Most Salespeople Need a Track to Run On#

The 80/20 rule applies to selling like nowhere else: only 20 percent of salespeople are genuinely proactive — the kind who can “plan their work and work their plan.” The other 80 percent need a track to run on: clear direction, goals, measures, deadlines, and standards.

Providing that track is one of the most concrete things a sales manager can do to increase results — and one of the most often neglected.

Control the Controllable#

You cannot control whether a given prospect buys today, buys later, or never buys. There are simply too many external factors in a customer’s life. But you can control sales activities on an hour-by-hour, day-by-day basis. By controlling activities, you indirectly control results.

The Law of Probability: more activities aimed at generating sales produce more sales. The activities are the lever; the sales are the lagging indicator.

The fastest way to lift sales is to lift sales activity:

  • Prospect more often.
  • Call on more people.
  • See more people.
  • Call back more often.
  • Respond to more requests for information.

Specify the Number of Calls#

The simplest, most measurable activity control is the call quota. There is a direct relationship between the number of prospects contacted and the number of sales made.

A client company that turned its sales around used this rule:

  • Five new calls per day.
  • One hundred new calls per month (≈ 22 working days).
  • The sales manager monitored daily call reports.

The moment salespeople knew they would be graded and reviewed daily on call activity, the activity rose dramatically — and so did the sales.

The 100 Call Method#

Brian Tracy teaches a powerful contest variant called the “100 call method”:

  • Run a contest for the first salesperson to make 100 new customer contacts.
  • No sales are required to win the contest.
  • The job is purely to make contact — by telephone or personal visit — with 100 new prospects.

Because salespeople are required to make contacts but are under no pressure to close, they relax. They both care and don’t care — and counterintuitively, more of those calls turn into customers.

Pair-Up Variant#

A simple group format:

  • Pair salespeople up or split the team into small groups.
  • The first to make 100 calls is taken to lunch by the others.
  • As manager, top up the prize with a gift certificate for a nice restaurant for the salesperson and their spouse.

Every individual and organization that has installed the 100 call method has been amazed by the immediate increases in sales — and morale. The positive energy persists well after the contest period ends.

The Thank-You Card Method#

A different mechanism that produces similar results:

  • At the end of each day, salespeople return to the office with at least ten names and addresses of people they contacted or met.
  • They sit with coworkers and fill out ten thank-you cards.
  • The company supplies cards, envelopes, and postage.
  • The sales manager collects and mails them.

The combination of scrutiny and peer pressure to come back with names produces dramatic results.

One organization, ranked #15 of 15 branches in its city with 30 salespeople, applied this method. Within 30 days they were down to 18 salespeople — those unwilling to make the contacts simply faded away, with no firing interviews. Within 90 days, the remaining 18 had driven the branch to #1 of 15.

Fast Tempo Is Essential#

There is a direct relationship between fast tempo and sales success.

In the best sales organizations:

  • Everyone is busy and moving quickly all the time.
  • No one sits chatting, drinking coffee, or reading the newspaper.
  • People start earlier and work later.
  • The standards on activity are continually raised.

Fast tempo translates into more contacts → better contacts → more sales. Energy and productivity rise. People become happier and more positive. Everyone makes more money.

Salespeople Want to Be Busy#

Counterintuitively, the busier you keep your team, the more they will like and respect you. Salespeople love:

  • Clear targets.
  • Being busy and active.
  • Working and getting sales results.

The more rigorous and structured your activity plan, the more salespeople see you as a real leader — not less.

Action Exercises#

  1. Set written, daily activity goals for each salesperson. Check them daily. Frame the exercise as “this is to make sure you earn as much money as possible.”
  2. Run a 100 calls contest with a real prize. Repeat it two to four times per year.
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