rest of your team. If they don’t know what to do, they will feel insecure and repeatedly return to you for help. You need to provide them with the education they need to take ownership of their workflows. 

2. Let salespeople guide their professional development

If you want to encourage accountability, you need to foster confidence in your team members’ ability to make their own decisions. Say you’re role-playing sales interactions. Rather than telling salespeople exactly what you want them to say, ask how they would respond to a common objection. Or have them listen in on a sales call and ask them what they would have done differently. 

This lets you see how well people think on their feet. At the same time, it encourages them to find their own solutions. Then, of course, you can refine their approach or offer tips for improvement. 

By putting your salespeople in the driver’s seat during training sessions, you enable them to make their own decisions. You show them that they can find the best approach to sales on their own. This fosters their professional development in a way that encourages accountability. 

3. Establish clear goals

Whether your sales team is in the middle of training or out in the field, it needs clear goals. Every salesperson knows that the ultimate goal is ABC – always be closing. But your team needs to know what that means in your organization. You don’t want a bunch of mavericks who are committed to their own agendas and processes. Instead, you want a team that works together toward common goals. 

In many cases, your sales team may be handling their own deals or engaging with prospects unilaterally, but they need to do so in a way that aligns with your company’s values and expectations. Make sure that you set clear goals about new customers, customer churn rates, customer value, sales numbers, etc. If your team doesn’t know what you want to achieve, it won’t know what to do. 

4. Share relevant metrics with salespeople

If you’re not tracking metrics, you’re missing out on opportunities. Don’t just use metrics for managerial purposes. Share them with your sales team to keep everyone motivated and on track. 

Whenever possible, try to use specific metrics. Don’t just show a salesperson how many leads they turned to customers last month. Show them the value of their new customers, for example. Or share their demo-to-customer conversation rates. 

Regardless of the metrics you’re using, help salespeople figure out why their numbers have blossomed or dropped. Guide them toward strategies that will help them increase these numbers. Then, push them out the door and let them be accountable for executing the process. 

5. Check in regularly

You want your sales team to be accountable, but that doesn’t mean it should work in a silo. Again, team members can’t just be accountable to themselves and their individual goals. They also need to be accountable to your organization. 

Accountability comes from all angles. You need to be accountable to your salespeople. If they feel like you’re accountable to them, they, in turn, will become more accountable to you. To show them you’re invested in their success, check in regularly. 

In addition to looking at the numbers, talk about the sales process. Are team members happy with their role? Do they need any additional tools? Do they see any places where you could streamline workflows or improve processes? Do they want additional training or have questions? 

You also want your salespeople to be accountable to the rest of the team. When you have a team that works together, the leaders pull up the laggards. They all learn from each other. When your team is accountable to one another, people are more likely to be excited rather than jealous of others’ success. They’re more likely to help each other in a way that benefits your entire organization. 

Contact MetaGrowth for help developing accountability in your sales team

An accountable sales team boosts the success of your organization. Accountable salespeople work harder. They respect your organization, and they help the rest of the people on the team. But building accountability can be challenging. It’s like any other business skill – it takes knowledge and experience.

That’s where we come in. We can provide you with the guidance, strategies, and visibility you need to develop your sales team and foster the growth of your business. We can help you implement a coaching system that keeps your team on track and accountable. Ready to talk? Contact us today.