Autonomy Works Better With a Roadmap

Autonomy is important in sales. But autonomy without structure can leave people staring at a number with no clear idea how to get there.

I've seen this play out more than once.

Every sales organization has financial goals. Most have commission plans designed to incentivize what management wants to grow. But what isn't always clear is how each salesperson is actually going to get to their number.

That's when you start seeing different groups emerge.

One AE lands the big account and becomes the hero — at least for the month. Another gets lost, struggles and eventually leaves, frustrated by the lack of direction or training. Then there's the middle group. They fill out the reports, go on the required calls and keep management satisfied — but consistently miss budget.

Management's response can become predictable:

• Celebrate the hero.

• Replace the people who left.

• Put more pressure on everyone else to work harder.

But sometimes we're solving the wrong problem.

A top-down budget can make perfect sense on a spreadsheet. History, market growth, account trends and data can tell management exactly where the number should be.

But that doesn't necessarily make the goal tangible to the salesperson responsible for delivering it.

Build the Ladder

That's why I believe in combining top-down expectations with bottom-up planning.

I call it building a ladder.

Start with the overall goal and work backwards:

• What needs to come from each account?

• What business needs to be retained?

• Where is the realistic growth?

• What new opportunities need to be created?

• What needs to happen this month?

• What needs to happen this week?

Now the salesperson isn't staring at one intimidating annual number.

They have a series of smaller steps they can actually see and manage.

It also gives the manager much better visibility. You can see who's climbing the ladder, who's stuck on a step and needs help, and who simply isn't willing to climb.

That's very different from telling everyone to "work harder."

I'm a big believer in giving salespeople autonomy.

But autonomy works much better when people have a roadmap.

And replacing people should be one of the last solutions — not the first.

If your sales team has strong people but inconsistent results, the issue may not be effort — it may be the structure around the goal. At Borgwardt Revenue Advisory, I help businesses turn revenue targets into practical sales plans, forecasting disciplines and clear accountability so teams know not only what number they are expected to hit, but how they are going to get there. If your organization could benefit from a clearer roadmap to growth, let’s start a conversation.