So your team has everything and they're working hard, but they're still not making their budgets. What's wrong? We can blame everything, but when everything is said and done, there's only one thing that's ultimately the reason why performance is suffering. Do you want to know what that one thing is?

Any company with a growing salesforce will at some point invest in doing more than just putting in hard labor to get results.

Hence, there's a wide array of companies today offering "the solution" to how success can be repeated through a system or model based on empirical research. In short, they offer to bridge the gap between sales effort and missing results.

Some examples of the best sales expertise offered in the market place today are found among the following:

I've worked with several of these models and systems, and you know what..? Regardless of system or model, there's always a fair sized group of people that try, but fail. In fact, the majority never makes it to excellence! They may improve, but they never become truly successful.

Flaw # 1

Every one of the above listed offerings has been developed and discovered over time. They can document success formulas, meaning if you apply the methods and techniques (read: 'behavior') statistically you'll be successful. There's the flaw! Statistics are big numbers, highlighting relevant and significant outcomes based on what we put in. A successful outcome is usually the case, but not without a few exceptions. (I'm strongly in favor of research, but this in an important fact to remember.)

Flaw # 2

The other important reason why models and systems cannot guarantee success is (partly correlated to the above reason) because there are a lot of variables that pure observation never registers. This is why data and research always needs comments and explanations thereby including the stuff that may have been observed, but isn't reflected in the numbers.

Energy is the Missing Link

This past week I've again helped several companies with existing systems "just make selling work", and maybe by now you're wondering how we're doing this ;-)

Well, here's the answer: What we do is add energy to the equation (as mentioned above: Effort + Model = Results) - three types of energy at each critical stage as illustrated here:

The energy to boost effort is Passion. The energy to apply the model and make it work is Connection. The energy to become skillful and harvest results is Intuition.

Adoption - Do it!

The purpose of energy is to get adoption. The salesforce needs to simply do it. A lot of systems are taught, but the paramount reason why people fail is because they're not applying what they've learned. To get results we need adoption. If adoption never takes place, then it's irrelevant how good your system or model is.

Forcing yourself to just "do it" through sheer willpower is hard. In fact, it's not only hard - it's impossible. We see this all the time: Success is only for those with energy; Passion - Connection - Intuition. Only then will we do what it takes.

Once sales people have energy (e.g. "serious motivation") doing it becomes not only easy, it becomes what we want to do - what we like to do - what we do best. This is where a lifestyle and dedicated priority is found. Our task becomes our mission and receives our complete attention and focus. Then success is no longer something we hope for, but a predictable outcome we may expect.

Models and systems come about because they seek to duplicate success behavior, but the most important ingredient of successful people is in fact not their behavior. The key to success is the energy behind what successful people do and which is what gives them the power. Then, and only then, has behavior meaning and the desired effect.

(Read more about how to get energy.)