They need to know that providing expectations, support, and accountability for their people is a central expectation of their role. In addition, they also need the support of their managers, as well as management accountability.

This alignment of expectations, support, and accountability extends from the sales head, down through all levels of management, to the line salesperson. If at any level expectations, support, or accountability are missing, execution begins to falter and alignment of activities with strategy then becomes problematic. This cascading chain of leadership responsibility is critical for sustaining the clear line of sight and linkage between sales strategy and eventual execution.

6. Do salespeople understand how their sales practices and behaviors make possible the achievement of the organization's sales strategy?
The answer to this question demonstrates the need for sales leadership at all sales management levels, but particularly at the first line. Our research has validated that clarity in expectations is essential to performing well in any endeavor.

Unfortunately, clarity is often lacking.
In a 2005 study, performers were asked what one additional management action would be most helpful to them in improving their personal performance.

The most often mentioned item was "A clear understanding of what is expected of me." In a similar fashion, research on performance expectations has established that while first-line managers claim that they give clear, set performance expectations 84% of the time, their direct reports say this occurs only 39% of the time - a huge gap.

This gap occurs for several reasons. At least two are related to sales cultures. First, since most salespeople have a sales quota for a given period, it's easy to assume that "everyone knows what's expected of them."

Of course, the problem is that the sales quota does not specify what prospects should be pursued, which accounts should be selected, what criteria should be used for qualifying prospects, what products/services should be emphasized, etc. These are the expectations that really align activity with strategy goals, not simply quotas.