salesmology.com . : uniquely simple sales management

Here’s an example of a communication to a high performing national accounts management sales team.  It is a group of highly charged, well-intended experts who haven’t yet discovered the power of a solid plan.  Over the coming months, we will follow their progress as their “next level” is discovered.

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The below diagram will serve as the “skeleton” for a sales plan.  To reiterate, I believe each of you are doing many of the right things to grow your portfolios but what I don’t think we’ve done well at yet is executing to an overall plan that has been communicated thoroughly.  Our overall effort has been one of “winging it” from month to month or quarter to quarter with achievements being made through sheer will, expertise and hit / miss partnerships with the field and corporate support alike.  So, I want us to strengthen the way we do our jobs – going from a “super power rocket with tiny directional fins” to a “laser guided missile on a pre-planned course to success.”  Corny maybe, but you get the point. Read the rest of this entry »

In order to accomplish beating a pre-defined goal for a set period, think of the impact of ” purposely tricking yourself and your team” such that you make your goal for the entire timeframe in a shorter period of time.  I’ll explain how, with the following numbers as an example - a 12 month period from January 1 through December 31 to achieve $1,000,000 in sales.

achieve 100% of sales plan with 20% of your time left…

If the sales plan pays incentive for going over goal, versus paying incentive for each sales dollar regardless of percent to plan / goal then a good way to achieve reaching that $1,000,000 BEFORE the end of December (the twelfth and final month) and avoid the stress associated with getting too close to the Finish Line before getting to the goal, is to move the end date forward.  Simply introduce a reason to make the twelve month, full term goal in less than twelve months - for instance, ten months.  That way, those last two months aren’t spent in panic mode while trying to pull out all the stops to make it to the goal and therefore get paid.  Rather, those two months are spent adding dollars over goal and planning for the coming year - maybe even enjoying the holiday season!

sales-mol-ogy (seylz-MOL-oh-jee) - noun: the science of simplified, practical application techniques and principles for highly effective 2 to 50 person revenue generation teams.

Prediction begets Performance

It’s a matter of knowing where you’re headed and being excited to get there. An incentive compensation prediction modeling (IPM) tool helps in that it enables each sales person to project their earnings forward based on where they see themselves perform. You know how professional athletes “see themselves” excelling BEFORE the action occurs? In that same way, your sales team needs and deserves a useful and simple method to “know what they get when they get there.”A good IPM tool works by allowing sales people to input their current sales figures; then from there enter growth parameters and model it into the future to see what their exact compensation will be when that sales performance occurs. This ability is what will drive the INCENTIVE in their incentive compensation.

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sales-mol-ogy (seylz-MOL-uh-jee) - noun: the science of simplified, practical application techniques and principles for highly effective 2 to 50 person revenue generation teams.