Nine months down, three to go. Are you where you want to be? Have you exceeded your quota, or are you working to close a deal - any deal? Whatever the case, it's important to view the third quarter just like you would any other, and that entails effective sales planning. Sales trainer Jim Meisenheimer says, "At least once a year professional salespeople should dedicate a minimum of one day to strategically think about their business." If you haven't already done so, make a plan for your third quarter and how it will propel you into the New Year. Use these tips from Meisenheimer to begin your planning, and you'll be on the path to success.
"Begin your planning process with these six critical questions," suggests Meisenheimer. "Direct these questions at your business, your territory, your accounts, your customers, and naturally your competitors, and consider this process a success if you end up with more questions than answers."
1. Where are you are now? Where are you now relative to your selling results and sales skills? How's your performance? What's your relative rank within your region and within your company?
What kind of overall growth do you have in your territory and in your top 10 accounts? Where are your competitors making inroads in your accounts? How well are you managing your time in your territory? What are your biggest challenges and best opportunities for growth? Please be specific.
2. Where are you headed if you don't change anything? What's the implication for you if you don't acquire new skills? What happens to your overall performance next year if you don't make up the loss of your second-largest customer?
How will your customers react to a strategy that is really based on a "More of the same" philosophy, especially when your competitors are becoming more creative in their approach? With more work and less time available, how are you planning to manage next year when your business is expected to grow 7% across the board?
3. Where should you be headed? Do you have specific personal and professional goals? Are these goals specific and clearly defined? Are they in writing? Do you have completion dates established? For each of your top 10 accounts do you have specific objectives for sales, margins, growth rates, product mix, etc?
4. How will you achieve your objectives? You really can't "do" a goal or an objective. What you can and must do is create a written action plan detailing how specifically you plan to achieve the goals you outlined when considering question three.
For example, if your goal is to increase your sales by 6.5% in your largest account, how specifically will you do it? How many "how's" will it take to achieve your goal?
5. What are the specific details involved? The details refer to: who, what, where, why, when, which, and how as they relate to initiating and implementing your strategies. In sales, minor adjustments often create big impacts.
6. What should you measure? Always measure what matters most. One of my favorite old sayings is "What gets measured gets done." To keep you on your stated course (objectives) how will you measure your progress? What key elements of success should your review monthly? Personal growth and development are often the result of careful measurement and evaluation.
"The difference between first-place and second place is often a very narrow margin," says Meisenheimer. "It's time for a tune-up if you're serious about making this year's 4th quarter your best 4th quarter ever."
Former U.S. Army Officer Jim Meisenheimer is an author, speaker and sales trainer with years of successful selling experience. He publishes the bi-weekly No-Brainer Selling Tips Newsletter, which is packed full of information to help you win bigger sales and KO the competition. Learn more at http://www.meisenheimer.com/
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