Are you ready for 2016? image courtesy of noppasinw on freedigitalphotos.net
When you’re in the final weeks of the year, it’s normal to be immersed into implementing the strategy that’s going to put you at (or over) the top of your sales objectives by the end of 2015. But you also want to be looking at—and planning for—2016. It’s not too early to start planning your sales objectives for next year. Here are a few ways you can focus on the future and all its possibilities while still balancing this year’s pressing priorities:
1. Take stock of the health of your sales funnel. Do you really know what your sales funnel is telling you? Assess your funnel to discover areas of improvement that you can address now so that you enter 2016 in good shape. Savvy salespeople make it a priority to reexamine their sales funnel to reposition opportunities and realign activities based on changes at customers’ companies. This realignment is critical as deals can only close on the customer’s timeline for the new year—which may have changed with the calendar.
For accurate funnel positioning, ask yourself this question: Are my actions and expectations still appropriate to where my prospects are in their decision-making and buying process? Look at your funnel, then place an opportunity in the following funnel categories:
- Universe – if there is a broad match between your product or service and potential customers
- Above the funnel – if you have data indicating a general fit and information indicating the potential of an immediate need
- In the funnel – if you have verified a potential match and a potential trigger event spurring a change, i.e., time to dig deeper
- Best few – if there are only a few tasks left to close the deal
2. Establish a deal review process that looks at past, present, and future. A forward-looking deal review process will help you plan for meeting your end-of-year forecasts—and should also get you thinking about next fiscal year:
- Look back and reflect on performance versus goals
- Look at current activity levels from two perspectives:
- Explore whether the amount of selling activity is sufficient to support your sales targets; and
- Discover to what extent the activities are balanced across the different types of selling work being done (prospecting, qualifying, covering the bases, and closing).
- Look at the sales funnel in terms of what’s coming down the pike
Set very specific professional goals for the year. Be specific about how much you hope to deliver; what companies you hope to work with; how much money you plan on making; what areas you hope to improve upon; and what advances you hope to make in your career.
Don’t let tunnel vision trip you up. Keeping one eye on the now with the other on the next (year) is a balancing act that the successful sales professional must master. If you let your planning slip well into the first part of 2016, you’ll find yourself at midyear with no idea of how you’ll make your numbers.
AG Middle East 