Top 8 Tips for an Accountability Group that Works

Salespeople are often viewed as individuals who hold themselves accountable. Accountable to getting up and out every day and pushing themselves to get to the next level.  They are most often seen as doing things that others don’t want to do. They hold themselves accountable.

What’s the reality? It’s not always that easy. Many salespeople would say (my educated guess) that holding themselves accountable is one of the toughest things they face.

For years I’ve looked at ways to stay focused and on point with my business. There are several things I do that work, for example, my cookbook: 1.) tracking my results daily and have them roll up to measure against my goals, 2.) sharing goals with my family, and 3.) having my family share their goals. These are all things that work well.

One addition really changed the momentum – An Accountability Group.  I found a group of business owners, in my “space” that share similar goals.  They want to get better, work smarter, grow their business and learn best practices, and at the same time they want a place to go where they are held accountable.

Let’s face it, as business owners, we can do what we want when we want. We call the shots, and that can be dangerous. We need someone to say – How’s it really going?

So how do we make an accountability group work?

1. Find individuals that want more – don’t find a group of “wimps”, they’ll bring you down. Surround yourself with winners! Bonus: Find one partner that’s hitting it out of the park.
2. Establish a preset meeting time – lock it in now and keep it sacred.
3. Meet weekly – this is not a long meeting & it can be done by phone.
4. Decide on at least 3 metrics that you’ll report on each meeting. My group shares a simple red, yellow & green format and we track new appointments added, new sales and lessons learned/journaling.
5. Stay on point – you can talk about other things, AFTER you’ve readout your results.
6. How can I help you? – When someone gets “stuck” ask how you can help them.
7. The time is non-negotiable. This should be treated as the most important meeting of the week. In rare cases you may have to miss it – but don’t make it a habit.
8. End on time – that’s part of being accountable to each other! Get back to building your business.

I don’t think there’s much rocket science here. Once you’ve identified a couple of accountability partners and get this rolling you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it before.