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Great sales and business results don’t happen by accident or luck. They happen because teams are being strategic, proactive, and brave!
Being in sales myself, I understand the sprint to the finish line! The rush to close out the year strong, hit your targets, and lock-down any opportunities from the past. Strategic planning for the future is easy to push onto the back burner, but as the saying goes – if you fail to plan, you plan to fail!
Now some of you may be thinking; “2023 is coming whether I’ve planned for it or not – I’ll figure it out when it gets here” or “I come up with great plans on-the-fly! I don’t need to start planning yet.”. There are so many benefits to planning right now – from reduced strain on leadership, to having an edge over the competition. Still need some convincing of why you and your team should be making strategic planning a priority?
Check out the top 5 reasons you should be strategic planning NOW:
1. Understanding the company’s future plan helps to empower employees & increase accountability
It is incredibly important for employees to understand where their company is headed, why they’re headed in that direction, and the role they play in helping the company get there. It not only helps people to feel connected and organized, but it creates a buy-in and builds accountability!
2. Strategic Planning reduces future strain on leadership
Employees with a clear sense of direction require less from managers and leaders. Everyone has a lot on their plates & rarely does a leader have an excess of time to spend monitoring and delegating to-do lists to employees. Micromanagement isn’t needed if you’ve created the right environment and defined the work that needs to be accomplished through strategic planning!
3. Waiting until December to plan for the following year is too late
December is arguably one of the busiest months for sales leaders and teams. Everyone is in overdrive to hit their goals, close out any floating opportunities, and get out Christmas shopping! It is incredibly difficult to get teams together for strategic planning sessions, and doesn’t leave much time for any findings to be digested and deliberated. Strategic planning is not something to rush. Planning early in October or November leaves time for employees to consider the strategies, come up with new suggestions, soak-in the information & close the year feeling prepared for what’s to come.
4. Strategic planning resets the company’s compass
It’s easy for organizations to fall out of being proactive and into a reactive mode. Strategic planning is the reset for your company’s compass – getting you back on track and back in the driver’s seat. It allows you to see where you may have strayed from your ideal path throughout the year, while mapping out how to navigate your way back to your goal destination.
5. Planning now can give you the upper hand over your competitors
A little planning can go a long way – especially if you’re in a competitive market! Analyzing not only your organization’s performance but also your competition is a fantastic way to pinpoint areas for improvement, growth, and differentiation. The sooner you have this information, the better you can plan and strategize for the next quarter (or even year!).
If you’re ready to start strategic planning NOW – download our Strategic Key Account Plan, 3-Year Goal Planning Table, and Ideal Client Analysis templates!
Looking for something to get the whole team on board with Strategic Planning? Introduce some fun, accountability, and teamwork by kicking off a Strategic Planning Workshop – reach out to Catherine for more details!
Lisa is driven by the mantra – Be Strategic. Be Pro-active. Be Brave. – and has been successfully training and coaching sales leaders and their teams to do the same for over 15 years. As the President of Teneo Results since 2003, she has trained thousands of sales professionals at more than 250 companies across North America. She transitions salespeople away from the standard “product & price” approach to having purposeful business conversations with their customers that drive results.
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After a roller coaster of a ride in 2020, you don’t want COVID to be one of the factors getting in the way of achieving your goals in 2021!
According to several sources such as Harvard Business Review, Objective Management Group, and Sandler Research Centre – only 43% of sales professionals achieved their sales goals in 2019. In 2020, it is speculated that this number was reduced closer to 40%. How many of you and your sellers achieved your goals in 2020?
Let’s rise to the challenge of achieving more goals in 2021 to increase the economic vitality. To achieve your sales goals this year, you need to be 100% committed to doing what it takes and 110% committed to saying no to any distractions that may get in the way.
Here are the Top 7 factors getting in the way of achieving your sales goals:
#1. Your Boss!
The #1 reason why sales professionals don’t achieve their goals is their boss!
If you are a sales professional – set your own goal and own it!
