The Robb Report – Remedy for Salespeople Who are Complacent

I was reading the Robb Report yesterday and it featured 21 Unique Gifts for that special someone this Holiday Season.  Of course, these gifts start at around $1 million and go up from there.  One of the things I always liked about reading this monthly magazine for the wealthy is its ability to humble me.  Whenever I think I’m doing OK, all I have to do is look in there and see homes, cars, boats, planes, jewelry, adventures, vacations, and even phones that are out of reach.  Yeah, I saw an ad for a cell phone that I thought was really awesome, went on line to find out where to buy it and read that this cell phone sells for $7,500.

The things I see each month in this magazine keep me focused on what I want next.  It got me to wondering about your salespeople and specifically, the group that exhibits signs of complacency.  What would happen if you had them reading the Robb Report?  What would happen if you had them read any kind of enthusiast magazine?  What would happen if you gave them an assignment to read the magazine and pick out something that was featured or advertised that they would love to do or have that they either couldn’t afford or couldn’t justify right now?  And what if you had them set that as their 2008 goal?  And then help them determine how much they’d need to sell in order to reach the goal.  What would happen to their complacency if you held them accountable all of next year?