It’s a new year and a new decade… you’re not the only one who’s struggling to get back into the swing of things!
It’s a time of year that can be exciting but that can also generate a sense of panic. If you’ve been struggling with motivation this January then now’s the time to get up and get your sales plan sorted. Unfortunately, we all know how busy the first month back after the holidays can be…
Our prospects and customers are too busy to hear your pitch, catch up or even pick up the phone. There’s nothing we can do, right? WRONG!
So, what’s the plan?
Rather than a) hitting the ‘panic’ button and frantically spamming every contact in our CRM or b) opting for the ‘ostrich approach ‘of burying our heads in the sand, it’s an ideal time to holistically assess our portfolio and the wider sales landscape, create a methodical and considered plan – and keep that momentum going.
I’ve created an online how to guide which allows you to get your plan together…
Begin at the end
Before we delve into the ‘how we get there’, let’s make it clear where ‘there’ is and break it down into bitesize, manageable chunks. An end revenue figure is meaningless in isolation. So, work backwards with some simple questions:
- What’s your remaining target?
- What’s the average value of a sale?
- How many accounts do you need to win in order to reach target?
- What’s the average number of meetings undertaken in order to close a sale?
- How many meetings is that per month?
With a clearer direction of what you need to accomplish (and in what timeframe), you can start looking at the how.
You’re not superman (or woman)
There’s a lot we can do to build business with our clients. However, no matter what your super powers, the reality is you can’t do everything with every client.
The ability to identify and assess those key accounts that represent the greatest potential, and then make informed decisions that will maximise value from those accounts, is what sets a great sales professional apart from a mediocre one.
80 percent of your sales comes from just 20 percent of your customers.
So, why work harder when you can work smarter? The first principle to apply to any successful sales plan is targeting. By analysing sales data and focusing on where business can be won, we can create a clear roadmap to that revenue goal.
Which doors? The art of territory planning
Back in the day, territory mapping literally meant rolling out the local A-Z and red marking those streets you’d be knocking on the doors of. Thanks to the wonders of technology and a bit more science and methodology, there’s a bit more to it these days.
Territory planning ensures you’re targeting the right customers, at the right time. A sales territory can be defined as a customer audience or segment, identified by a particular characteristic. For example; sales potential, product, industry, or perhaps purchase history. Territory planning helps identify what those segments need, and when.
The key steps to territory planning include:
- Gathering metrics and insights about territory accounts to complete a situational analysis: where are the opportunities for more value? Are we as involved as we should be for this account? What do we need to do to strengthen the relationship?
- Agreeing key accounts: looking at metrics such as the relationship level or performance and potential to define those accounts that are your priority to target
- Key account plans: define the objectives for those accounts to tap into and maximise the value
- Action plans: the brass tacks or tactical actions required to hit those all-important objectives
- Execution of plan: getting those plans off paper…and into action
Who’s the best looker?
You know you need to target the right accounts; but how do you know which are the most attractive and viable?
There’s a danger – particularly in those organisations with a recurring revenue model – to assume that last year’s winners will be the front runners for a repeat show. While performance is a vital factor, don’t ignore those that may currently be small (or not even currently doing business with you) but have great potential.
Effective portfolio analysis will enable you to evaluate your accounts against a combination of set criteria. This safeguards against the risk of blindly jumping headfirst into your portfolio and haphazardly targeting on a whim.
So, begin by listing your key accounts and ask yourself: –
- What sales did they generate in 2019?
- What share do your competitors have?
- What’s the potential chance of winning this business as a %?
- What’s the amount you could realistically win?
Where are we?
The dreaded relationship question challenge of, “Where are we? Where is this going?” actually has a vital role to play in analysing your territory.
Creating an index that considers the quality of your relationship with the account – based on metrics such as the level of contact (are you chatting with the Director, or a grass-roots employee?) or financials (have you got an agreed budget, or are they playing their cards close?) will provide you with a clear idea of where you currently stand. Is this a match made in heaven? Or are they going to break your heart?
If the relationship isn’t there, it doesn’t matter how much potential there is. It’s going to take some courting first: and that’s something to factor into your plan.
Be SMART about it
Yes, the fail-safe SMART objective is an oldie, but it’s a goldie – for good reason.
Defining objectives for those key accounts gives you much-needed focus to win those deals and reach that target. The reasoning is simple: every account is unique. Your plan of attack needs to be too. There’s no gain to drawing up a list of accounts and simply saying, “right, I’m gonna go sell to these now.”
So, one more time, set objectives to develop each account that are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time-bound
For example, if your account ranks as ‘poor’ quality in terms of who you’re talking with, your objective may be:
To meet 3 people of medium management level or above by November 2018.
Setting clear objectives provides you with a roadmap of not just who, but what to focus on as part of your sales plan.
Lights, camera…ACTION
You’ve pulled your keys accounts into the spotlight, you’ve written out the script. Now, it’s time for action. This is the ‘HOW’ element: the tactical actions required to realise those all-important objectives.
Looking back at our SMART objective, this could be broken down into the following actions:
- Identify stakeholders and assess using influence/interest analysis by X
- Follow high interest/influence stakeholders on LinkedIn by X date
- Introductory calls with stakeholders by X date
- Meeting with stakeholders by X
Like your objectives, your actions should be SMART – but think more granular.
Every journey…
… begins with a single step.
When you’re faced with a heavy target, intense pressure to bring in revenue, a mile-long list of territories and a silent mobile with no opps jumping at you, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Don’t panic. Once you begin to break it down into logical steps, it becomes far more manageable.
The process of drafting a sales plan may have traditionalists scoffing (“just pick up the phone!”) but experience shows, a strategic approach is tremendously powerful. Ultimately, if you’re setting off on a journey without a map, you’re going to end up lost.
A sales plan is your GPS. Use it.
How can you get started?
Here’s the beauty of it… The Sales Training Academy’s online approach means you receive all of the benefits of my sales coaching at your fingertips. Oh, and did I mention that it was absolutely FREE with no strings attached? Sorry, I should’ve said that earlier!
My “Create a Winning Sales Plan in just 20 minutes” course takes you from having no direction to getting you on your way to sales success. We’ll cover why you need a sales plan and the art of territory planning. After that, we’ll make sure that you’re targeting the right people and begin to set your SMART objectives. Finally, I’ll show you how you’re going to go about putting it all together and, VOILA! A sales plan to ensure you/your sales team are on track to starting the new decade off with massive amounts of success.
Don’t just take it from me…
Gilly pressed on us the value of being more active on LinkedIn, posting and interacting with others as well as building our networks. She showed us our engagement scores and how to increase these to help with our prospecting.
Gilly found some inconsistency in our messaging and positioning, so we worked to create an elevator pitch to use when prospecting. As part of the sales process, she got us focusing on the the sales process, she got us focusing on the problem: engaging with the prospect to understand the challenges they were facing, and how our solution would help solve those
Neil Ormesher, Managing Director, Danbro
So there you have it!
This online course will give you a full sales plan with clear, manageable goals and the tools to implement them, and I’ll say it one last time… IT’S COMPLETELY FREE! So what are you waiting for? Don’t forget to let me know how you get on!