After treating myself to a nice Florida vacation, shovelling 7 feet of sand, while my co-workers back in NYC were shovelling 7 feet of snow, I am ready to attack yet another year of sales success.
Performance coach Don Greene, a former Green Barrett, shares his experience in Ranger school on how to handle a military situation. It is a 4 point field order adapted here for sales pros:
1. Figure out the situation - what are your latest stats, how many new customers did you gain, how many did you lose, how much did you gain in revenue and in profit, and look at the current financial situation of your market. It all comes down to Recon. Don’t assume that what worked last year is necessarily going to work this year. Have a succinct knowledge of the terrain you will be required to cover.
2. Determine the mission – whatever it may be: increase new sales by 10%, launch a new product, retain your biggest customers. Take the goals provided by management and add your own to them. Be determined to complete this mission.
3. Figure out execution and logistics – plan, plan, plan. What is your strategy, which customers are going to hit up first. How can you adapt your offer to maximize revenue, retain the customer or gain new customers. Factor everything in, what and when it needs to be done. Bring in your manager on this because you will need his or hers support.
4. Prepare for contingencies – you lost a big account, a prospect worth tens or hundreds of thousands that was a sure thing failed to come in? When navigating perilous terrains (especially in economic times such as this) you have to be prepared for everything. If you have set targets, make sure that you project revenue that is several time bigger than your target. Not all of your projections will come in. Stay in touch with existing accounts and make sure they are catered to and their needs are acknowledged and resolved to the best of your company’s abilities. Many accounts will use the current situation to make a move, especially if they have been unsatisfied with your service for a while. And this may happen only because a competitor offers them a better price. Stay on top.
This is it. Use this to plan Quarter 1, and then the first half of the year and then the rest of the year.
