Target, aim, shoot, not shoot, aim, target

Last week we looked at the key components of setting targets, this week we are looking beyond the physical number in the target and more towards how you plan to achieve the target.

There are two key aspects we are going to cover:

• The organisational roadmap for sales success
• The personal tactics to achieve success

Success is not all about the sales people, failure is not all their fault either.

At its simplest your sales target is an expression of what good likes, in a monetary sense. Too often organisations then use the monetary value as the sole measure of success or failure without looking at the root causes and therefore what can be done to turn failure into success.

The concept of "target, aim, shoot" is all about having an objective (your target), individual tactics within that objective (what you aim at) and execution (shooting). Most people who solely measure the financial results, focus on the execution (did sales achieve its number) without considering whether they were aiming at the right targets.

We regularly encounter sales teams, who, when there is an issue, treat performance management as "fire and hire". We contend that they need to look broader.

Assuming the targets make sense, then organisations need to look at the three components of a successful sales team

• The message - Marketing works very hard to create a compelling message, or value proposition that they believe will sell. All sales have to do is to tell everyone that message, go out and pitch it. But is this the best way?:
• Do you have a "sales ready message" - What is the customer's problem? What questions should sales ask? How does our offer address problems? How are we better than the competition?
• Are your sales people inventing their own messages?
• When did you last listen to how your messages are delivered to prospects and customers?
• The environment - Are you sales friendly, or do you inadvertently raise barriers to sales, are your sales people always inventing excuses and arguing that things need to be changed?
• Sales people will always take the path of least resistance, is that path the one you want them to take?
• Are you measuring the things that will drive the behaviours that will ensure you achieve target?
• Is it easy to order and deliver your solution, if you allow "tailored solutions" how easy is it to create, price and deliver a solution?
• Resources - Remember sales people are there to sell, sales managers are there to manage and your Sales Director directs.
• Do you have a plan that the Sales Director can build a strategy against?
• Do the Managers know what they have to deliver and what tactics need to be employed?
• Are your Sales People equipped to deliver against the tactics?

So what does all of this mean organisationally? If your target requires growth via acquisition, then you need to look at each of the components and check that they are supportive of your strategy

1. Are your messages acquisition or retention messages?
2. Does your environment allow you to make the decisions you need to win new business - How prepared are you to buy market share from your competitors?
3. Can you grow the market?
4. Are your resources ready for and capable of acquisition selling? - If you have made sales people redundant based on their achievement against target, have you lost many of your acquisition sales people and have you too many retention account managers?

Can your people show you their roadmap to success?

In previous postings we have discussed the concept of a personal business plan (click here to download a copy), and a key component of that was the sales plan. Without a clearly articulated plan, sales people are relying on luck to achieve their goals. This plan is not just "I will achieve £xx this year", instead it is a breakdown of the tactics that will be undertaken to ensure success:

• Sales activities:
• Sales funnel - Number of Suspects, Prospects, Ratios of forecast to actuals
• Key activities - Number of calls, meetings, quotes, etc.
• Financial breakdown - Revenue, margin, etc
• Business Mix

You should expect all sales people to have a plan, which you can track against throughout the year. If you do not believe the plan, challenge them and get your managers to coach them to be successful.

Where possible, do not give your people the plan, give them the Target, best practice around Aiming, but let them decide how they Shoot. Review how much they have shot on a regular basis and help them to adjust if necessary by looking at the external and internal environments.

Be prepared to ask for help

If you are not happy with your roadmap, whether you have the right resource mix, or how to ensure your people have effective personal plans, feel free to contact Accredit. We can give you quick feedback just by placing a comment on this blog, or we can work with you to ensure you are best placed to start the financial year in an effective manner.

Next week the client's perspective of their new year

We will examine how you have to take into account how your clients behave when building your plans.

Do you want to know more?

Either read our "Helping business drive sales" document, download the "Personal Business Plan" or contact mark.savinson@sales-accredit.com and Mark can take you through more detail.