Question: The part of sales I”™ve struggled with is tracking and getting control of what we should be doing. For all intents and purposes, forecasting is nonexistent. How do we start?
Thoughts of the day: Knowing what is expected in sales can lead to predictable, profitable growth. Figure out how much of the year”™s sales will likely roll in and how much business needs to be created. Tracking proposal priority is part of managing sales activity. A good customer relationship management system can be worth its weight in gold but needs a strong leader to implement.
The goal of any well-run company is to have predictable, profitable growth over a long period of time ”” years, not months. Revenue that is up some years but down others can destroy profits as the company constantly struggles to get ahead of the next change in direction.
Make the goal big enough to stay ahead of inflation. Resist the temptation to take on too much growth at any one time. A good growth rate for most companies is 10 to 20 percent per year. Over time, at that rate, most businesses can double revenue and triple profit.
Most companies experience rollover from one year to the next and repeat orders from existing clients that won”™t take a lot of effort to bring on. Figure out how much of the annual goal for sales will come easily, and how much has to be created from scratch.
Set separate goals for each category:
Ӣ Roll over from last year;
Ӣ Existing clients likely to reorder with little or no prompting;
Ӣ Existing and new clients with potential that has to be pursued; and
Ӣ New clients that have to be found.
Breaking sales down into these categories will help you scope the amount of effort that has to be put into sales for the upcoming year.
Tracking proposal priority
Keeping track of sales activity is essential. A spreadsheet to manage proposals can be invaluable. List all active prospects, using columns and dates to indicate what stage they are at: information gathering, confirming needs, preparing a proposal, negotiating, closed or implemented.
Put someone in charge of managing the activity in the proposal spreadsheet. That person needs to watch for a steady flow of prospects at every stage. Additionally, watch that prospects move steadily from one stage to the next. Anything that gets stuck is referred to management to look at why it”™s stuck and if they can help get it moving. The person watching the proposal spreadsheet can also predict resources needed because they can see how the volume of activity flows through the sales pipeline. With practice the spreadsheet can turn into a tool to predict future sales, based on historical trends.
In addition to a proposal spreadsheet, a customer relationship management, or CRM, system will provide valuable information regarding sales activities. Start simple. Assign someone responsibility for picking and implementing a CRM system. Make sure that person has the time, experience in sales, management skill and clout to get things done.
Plan on taking six months to a year to fully implement the system. Learn to do the basics first. Start with scheduling activities and using the system to log all contacts, which can be the most immediately gratifying parts. Users find they can look up history and see an increasingly full calendar going forward. Get people to rely on the system for information on who is/has been contacted. Boost engagement because people see the value of what”™s contained within.
Give the leader of project authority to compel people to comply. Make sure your project leader has demonstrated ability to lead and train. It”™s not the project for a rookie to cut their teeth on ”” it”™s too important to the future of the company.
Looking for a good book? Try “Cracking the Sales Management Code: The Secrets to Measuring and Managing Sales Performance” by Jason Jordan and Michelle Vazzana.
Andi Gray is president of Strategy Leaders Inc., strategyleaders.com, a business-consulting firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurial firms grow. She can be reached by phone at 877-238-3535. Do you have a question for Andi? Send it via email to AskAndi@strategyleaders. Visit AskAndi.com for an entire library of Ask Andi articles.
