Activity does not precede sales!

By S. Anthony Iannarino

For a long time sales managers have held a religious devotion to activity. They believe that activity precedes sales. They are always willing to cite the great wisdom that even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and then point to the stopped clock who, despite missing his quota, is lucky enough to run into a deal.

But the truth that we should all hold dear is that Effective activity precedes sales. Activity by itself is no longer enough. The market is crowded, the competition is ferocious, and it's harder and harder to acquire a prospects attention. 

Why is effective overlooked? Because effectiveness is hard. It is difficult to train your sales staff to be effective. It is difficult and expensive to work with individual sales people, helping them with their personal challenges. It is even more difficult to generate and execute the new ideas that are vital to separating you and your sales team from the pack. So effectiveness gets dropped for plain old activity, which can be required or demanded, regardless of the outcome on sales (or the salesperson). 

Activity doesn't precede sales. Effective activity precedes sales.