Sales Tips: 3 Things To Do Now at Mid-year If You Want to Make Your Number

Sales Tips: 3 Things To Do Now at Mid-year If You Want to Make Your Number

Well, the month of June is in the rearview mirror. 

For some of you, you’re staring down the second half of your calendar year. You’re either basking in the glow of your first half performance or wondering what you are going to do to make up for any shortfall and generate the revenue you need to meet your second half revenue goal. For others, it’s the beginning of a new fiscal year.  In either case, if you are a salesperson you have sales goals that have to be attained.  If you agree with that summation, let me ask you a question:

Where is your revenue going to come from?

As salespeople we are often going so fast and juggling so many opportunities (good and bad) that we don’t stop to take pause and confirm where we are heading and what we need to do in order to get there.

So let me advocate that you STOP – and put a little plan together to get you where you determine you want and need to go.  Make sense?  Here is what I’d like to propose you do now:

1. Honestly grade your pipeline using the Call Debriefing Questions:

• 
  Name, Title & Company  (If you can’t answer this one, you have a problem.)

• Buyer’s business goals? (What are they trying to accomplish?)

• Current situation? (How are they operating without your capabilities today and what is it costing them to operate this way?)

• Capabilities required? (What specific capabilities of yours (not features) do they need in order to achieve their business goals?)

• Personal/dollar value to the person/organization? (What is the potential value to the prospect of changing how they operate by purchasing or subscribing to your offering?)

• Who else do we want involved? (It’s going to take consensus from multiple people to obtain approval and receive funding. What key players do you need to speak with to get this opportunity sold, funded and implemented/activated?)

• Potential Key Player role? (Your contact, the person you have been dealing with – what is their real role?  Remember, you can’t sell to someone who can’t buy.)

• Next steps? (If these are your best opportunities and you couldn’t answer these questions, maybe your next step is to setup a Refocus Meeting and get the answers to these questions and the information you need.)

2. Deal with stale proposals with the “proposal withdrawal letter” and if possible, schedule a Refocus Meeting.

• Withdraw any proposal over ten (10) business days old. If there has been no activity after you provided them with all the information they need to make an informed selection decision, something must be wrong! (Related: Best Practices for Handling Sales Proposals)

• If they reengage after you’ve withdrawn the proposal, schedule a Refocus Meeting.

• Determine if you missed any requirements. If you did, address them.

• Determine what has to happen and when for the opportunity to close.

• Put a mutually agreed to Sequence of Events in place and manage the opportunity to closure. (Be sure to avoid these common mistakes with Sequence of Events!)

3. Create a 30-day tactical calendar – don’t try to do it all at once!

• Grade your “Top 10” current opportunities. (These are the opportunities that you plan to close to make your year.)

• Identify your top five (5) opportunities. (Out of the ten you just identified, what are the top five?)

• Facilitate a written Cost versus Benefit for your top five (5). (What is the value to the prospect of purchasing or subscribing to your offering?) Related: 6 Steps to Establishing Value with Buyers

• Develop an Implementation Plan for your top five (5). (Once they say YES, what is going to happen so they will begin to obtain the benefits they believe they are going to obtain?)

• Have your calls debriefed by a manager for the first 30 days. (Same questions I asked you above.)

• Put a Business Development Plan together for your territory. (What are you going to do to augment the leads you receive from marketing?)

If you’re not already a CustomerCentric Selling® trained salesperson you may be wondering: “What does all of this mean?” I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have. I’m always happy to help salespeople, so just call me (+800.993.1228, ext 702).

Lastly, if:

1. You’re looking for more and would like to obtain a complete understanding of what this all means
2. You’d like to be trained how to execute and practice everything I’ve just outlined
3. You would like to obtain the sales skills necessary to perform at a superior level by implementing the CustomerCentric Selling® sales process…

Then I urge you to enroll in the public CustomerCentric Selling® workshop that I’ll personally be instructing,September 12-15th. Hope to see you there!