A lot of business owners and sales managers have the wrong ideas about how to get more sales from their salespeople.

They invest heavily in classroom and online training. They spend a bundle on CRM systems and marketing collateral. They coach, plead, yell and scream about making more sales.

It seems like they’ll do anything to make more sales. Except for one thing: They won’t get off their butt and make sales calls with their sales team.

Instead of relying on CRM system-generated reports, try getting out of the office and making actual sales calls with your sales team.

Radical idea, I know, especially in today’s era. Between forecasting, reading reports, generating reports, attending company meetings, three-hour lunches, playing fantasy football and checking smartphone apps, when does a business owner or sales manager have time to make sales calls with their salespeople?

After all, you are busy, right? 

Here’s my million-dollar question for you: What are you doing that keeps you away from the most important activity for any company?

You want more sales right away from your sales team? Then expect more and inspect more.

Get out and actually make sales calls with your sales team. Observe them in action. Make the calls with them, watch what they do and then instruct them after the call. Do this consistently and you’ll see better performance.

Do a post-call analysis with the rep during your ride along with the sales rep. Ask them what went well and what they could do differently to be more effective. Offer insight and performance tips that will help the rep perform better.

And don’t just rely on CRM-generated reports as your salesperson performance evaluation process. Too many owners and sales managers today read funnel and sales activity reports without actually talking to the salesperson.

Here’s what I want you to do: ride along with your salespeople at least once per month. Spend the entire day with them.

Then, make sure to sit down once a week or once every other week with each member of your sales team. Ask them about each and every project on their sales funnel report. Make notes about what they tell you on each account. Offer ideas to move the account further along in the sales process.

Again, do these reviews consistently and you’ll be amazed by the results. You’ll help people generate better results. You’ll identify poor performance more quickly. You will grow your sales.

Too many owners and managers today would rather buy a better game than work for it. They invest big money in CRM systems and tell themselves the software will drive better results.

Unfortunately, CRM systems don’t make sales. Your sales team does. That’s why salespeople deserve your upmost time and attention. There is nothing more important to a business than sales. There is nothing more important to a business owner or sales manager than salesperson performance.

So, get off your behind, get away from the noise and make calls with your salespeople. Observe what they are doing. Offer comments to help them become better. Do this once a month.

Expect more. Inspect More. Get more. That’s a formula for better sales right away.