Sales Planning Executives and Managers

A company we are working with wants it's sales professionals to penetrate more large, corporate accounts. The sales cycle for these accounts is obviously longer and more complex than other business opportunities they have worked in the past. The problem with the company's strategy is its sales team is paid on a 100% commission basis that is predicated on B to B daily transactions of buying and selling. As a result the teams focus is imme...

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I can't believe we're into 2012! As we review with many of our clients what they have accomplished in 2011 there are direct correlations between those who had a strategic sales plan and worked it routinely and those who didn't. An old mentor of mine use to say if it isn't written down it doesn't exist. Getting alignment of the overall company's objectives and goals along with the sales team and each sales professional in a written for...

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When you're in business, you probably have a business plan, marketing plan, and other plans in place to make your business shine, but does sales planning even cross your mind? Sales planning is sort of like the redheaded stepchild because companies don't necessarily think they need a plan to sell their product. They might believe that marketing is more important than sales planning, but that's where they're wrong. Here are four reasons every b...

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I was presenting to a sales team in Florida last week and during a question and answer session a sales professional asked, “I am getting some business from my client, but how do I get more?” Now, that is a loaded question. I hardly knew where to start. Here is a check list of questions you need to find answers to before you develop a strategy to increase your sales from a current customer: 1.      What per...

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The owner of one of our clients wanted to improve his top line sales performance. Since most of his sales team was 100% commission, they functioned very independently with focus on their respective customers and problems. There was little semblance of a functional sales team feeding off one another, sharing experiences, and business. Each sales person was an entrepreneur with individual ideas and tactics loosely associated with the organiza...

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This is the last in the series of four blogs on sales compensation; the hybrid or combination model. As a quick review we covered: Aligning your selected compensation plan with management's goals and the sales professional's day to day activities. Ensuring reinforcement comes as close to the desired sales behavior as possible. The strengths and weaknesses of the 100% base and 100% commission models. The hybrid or combin...

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There is a great commercial for Travelers Insurance with the cute dog worrying about the safety of his precious bone, ala investment, which is keeping him up at night with the background music of Trouble by Ray La Montagne.

The poor dog's consternation is indicative of today's Business Owners, VP's of Sales and Sales Professionals.  They are all worrying about their business and sales performance. Just as in the commercial the answer to reduce the anxiety is to have a solid business and sales plan to follow.

The problem is the vast majority of small to medium size businesses simple wing it when it comes to planning. They hope against hope that things will magically work out, relying on luck and good intentions. Having a strategic sales plan that is aligned with the enterprise's strategic business plan is not a luxury; but rather a necessity in today's complex business environment.

Creating a written roadmap using one of the many available planning formats will prevent those sleepless nights of worry!

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At a recent sales seminar I was asked by a sales manager,  "which sales people statistically should I spend the most time coaching and managing?" I responded by asking, "where are you currently spending the majority of your time?" His response, "with his the problem performers." Unfortunately this is frequently the case. Sales managers spend their precious coaching and management time with the poor performe...

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I was consulting with a client helping them create their strategic sales plan.  The concept and notion of 'the customer is always right' was brought up as a stop gap between sales and operations. The management team stated that repeatedly the sales team seemed to drop this "bomb" on the entire enterprise causing internal strife and sub-optimizing profits. The client sighted the typical mantra from Sales: if ...

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I was golfing with a client in the typical business scramble and the twosome we were playing against was having a little trouble. They started to try  and change their respective swings in mid round. My client said something very profound, "if they didn't bring it with them they won't find it here!" We ended up winning the round. I thought about how true my client's statement was, preparation is everthing in business, sales and li...

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