"Why do salespeople fail?" A question that managers, as well as their salespeople have asked for decades. And one contributing factor that keeps this question alive and in the forefront of our mind is the fact that there has not been one universally accepted answer. Whether the salesperson's failure is being blamed on the salesperson, on the manager or a collaborative effort, the reasons often remain subjective, even elusive and as such, history is then bound to repeat itself. The timeless struggle for a solution continues to plague our thinking, while the collateral damage due to this fallout dominates the manager's time.

Whether your team consists of one thousand salespeople or just one, the simple fact stands; avalanches roll downhill. It starts from the top. That's why the first of six principles managers need to incorporate in order to build a world class sales team is this:

Strategy # 1

Take Full Responsibility For Your Salespeople

Become 100% accountable for the success and failure of their sales team. While there are many symptoms as to why a salesperson fails, it is the reluctance on the manager's side to take on this full accountability which is the leading cause of a salesperson's failure. You can be burdened with excuses or empowered by the ability to make better choices. Either way, you're accountable for the excuses used as to why your salespeople fail, just like you are accountable for your sales team. Here are just a handful of excuses that managers have used to justify why their salespeople fail.

1. I inherited my sales team. I didn't hire these people.

2. We don't have time for a sales training and coaching program.

3. That's normal in my industry. Turnover is just something we just have to deal with.

4. We can't offer competitive packages like other companies can. It's straight commission. No salary or benefits. We do our best to play the hand we're dealt.

5. The salespeople are really independent contractors. So if they need help, they should get help on their own.

6. They fail, then they really weren't cut out for this position.

7. Needed help? Then they should have come to us. We would have helped them. That's their responsibility. How can I read their mind if they're having a problem.

8. It's hard to find good sales talent out there now. Our market is super competitive and this is what I have to work with.

Since you are evaluated or compensated by how successful your team is, then tolerating these excuses will come at a heavy price. Ultimately, you will be the one responsible for breathing life into these excuses or pioneering innovative solutions in order to squash them from existence. Once you take full accountability for yourself as well as each person on your sales team, you are now able to empower others to be fully accountable for themselves.

What follows are five additional strategies that any manager can begin to implement in order to build a team of sales champions; strategies that any business owner or manager can incorporate into their management style, strategy and approach that is sure to reduce turnover and increase the retention of star players, prevent a new salesperson or a star veteran from becoming an underperformer and maximize the performance and production of your team.

For those salespeople who are reading this and feel these strategies only apply to management, consider this. The more awareness you have around the role you and your manager play in your overall success and failure, the more you can educate and help your manager best support and manage you around these areas which you may feel you have less control over.