There is a fairy tale told about the Princess who kisses a FROG. An ugly FROG. In fact, it was so ugly, most people believe it was really a TOAD. The fairy tale explains that once the Princess kisses the TOAD he turns into a Prince because her kiss breaks the spell of an evil witch.

So, what does kissing the toad have to do with Sales Effectiveness?

Kissing the T.O.A.D. is the cornerstone to improved sales effectiveness because T.O.A.D. stands for:

Territory

Opportunity

Action-planning

Discussion

This is a discussion that must occur monthly and focuses on targeted account growth and territory success.

Management may refer to these meetings as a monthly performance review, but they are not individual performance reviews. They are a review of territory performance based on objective performance metrics only. These meetings must be considered by both management and the territory salesperson as Territory Opportunity Action-planning Discussions because that is exactly what they are.

The T.O.A.D. is the most important component of improved sales effectiveness. Critical performance issues are discussed during the T.O.A.D. It provides the forum for Sales Management and the Territory Manager to discuss, plan, and measure success. These discussions introduce accountability and identify opportunities for improvements with action planning specific to each objective. It is the Sales Manager