If you are the sales leader, here is what you can do: Stop being their boss and become their coach! When a sales professional is provided a goal or given an increased percentage to achieve next year’s goal, it doesn’t work. Why? Because it is the boss’ goal and not their goal – they don’t own it and therefore it’s not meaningful to them. Ask your individual sales team members what goals they want to achieve.
Reality check: Their sales goal is typically higher than the goal you would set for them!
#2. One Year Sales Goals are Not Enough!
Where do want to be in 3 years? What sales goal do you want to accomplish in the next 3 years? Perhaps its doubling your sales goal, becoming a Sales Leader, or landing a big client or contract. Think bigger and set your 3-year vision & goals, then map out your 1-year goal from there.
Reality Check: Many one-year goals don’t get sales professionals excited and committed to their future.
#3. High Maintenance Customers who take up a lot of your time but give you very little in sales.
To achieve your goals, be proactive and focus your time on your ideal profitable customers. Calculating your return on time invested (ROTI) and analyzing your current client list and time spent with each, could really bring to light who you should be spending more (or less) of your valuable time with.
Reality Check: You are probably spending too much time with a few high maintenance clients who are not contributing enough to your sales revenue.
#4. Winging It – Not having a weekly plan that will help you achieve your 3-year & 1-year goals.
How many customer meetings do you have scheduled for the next week or the next two weeks? Pre-COVID, it wasn’t unheard of for a salesperson to spend multiple hours travelling to see a customer face-to-face, usually aiming to stop by to see other customers or prospects that are nearby. Now in the age of virtual selling, salespeople should be making the most of their saved travel time by dedicating this time to research and preparation for virtual customer meetings or prospecting. Turning those chunks of time that are typically spent in the car into productive time should increase your strategic, proactive, and even brave time.
Reality Check: Most sales professionals are more reactive than proactive with their time.
#5. Pipeline is not Robust Enough
With no tradeshows, events, or conferences during most of 2020, pipelines are getting thinner. Sales Professionals must be strategic, proactive, and brave to consistently prospect to ensure there is enough in their pipeline to achieve their goals.
Reality Check: Most sales professionals don’t know their closing ratio.
#6. You Fall Down & Don’t Get Up Fast Enough
Sales is a roller coaster and there are many highs and lows, some even forcing us to fall when customers blow you off or reject your proposal – sending us in a downward spiral. COVID forced many sales professionals into a downward spiral in the past year, the only thing that matters is how quickly we can break that spiral, get back up, and keep trying.
Reality Check: We all fall; the difference is whether you get up faster than your competitors.
#7. Excuses
There is no shortage of excuses you can make as to why you can’t achieve your goals – especially after the whirlwind of a global pandemic. Other excuses can be the economy, customers not returning your calls/emails, a competitor having a better price, or not being able to meet F2F with customers. Identify your biggest obstacles then create strategies and an action plan to overcome each obstacle. When you encounter these obstacles, you’ll be ready to tackle them…no excuses.
Reality Check: Many sales professionals are more creative to create excuses than create strategies to achieve their goals.
The past year has been full of adjustments and experiments, goals are no exception. As a sales community, being aware of these top 7 factors will help you be strategic, proactive and brave to achieve your 2021 goals.
Download our complimentary 3-Year Goal Planning Template here to help you and your team set meaningful goals that motivate and excite you!
Lisa is driven by the mantra – Be Strategic. Be Pro-active. Be Brave. – and has been successfully training and coaching sales leaders and their teams to do the same for over 15 years. As the President of Teneo Results since 2003, she has trained thousands of sales professionals at more than 250 companies across North America. She transitions salespeople away from the standard “product & price” approach to having purposeful business conversations with their customers that drive results.
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Are you a Sales Road Warrior who is realizing that COVID is changing the way you can sell?
Even though some customers don’t want to turn on their cameras, buyers are telling us that virtual selling is more efficient and effective than the F2F meetings of the past.
