The Sales Goals Tell What We Want To Happen

The sales goals tell what we want to happen. But the weekly sales report tells what is happening. The difference between the two is a measurement defined as a, “Gap.” The gap itself may be narrow or it may be broad; it is either positive or negative. Exceeding your goal produces a positive deviation; not achieving the goal produces a negative deviation. The former is good; the latter, not good. Hogs with positive deviations are called, Performers. Those with negative deviations are classified as Underperformers.

Identifying the negative deviation is important because people who are aware of a problem are able to make adjustments—just like a sports team at halftime—to continually improve themselves.

Denial of a negative deviation or shifting the blame to another source or cause is unproductive and leads to continued failure. This is called the Law of the Victim. “My poor performance is the result of ‘them’ setting my goals too high.” “My competition has advantages that I don’t.” “My competitor’s prices are lower.” “I can’t get anyone to help me.” “My market is different.” All of these excuses have one thing in common, the problem is always the result of someone else’s actions or inactions; never caused by the hog with the problem. You may have to look hard but you won’t have to look far for the reason you are failing. A wise person once said, “Few blame themselves until they have exhausted all other possibilities.”

Frustration and irritation will not close the gap. Only focus and tenacity can do that. When ask for his secret of success, Louis Pasteur said, “Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.” When tempted to give in, Pasteur hung tight and finally through his perseverance and determination developed the small pox vaccine. “The difficulties and struggles of today,” promised J. H. Boetcker, “are but the price we must pay for the accomplishments and victories of tomorrow.”

To be a Victor rather than a Victim, a hog must be hognacious. All decisions, activities and actions must be focused on achieving the goal. Ken Blanchard, co-author of “The One Minute Manager” wrote, “The Things that get worked on first tend to get fixed first.” This being true, the question is, what needs to be fixed first to achieve your goals? What have you been working on that will help you close the performance gap and bring you closer to being a Hogdacious Performer?

HOG THOUGHT: In contemplating adjustments and changes, you may want to consider the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen. Kaizen is about the ability to make incremental improvements in processes every day. When applied to sales people, Kaizen activities continually improve from planning to presentation and from attitudes to values. By improving their selling activities, Kaizen aims to make happen what we want to happen.

HOG QUOTE: “It is not where you are today that counts. It is where you’re headed.” — Arthur F. Lenehan

HOG ACTION: Clearly define your goal and you will have no trouble judging what activities fit with your goal and which don’t.