If you want to be the best, you have to prepare like the best. This is just as true in business as it is in sports. By focusing on service and employee excellence every day, the Ritz-Carlton is at the top of its game. In their Daily Line-Up at the beginning of each shift, teams huddle up to communicate and get in the right mindset. Similarly, sales leaders can use daily huddles to reinforce company values, provide a focus, and inspire the team.
Use the huddle to remind people of the company’s overall values and current initiatives. Too often, companies share cultural values only at orientation or spend a lot of money developing an initiative that gets forgotten after its splashy rollout. Daily reminders allow values to become habit and initiatives to remain top of mind. Similarly, overall goals may be shared monthly or quarterly, but daily huddles bring the goals into focus—allowing team members to think about what they can do that day to get closer to the goal.
Leaders can facilitate this daily focus by asking, What is one thing you can do today to move closer to your weekly, monthly, or yearly goal? Instead of focusing only on the final goal, talk about the activities that move toward this goal. Give them opportunity to share. (“I’m going to call 10 prospects.” “I’m going to persuade the Browns to choose us over the competition.” “I’m going to persuade the Smiths to put their home on the market.”) These statements break big goals down into daily goals that become the salesperson’s focus.