The first change to virtual selling that needs to happen is with Sales Professionals. In a recent webinar, 42% of sales professionals stated that they realize they need to embrace virtual selling as it is here to stay. Additionally, 35% stated that human disconnection from their customers & team is widening their sales performance gap, making it more difficult to achieve their 2020 sales goals. 43% stated getting really good & confident to apply the PURPOSE Consultative Framework in a virtual platform would help them to accelerate their sales recovery.
Self Talk – What is the self-talk that needs to change the most to confidently sell virtually?
- I can learn different virtual platforms 10%
- Customers/buyers will buy from me virtually – 7%
- I can sell as well virtually as F2F – 27%
- I can do an interactive Lunch n’ Learn or demo using different platform features with polls & chat box – 9%
- I must embrace virtual selling, as F2F Customers Meetings will be the exception this fall – 47%
Which Factor is Widening your Sales Performance GAP?
- Human Dis-Connection – 35%
- Commitment – 11%
- Prospecting – 22%
- PURPOSE Consultative Conversations – 16%
- Presenting Solutions to Solve a Problem – 15%
Which Strategy will Accelerate your Recovery? Choose Top 2
- Changing your Mindset – 42%
- Goals – to get you excited & committed – 30%
- Prospecting Virtually – with a 90-Day Prospect Blitz – 39%
- Get REALLY good & confident to apply PURPOSE in a virtual platform – 43%
- Presenting Proposals to Solve Problems with Next Step Follow-up – 22%
Sale Professional Advice:
To build rapport and trust during a virtual call, it begins with your mindset, turning on your camera and asking your customer to turn on your camera (all you have to do is ask and they will – it works be for me about 98% of the time) and the apply the PURPOSE Consultative framework. Download PURPOSE template here.
Sales Leaders Advice:
What is your Sales Leader Mindset – do you want to turn your Sales Road Warriors into Tech Titans? Your team needs a strong leader and coach to help them embrace the new way of selling and it begins with you, your mindset and the tools you can provide to them to confidently sell virtually.
Lisa is driven by the mantra – Be Strategic. Be Pro-active. Be Brave. – and has been successfully training and coaching sales leaders and their teams to do the same for over 15 years. As the President of Teneo Results since 2003, she has trained thousands of sales professionals at more than 250 companies across North America. She transitions salespeople away from the standard “product & price” approach to having purposeful business conversations with their customers that drive results.
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What are you doing to challenge yourself other than work?
This summer, I chose to do something different and push my self out of my typical comfort zone of half-marathon running. With great summer weather and warm lake temperatures – I was challenged to test my abilities to conquer a triathlon to work through the mental challenges of COVID. At first, I didn’t even know what their qualifications were, other than it was a combination of a swim, bike, and run. After some research, I discovered there are several different levels. The “sprint” level of 20km biking, 5km running, and a 750 metre swim was exactly the mental and physical challenge that I needed to help me conquer the challenges of COVID, and we could create our own social triathlon with no official races offered.
Here was the mental and physical challenge for us; my challenge-partner Monika has not been on a bike for several years, and I had not swam for almost 40 years. Even though we love boating – I rarely get off the boat and into the water to actually swim – so this was the biggest challenge for me.
For as much as I procrastinated swimming, I actually enjoyed it and found it invigorating to get fully immersed in the water and just swim. Its very similar to prospecting – most people hate it and procrastinate, but once you get in the water and start swimming – you actually like it – just like making those calls! You can’t just dip your toe into the water – the best strategy is to just jump in and do it!
Here’s what I learned about training and completing this triathlon, that is similar to sales during COVID.
1. A thrilling goal and challenge will help you get out of the mundane and push yourself out of your comfort zone.
2. Swimming is like prospecting, its hard to get started – but once you start, its invigorating and worth the effort!
3. When you transition from the bike to the run – your legs feel heavy and its hard to get going. You just need to persevere, and your determination will get you through the run and this fall selling season.
4. A great coach can provide you with strategies and tips to improve your endurance!
5. It’s more fun to do with others! My cottage-buddy and fellow female business owner were needing the extra challenge and reason to meet every Saturday morning to train for the disciplines.
