Ep5: The 7 Deadly Sins in Selling - #5 Not Having A Documented and Measurable Sales Plan

Learn more about my Sales Training & Coaching programs at www.SalesMentorU.com

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail" … this is so true in the world of sales. Beyond having an annual sales quota, every salesperson needs to have a plan to achieve, in fact overachieve, his or her numbers. Salespeople need to build an annual strategy, broken down into monthly goals and objectives. 

Quarterly, the salesperson and sales manager should review these goals and make any needed adjustments to ensure the completion of the plan. This sin is as much an issue for salespeople as it is for sales management. 

There are two modes of selling:  

1. The first we refer to as "hunting", or identifying, qualifying and winning new accounts. 
2. The second we refer to as "farming", or account management of existing clients, ensuring maximum repeat and referral potential. 

In today's economy, the luxury of having a team of hunters and a team of farmers is all but gone. Each salesperson must manage their existing customers while continually prospecting for new business.  

Many salespeople are resting on the laurels of their previous big wins, giving their prospecting, low to no priority. Prospecting activity needs to be given priority and requires a real discipline. 

Every salesperson should not only have a revenue quota, but also a monthly quota for meeting with new prospective clients. Nobody can manage results, only the activity that leads to results. And you cannot manage, what you do not measure.

QUESTIONS: 

• How confident are you in your existing documented sales plan?  
  
  
• How many new business meetings do your salespeople hold consistently on a monthly basis?  
  
  
• Is this level of activity enough to meet your company's growth projections?

Learn more about my Sales Training & Coaching programs at www.SalesMentorU.com