"Ready, shoot, aim." Unfortunately, that's the all too common
description of the field salesperson's modus operandi. In a
misguided attempt to stay busy and see as many people as
possible, too many salespeople subscribe to the theory that any
activity is good activity.
There was a time when this was true. Customers had more time,
sales was a simpler job, and any conversation with a prospect or
customer was a good thing. But times have changed, and the job of
the salesperson has become much more complex. The pressure on the
salesperson to make good decisions about the effective use of his
time has never been greater. Salespeople now must confront an
overwhelming number of potential "things to do," and that
requires them to make decisions about which customers in which to
invest their time, to prioritize their activities every day, and
to continually choose from a menu of possible activities. In
other words, salespeople must now engage in strategic planning.
Not that this is new. There have always been salespeople who have
regularly planned strategically for the effective use of their
time. It's been a characteristic of superstar salespeople and
highly effective sales forces. For that small percentage that do
it instinctively, or are encouraged to do so by their management,
it's as much a part of their routine as brushing their teeth in
the morning.
Unfortunately, that describes the minority of salespeople and
sales forces in the world. What was a practice of only the best
has now become a requirement for everyone. Most salespeople have
never been trained in the best practices, processes and
disciplines that will set them apart from the pack. In this case,
that means that most salespeople have never been exposed to the
principles, processes and disciplines of effective strategic
planning.
Let's define our terms. A strategic plan is composed of a set of
measurable goals, coupled with a list of the most important, most
effective things you (or your company) can do to reach those
goals. A strategic plan is not a detailed action plan. That comes
later. The plan itself is often limited to no more than two or
three pages. The idea is to identify the highest priority and
most effective: too much detail defeats the purpose.
Strategic planning is the process of thinking about your job (or
your company) in such a way so as to develop your strategic plan.
Creating a strategic plan for your company always involves a
dedicated chunk of time devoted to the process. So, too for a
strategic plan for a salesperson. Creating a strategic plan for
your company always involves some preparation, and a gathering of
the best minds in the company. So, too for a salesperson's
strategic plan: Preparation, and a melding of the ideas of the
salesperson and his/her manager. Strategic planning for your
company always involves the discipline to adhere to a formalized
process. So too for a salesperson.
With your company, the creation of a strategic plan is often an
energizing, inspiring event, from which everyone leaves
optimistic and full of confidence, assured that they have
identified the goals, plans and tasks that will bring them the
best results. And that is exactly the benefit for a salesperson
creating a strategic plan. Salespeople spring up out of the
strategic planning process confident that they have identified
the most effective focus for their action, that they have
identified the highest priority activities. They emerge
confident, focused and optimistic, ready to take on the world (or
at least their customers) with renewed vigor. And that's a good
thing!
How to go about it?
Set aside, once a year, a significant amount of time dedicated to
the task. I'd suggest at least a full day or two. The date of the
strategic planning session should reflect the salesperson's
selling situation. Salespeople vary in their seasonal "busyness"
depending on the industry to which they sell. For some, a time
towards their end of their fiscal year might be in order, for
others, a time at the end of their busy season. For most, a time
around the Christmas holidays works best.
One of my clients brings all his salespeople into the office for
a planning retreat once a year. In another, salespeople come
together for an annual goal setting and strategy developing
retreat. At this three-day event, they meet with their sales
manager and create specific goals for the year. Then, together
with the manager, they jointly develop the overall strategy for
achieving those goals. If your company organizes such an event,
good for you. If not, then you need to do it yourself.
Find a space where you can work virtually uninterrupted. This may
take some creativity. I doubt if it's your company office. It may
be your home if you have a room in which you can seal yourself.
One year, I was one of two people responsible for leading an
organization. The two of us drove to a state park, climbed in the
back of my old conversion van, and worked in the back of the van
all day long. We were isolated and uninterrupted.
Gather the materials you'll need: all your account folders,
account profiles, your company's goals for the year, information
about key products, services, or categories, computer print-outs
of last year's sales, maps of your geographical territory, and
anything else you may want to review.
Immerse yourself in the process. For the duration of the
planning, don't do anything else other than emergency tasks. You
want to focus your thinking on the strategic decisions you'll be
making. Any interruption will disrupt your thinking.
Focus on what you are going to produce in this planning event -
the output or result of your efforts. You are going to create
these things:
A set of sales goals for your territory.
