Over the past few weeks I’ve been fortunate to have had meetings with a dozen B2B sales leaders. What struck me as interesting was that out of those dozen meetings only one of the sales leaders had a large whiteboard in his office. I’ve known this individual for a long time and he has used the whiteboard effectively for his entire career.
On the left side of whiteboard he had written the key opportunities that his team needed to close for the quarter and on the right side of the board he had the largest deals that the team was working on for the entire year.
This sales leader is very successful and he had just arrived in this new position. He told me the story of getting the whiteboard and starting to record all the deals. People in his office were questioning why he was doing what he was doing. They told him that no one had done this before.
So in this age of CRM, social media, twitter, blogging etc. why is a low-tech tool like a whiteboard so effective?
It is long been contended that people who write down their goals and actions as opposed to typing them or trying to remember them are more effective. Adding the whiteboard to the mix provides the benefit of writing and also of keeping the top deals constantly visible.
Research conducted by Dr. Gail Matthews at Dominican University of California (http://www.dominican.edu/dominicannews/study-backs-up-strategies-for-achieving-goals) shows that people who wrote down their goals, shared this information with a friend, and sent weekly updates to that friend were on average 33% more successful in accomplishing their stated goals than those who merely formulated goals.
What an application for a sales team – clear communication, visibility and consistent habits to achieve results!
So why isn’t everybody doing this? Whiteboards are cheap, easy to install and effective. No training is required and even someone with poor handwriting (like me) can be easily understood. Sometimes we get so caught up in technology and gadgets, that we ignore the most simple tools. Everyone is stressed and running at full speed; there is great value in a simple communication tool.
A whiteboard won’t solve all of your sales challenges, but it is a simple and effective tool to get your priorities focused and understood.
Share
Comments