6. Add in the fun! We enjoyed a coffee after each bike ride and did the same during the triathlon. We don’t take enough time for coffee breaks in between our sales calls during the day.
7. Celebrate! We high-fived after each discipline as well as when we finished the triathlon. We later enjoyed an incredible Celebration Dinner at the cottage by toasting with prosecco and my favourite Okanagan wine. Make sure to celebrate your sales achievements!
What’s next? We both agreed, we will definitely do this again next summer with even more training to improve our times. We also realized the importance of having a physical personal goal – especially during COVID to re-fuel and strengthen our mental and physical well being.
What will you do this fall to create your own personal COVID challenge?
Lisa is driven by the mantra – Be Strategic. Be Pro-active. Be Brave. – and has been successfully training and coaching sales leaders and their teams to do the same for over 15 years. As the President of Teneo Results since 2003, she has trained thousands of sales professionals at more than 250 companies across North America. She transitions salespeople away from the standard “product & price” approach to having purposeful business conversations with their customers that drive results.
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Are you ready to make your pipeline sizzle like this summer heat, and crank up your sales performance?
Its easy to become a sweaty mess stressing about prospecting, but it’s a necessary step all Salespeople need to take in order to fill that pipeline and make up for the Covid crash this Spring.
Here’s three easy steps you should take to develop your prospecting goals, activities and results:
1. Goals
What are your sales goals for the remainder of the year? Do you have to make up for any sales lost this spring? What sales will come from existing clients? How much business do you need to secure in the next 90 days to ensure you will achieve your 2020 sales goals?
For example: Your sales goal is $1M for the year. You have secured $450,000 to-date. You have $550,000 for the next 6 months. You want to secure $350,000 in the next 90 days with $100,000 coming from new customers. Your average sales is $25,000 that’s only 4 new customers. This is do-able!
2. Prospecting Activities
With limited travel, you can block more time for prospecting! You want to block a time in your calendar when you think your buyer will be available to take your call or respond to your email. Typically, most people are in meetings at 9am, 11am, 1pm, or 3pm – you will want to consider alternative times for your prospecting blitz.
Examples:
5 By 5: This means making 5 calls everyday by 5pm
10 before 10: 10 calls/emails before 10am
13-13-12-12 = 50: 13 calls/emails on Tuesday, 13 on Wednesday, 12 on Thursday and 12 on Friday
Personally, I find early morning between 7:45am – 8:55am the best time to make prospecting calls. I commit to 10 phone calls and follow it up with the Double Whammy of an email or text to the same prospect.
3. Results
Applying the Double Whammy approach will increase your response results by almost 50%! In addition, customizing your email to your prospect, their organization and the challenges they are facing will also improve your results.
It’s easy to get distracted or procrastinate each day, so focus on the results you want to accomplish.
Example:
You will secure 3 calls each week to have PURPOSE Business Conversations, to better understand your prospect’s business and explore how you can provide solutions.
3 calls x 12 weeks = 36 new prospective consultative calls to hit your goal of securing 4 new customers in the next 90 days.
Prospecting can be hard, daunting, or flat-out scary. Putting your focus on your goals, specific prospecting activities, and most importantly the results you want to achieve can make the process manageable. You’ll be surprised at how many new customers you can secure by stepping out of your comfort zone and focusing on the right things!
Looking for more reading on prospecting? Check out some of our past blogs below!:
7 Ideas For Writing Better Prospecting Emails
SUMMER SIZZLE PROSPECTING BLITZ
Why Buyers Ignore Your Calls and What To Do About It
Lisa is driven by the mantra – Be Strategic. Be Pro-active. Be Brave. – and has been successfully training and coaching sales leaders and their teams to do the same for over 15 years. As the President of Teneo Results since 2003, she has trained thousands of sales professionals at more than 250 companies across North America. She transitions salespeople away from the standard “product & price” approach to having purposeful business conversations with their customers that drive results.
