How the Best Sales Leaders Balance Empowerment with Accountability

Everyone's talking about it: AI is the next IndustrialRevolution. For me, the jury is still out. Still, the comparison got methinking.

I recalled a story about the Ford Motor Company: Ford introduced the assembly line in 1913, and, by the end of the year, its turnover rate for employees was 380%. Let that sink in: 380%.

Why did this happen? Dramatic change. As any leader can attest to, change profoundly affects employees and has the potential to bring projects to a screeching halt. And for the independent craftsmen on Ford’s assembly line, who were used to building whole carriages, the idea of fastening the same bolts on the same part for nine hours a day was nearly maddening.

Fast forward to today, when the debate over flexible work arrangements vs. return to the office is still going strong. While there are many nuanced arguments on both sides, the crux of the issue is empowerment vs. accountability. The leaders in favor of in-office work are after accountability. Employees in favor of flexible working arrangements seek empowerment—often evoking comparisons to the advent of the assembly line and showing how a system like that does not fit modern, knowledge workers.

Why can’t we have both?

The two should not be in conflict. Over the years, I’ve worked with hundreds of revenue organizations. The most effective teams balance empowerment with accountability and fully understand the links between the two. That's why this article will focus on how accountability fosters ownership and outcome alignment while laying the foundations for employee empowerment—the crucial factor that’s at the heart of every satisfied, creative and successful sales team.

Accountability in Sales: Fostering Ownership and Outcome Alignment

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Strategic and Tactical Alignment for Sales Teams

Accountability in sales is founded on setting clear expectations and fostering a sense of ownership. At a high level, leaders must ensure every team member understands what’s expected of them, how success will be measured and how their efforts contribute to the broader business goals.

However, this isn’t a one-way street. Beyond setting goals, leaders should engage in two-way discussions, inviting team members to propose strategies and tactics for achieving objectives. Rather than controlling the process, the focus should be on equipping teams with the clarity and autonomy to take responsibility for their performance.

The final step is to confirm a mutual understanding of the strategies and tactics that will enable the team to contribute to the larger business objectives—making it easier to monitor progress and make necessary adjustments.

Measurable Milestones and Ongoing Progress 

Setting measurable milestones ensures that accountability remains continuous. Leaders should establish regular checkpoints where performance can be assessed and, if needed, corrected.

This isn’t all about corrective action, either. By ensuring you have good data and regular checkpoints on the calendar, you can better identify signs of burnout and other issues sooner rather than later—ensuring salespeople have the help they need to maintain a healthy relationship with their work.

In turn, keeping these milestones aligned with broader business goals actively shows sellers how they’re contributing to the larger mission. This fosters a strong team mentality, which keeps motivation high in the face of rejection and adversity.

Regular Feedback for Growth

Regular, candid feedback based on clearly defined metrics allows team members to adjust their performance in real-time. Again, it’s a two-way street here: you must look to your team and examine your own effectiveness, too.

Ask yourself: Is the system clearly defined? Is there unconscious bias in any of the measurement or feedback mechanisms? ‍

Always strive to adopt a coaching mentality when possible. I know, easier said than done. However, AI is a transformative tool on this front. AI-coaching tools offer objective feedback aligned to your chosen sales methodology—empowering sellers with unbiased coaching and feedback at the moment of need, ensuring self-directed and unique learning journeys that accelerate growth like never before.

Remember:The majority of feedback should be leveraged as a developmental tool rather than a punitive measure. There are also times when consistently failing to meet objectives requires action. However, it’s essential to ensure you’ve clearly outlined and articulated the consequences for such behavior from the very beginning and that the individual in question had the tools and training they needed to follow through on expectations.

Make no mistake, the individuals who make up your sales teams are your organization’s greatest asset. The path to achieving ever-increasing revenue goals does not lie in mass outreach and demos—that’s the assembly line approach. The solution lies in leveraging accountability in your sales organization as the basis for empowerment. When individuals are given clear responsibilities and the freedom to pursue them, they gain a deeper sense of ownership over their outcomes. This fosters a work environment where employees feel trusted, motivated and aligned with the organization’s broader objectives—leading to deeper engagement, greater job satisfaction and a team better equipped to handle the challenges of selling in 2024 and beyond.

For more sales advice, check out:

●     “The Future of Sales Coaching: Harnessing AI to TransformSales Teams” in SalesTech Star

●     A recent episode of The B2B Revenue Executive Experience: "Why Your Sales Training is Failing-and How AI Can Fix It with James Pursey” 

●     Our latest ebook: “Innovate or Stagnate: Lessons from 350 RevenueExecutives”

As always, Sell with Value,

- Julie

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