 |
|
The powerful impact beliefs have on actions and results is demonstrated by the following example from an emerging pharmaceutical company.
The company had launched their latest drug in 2006 and sales were particularly poor in the Southeast territory. They experienced very low uptake and not many prospects, even after 18 months of effort. Other territories were doing much better. By mid-year 2007, the sales rep for the Southeast resigned, fearing that his job was on the line due to his poor performance. In the exit interview he blasted the company and the product. He was emphatic that the product could not be sold, the company didn't provide enough support, the competition had a far better product and the company would never do well in the Southeast territory.
A month later the company hired a sales professional with a track record of success. She held the belief that, if success were at all possible, she was the one who would achieve it! She studied the products and went to work - focusing her attention on what she could do and not on why she couldn't produce results. She established relationships with her clients and began selling the product. Within the first three months the company saw more patient starts in the Southeast than they'd seen in the previous 18 months combined, and by the end of 2008 this new sales rep had earned a spot in the "Peak Performer's Circle" as the sales rep with the greatest sales improvement over the course of the year. She followed it up with a Top 3 ranking and another Peak Performer's Circle win in 2009. Then, in 2010, she finished the year ranked 1st overall and became the first winner ever of what the company calls the Triple Crown - signifying winning a Peak Performer's Circle award three years in a row. She remains the only sales rep to have won that award in the company's history.
The difference? The previous Southeast sales rep held beliefs about the product and company that hindered performance. In spite of the training, communication, span of control and attention to activity, the former territory rep was focused on Below The Line® attitudes and beliefs. Those beliefs drove actions which produced undesired results. The new rep came in, not with better training or education or information, but simply the belief that she could make it happen. She chose to focus on what she could control and not get caught up in the challenges, the history, the competitors, the economic environment and all the other things that were out of her control. She built a plan, took full accountability for her own results, and then executed with passion and energy. She built lasting relationships with her customers, brought value to every interaction with them, and created unprecedented success for the Southeast territory and the company. In short, by holding beliefs that were in alignment with the desired results and creating experiences consistent with those beliefs, she produced the success that both her customers and her company were after.
|
|
The fourth "Best Practice" under the "Do It" Step is to "Sustain An Environment of Trust". How does one actually do that? Can a leader simply dictate trust? "OK, team, this is going to be Trust week. Ready... TRUST!" I doesn't work that way, does it? Trust is a consequence - an outcome. Consider how trust is impacted when you:
- Are open and candid
- Seek others' perspectives
- Are willing to hear the hard things
- Act on the feedback you receive
- Constantly ask, "What else can I do?"
- Take necessary risks
- Do what you say you'll do
- Stay Above The Line by not blaming others
As one demonstrates these Best Practices, trust improves, excuses diminish, obstacles are overcome and results are achieved.
