Envision a three-legged stool. When all three legs are strong, there is nothing sturdier. But if one of the legs becomes wobbly and unable to hold its weight, the stool can no longer do its job. Just like a three-legged stool, your sales team needs three solid legs to carry the weight of the goals and expectations placed on it.

Matt Sunshine, a managing partner at The Center for Sales Strategy, says now is the time to ensure your team is strong in three core areas. In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we share his keys to sustainable sales performance in 2020.

1. Talent. Organizational success starts with talent. You know you cannot pull the average person off the street, teach him the business and expect him to be successful in sales, Sunshine says. It takes sales talent to be successful in a sales role—and not everyone has the talents required for sales. As with athletic or musical talent, in order to be great, you must possess that certain something to begin with. Otherwise, all the practice in the world will just make you average. That "certain something" is what we call talent. Sunshine says that a strong talent assessment system goes beyond just identifying talent. Leaders should use specific coaching strategies for each individual to help them maximize their strengths.

2. Training. With talent on board, the next "T" is training. Business is different today than it was even a couple of years ago. If we are still selling and managing the same way we did then, then we are behind. In order to stay current, relevant and responsive to the changing needs of the businesses on which they call, salespeople need frequent opportunities to learn and practice. Sunshine recommends that sales managers lead a sales training session at least once a week. He says it's even more important to go out in the field with salespeople and watch them in real-time action.

3. Tactics. Sunshine says that the final "T" of the three-legged stool is tactics. He says he has seen many sales organizations that have a high-level sales strategy to meet and exceed their budgets but fail to employ the tactics necessary to make it happen. He has also seen organizations that are nearly the opposite; they're all tactics, and they're even less successful. These organizations continually focus on the flavor-of-the-week promotion, initiative, contest or incentive, but they fail to put a cohesive sales strategy in place that these tactics can support. Tactics are what you do to implement the strategy and make it come alive, and they're often critical for reaching sales goals.

Are you ready for 2020? Is your team set up to grow and improve sales performance in the coming year? If you can't answer these questions with confidence, there's still time to implement all three areas and prepare your team for growth and success in the new year.

Source: Matt Sunshine is a managing partner at The Center for Sales Strategy. He also frequently serves as a keynote speaker and moderator. Sunshine is a featured writer for one of the top sales blogs in America and a regular contributor to leading business blogs and magazines.