"The difference between real, attainable goals and what people often label as '"goals"' are in reality nothing more than wishful thinking."
I am quite confident you as sales leaders can explain your company's corporate vision, mission, purpose, plan and goals. You should as this is part of your job, but do you know what your sales reps purpose, plan and goals are for 2018?
What's their plan? Do they even have a plan? If not, are you coaching them to develop a plan?
What are you waiting for? Sales leaders motivate, coach and educate their sales teams to grow their mindset and skill set. They are proactive and take action to insure their success.
Conversely, your salespeople need to take responsibility for their own personal development. Ask them how they intend to do that.
- What is their plan to grow their business by xx% in 2018?
- What are they going to do to enhance their attitude, skills and knowledge?
- What are they going to do to enhance their mindset and skillset?
Encourage them to build a personal development plan in the areas of sales skills, business acumen, and product knowledge so that they can add value to your clients.
SOUL SEARCHING QUESTIONS TO ASK OF YOUR SALES TEAM
- What steps will you take to insure your success?
- What will you commit to in order to insure your success?
- What is your tolerance for getting uncomfortable?
- What will this mean to you?
- Where will you be at the end of 2018?
- Why do you need to reach these goals?
What are your sales reps going to do to transform themselves as you help to facilitate and drive change?
WHY A BUSINESS PLAN?
A well written, well thought out business plan is a roadmap to success. When you want to get somewhere you don't even think twice as you enter your starting address and ending address into your smartphones and then let the GPS guide you to your final destination.
Think GPS as your sales team develops their business plan. This business plan provides the roadmap and navigates them through potential roadblocks. The end resulting in meeting and or exceeding sales quota.
This document is a plan of what to do and how they plan to do it. It is walking the walk and talking the talk.
The plan does not have to be overly complicated. It's a strategic and tactical plan for acquiring new business and growing existing business within the client base.
Let's keep this simple. Inside this plan have them think about...
- New business acquisition strategies
- New business acquisition tactics
- Existing current client growth strategies
- Existing current client growth tactics
This strategic plan is a process and has inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes. This is a process, like all processes; it may have constraints. These may be formal or informal and involves feedback from you.
PROACTIVE SALES REPS HAVE A PLAN TO DRIVE NEW BUSINESS
- This plan helps them to exceed quota.
- This plan increases the awareness within their marketplace for your company's products, services and solutions.
- This plan has them involved and participating in community events.
- This plan has them obtaining referrals from current clients.
Having them become proactive includes planning, profiling targeted accounts, executing account strategies and obtaining feedback to continuously improve performance and drive additional sales revenue.
Creating a business plan and setting goals facilitates this potential into achievable numeric objectives, i.e. sales revenue and margin growth.
Accountability is the glue that ties commitment to results
SALES REPS MUST UNDERSTAND THEIR PURPOSE
WHAT DO YOUR SALES REPS STAND FOR?
Do your sales reps have a unique selling proposition? What makes them unique? What do they stand up and pride themselves on? What are they known for by their current clients?
Have your sales reps take a stand and choose something that makes them unique. The 'one thing' they'll become known for, that unique quality they can rally around as they stand out from the sales crowd.
So what will your sales reps become known for?
THE TIME IS NOW
The final part of the business plan must detail the timeline for implementing each aspect. Once created, please don't have them nor you file it away! Make sure they keep it handy, routinely revisit it, revise it and share it with you on a monthly basis. Not only hold them accountable to it but hold yourself accountable to it. Don't allow these plans to gather dust.
In 2018, please don't invest in dust clothes. In conclusion, I encourage you to work with each member of your sales team to create that well-documented and well-written business plan. The reason this needs to happen is what would happen to your sales team...
If each sales rep lost one of their top 5 current accounts, how would they get to their budget number?
I understand, I get where you all are coming from. Every day, I walk in your shoes. I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and modern strategies into your current sales process to grow new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way, the genuine way, the authentic way!
In 2016, I was recognized by ENX Magazine as, “The Difference Maker,” as someone who is making a difference inside the B2B office technology sector. I am passionate about helping sales reps succeed in creating their online brand image
You can find more advanced training material inside the Social Sales Academy website.
I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my LinkedIn stories. Integrating the use of LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive office technology world. With great pride I transform, challenge, coach and inspire sales teams to grow new business by helping them share their story and how they communicate it out by integrating the use of social media inside the sales process. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.
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