Final implementation must always occur at ground level of the sales organization. What happens between sales manager and salesperson and, finally, what happens between salesperson and customer, make or break even well-made plans. In order for sales managers to play this day-to-day role, they must assess and coach individual salespeople in their sales executions with key customers. Goals and expectations must be clear and unambiguous.

These expectations will encourage coaching and dialogue between sales managers and salespeople. This process gains salespeople's commitment to what they need to do to achieve both individual targets and overall sales strategy goals.

This type of leadership and one-on-one planning is of utmost importance. It is what moves the sales force from talk to action. As Pfeffer and Sutton state, "Related to the mission and vision problem is the planning problem. Just as people confuse talk with action and mission statements with reality, they frequently confuse having a plan and doing planning with actually implementing the plan and learning something. There are file cabinets in organizations filled with plans and strategies that remain unimplemented."

5. Do the sales organization's leadership policies and actual practices support the effective execution of mission-critical sales behaviors?
A small sales force may have only one sales manager or head of sales. Larger sales organizations have multiple levels of management spread out geographically, often across continents. Regardless of size, the connection between sales strategy goals and the sales leadership at a first-line level is of utmost importance.

One must ensure that sales strategy goals, roles, expectations, support, and accountability remain aligned and executed as one moves down through levels to the first line. This requires close initial scrutiny and constant monitoring as to whether all levels are "walking the talk." Senior management, particularly, must be open and candid about critiquing its role and responsibilities in setting the tone and modeling accountability for all other levels.

To elaborate, it is the job of first-line sales managers to clarify expectations, provide necessary coaching and management support, and hold salespeople accountable for achieving sales objectives. The next level of sales management must then be doing the exact same thing for first-line sales managers.