Sales Commitment – Are You Doing What You Said You Would Do?

In a recent blog, I shared my new favorite book, authored by Stephen M.R. Covey, The Speed Of Trust. I shared Covey’s work regarding the three components of trust: character, competence and commitment.

Let’s talk about the third component in building trust: keeping commitments. You sign up for the profession of sales which means you commit to do the work necessary to achieve the sales goal. That commitment may mean “X” amount of outreaches each day, each week, to insure “X” amount of qualified appointments. You commit to joining several associations to build a network. Commitment can also be as simple as practicing and improving selling skills to increase close ratios.

It’s easy for a salesperson to think, “Well, if I don’t hit my revenue goal, I am the one that gets hurt because I don’t earn as much commission.”

Not true. The company gave you this sales seat. In your interview, you didn’t say, “Well, I can’t really commit to do what it takes to hit my revenue goal. Can you give me a little wiggle room for error?” When you accept a position, you committed that you would do the work necessary to hit the revenue target.

The company builds out their strategy based on your commitment to hit your sales target. Now, I understand there are companies that hand you crazy revenue goals, with absolutely no thought or detailed analysis. I’m not talking about that crazy scenario—that’s another blog. I am talking about sales organizations that take time to set realistic, achievable, stretch goals.

When salespeople don’t honor their commitment of doing the work for which they are hired, the entire company suffers. For a software company, it means they don’t have the dollars to invest in the brightest and best developers.

In a manufacturing company, there aren’t dollars to invest in new equipment, so the company falls behind in its competitive advantage.
And here’s the really bad news. Your boss and peers don’t trust you! They might like you; however, they don’t trust

you to get the job done. Honor your commitments and do what you get paid to do. Trust does accelerate the speed of sales.
Good Selling!

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