A well-defined ABC analysis of your customers and prospects.
Individual goals and strategic plans for each of your key (A)
accounts.
A basic territory plan.
Sounds arduous, and it is. But, when you spend disciplined,
focused time thinking about these things in detail, you will find
it to be much easier than it looks. You will prepare the best,
most effective plans that you are capable of; and that will free
you to implement effectively when you are in the field.
Later in the year, you won't be tempted to head out on Monday
morning without a clear plan in mind, because you have spent this
time formulating the plan. And when the press of customer
problems and inquiries threatens to overwhelm you and force you
into becoming too reactive, you'll be held on track by the goals
and plans you created in your planning discipline.
Outcomes...
Let's consider each of these four outcomes of your planning
retreat.
A set of sales goals for your territory.
Your work should lead you to a series of sales goals for your
territory. In order to get there, you must first determine the
categories of goals that you are going to create. It may be that
you work for a company that has already determined this, like my
clients described above. If so, good for you. If not, then it
will be up to you to determine your own set of categories.
Depending on your unique set of products and services as well as
your company's emphasis, you may create goals for the following,
most frequently used, categories:
Total sales
Total gross margin
Number of units
Total sales per product category (dollars, gross margin, or units)
for each of several categories of product or service that you
sell.
Goals for acquiring new accounts.
This is just a list of the most common sales goals. You can have
a virtually unlimited variety of goals. The categories of goals
are up to you, your company, and your manager.
I'd suggest no more than five categories. Remember, one of the
reasons you create goals is to help you focus your energies on
the most important issues, and thus become more effective. More
than five goals defeat that purpose. Too many goals cause you to
diffuse your energies, not focus them.
Let's illustrate. Assume that I sell sophisticated cleaning
equipment and supplies to three different market segments:
manufacturers, school systems, and shopping malls. My product
line consists of a series of heavy-duty floor cleaning machines
and the associated supplies used by those machines. I select the
following categories to create goals:
Total sales.
Total number of cleaning machines
Total number of "Superscrubbers," our new, high-tech machine.
Number of new accounts.
Total sales of supplies (as opposed to equipment).
Now that you have determined which categories on which to focus,
you next need to create specific numbers for each. This is where
the art comes in. You consider your company's goals, you consider
your understanding of what the market is doing, you factor in
your best understanding of what your competitors are doing, and
you consider your customers' situations and yours. Out of this
comes your best attempt to predict a result that will cause you
to stretch, but not be unreasonable.
I prefer to look at each account individually, think about it,
and determine its likely contribution to each of the categories.
Examine each account, analyze the potential, consider your
situation, and determine a realistic goal. Go on to the next
account, and do the same. Then compile each of the numbers from
the specific accounts, and presto! You have an annual number.
Back to the example. Let's say we've done this, and come up with
a set of annual goals that looks like this:
Total sales = $1,765,000
Total number of cleaning machines = 71
Total number of "Superscrubbers" = 16
Number of new accounts = 10
Total sales of supplies = $1,000,000
Now you are ready to move unto the next step.
A well-defined ABC analysis of your customers and prospects.
When it comes to strategic planning for salespeople, one of the
most important strategic exercises is determining in which
accounts you want to invest the bulk of your sales time. Too many
salespeople become very reactive in their decisions, responding
to whoever happens to be on the other end of the phone. Others
find themselves in a route-type rut, mindlessly traversing their
sales territory out of habit.
The cure to both of these is to strategically think about the
potential of each account, and then to rank each account into one
of three categories based on its potential. I describe a system
to do this in Chapter Six of my book, 10 Secrets of Time
Management for Salespeople.
The result of this exercise is to have graded each of your
prospects and customers as either "A" (highest potential), "B"
(medium potential), or "C" (low potential).
Individual goals and strategic plans for each of your key (A)
accounts.
If you are in the kind of selling position where you are
attempting to sell more to certain key accounts, then you need to
create specific, monthly strategic plans for each of those key
accounts. For now, let's assume that you have prioritized your
accounts and that you have a list of your "A" accounts.
In the typical sales territory, around 50 - 80% of your business
is going to come from this group of accounts. That means that
these accounts warrant special attention, special preparation,
and special thought. You ought to apply the disciplines we have
already discussed to your "A" accounts. In other words, create
annual sales goals for each "A" account, and think about how you
are going to do that, one account at a time...
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