Yes, You Can Have Your Best Year Yet!

For most sales people the holidays are a crazy time. You’re busy closing the quarter and often the fiscal year, and the pressure is sizeable as you make sure revenue is delivered by New Year's Eve. Now that we’ve hit January, it’s important to not let that intensity die down. Instead, use it to set up a great 2011 in which you break your own sales records.

The key to sustaining such high energy and reaching such lofty goals is to master how to stay in the minds of current and potential customers as you continue to penetrate niche markets and new client bases. And that involves optimal territory management.

Step 1: Analyze and Set Goals
Review your quota and income objectives in detail. What are your typical deal sizes and average length of close? Who are your best customers and how much do they currently buy? Is their industry growing or contracting? And is your current pipeline large enough to meet your sales goals, or should it be broadened to reach your desired number of deals? Once you understand where you want to go, the next step is to find the ideal customer to get you there.

Step 2: Identify the Ideal
Customer Here is where smart prospecting comes into play. What does your ideal customer look like in terms of specific issues and characteristics? What industries and business issues are likely to generate the most interest in your goods or services? As you answer these questions, you’ll build a profile of the ideal customer that will become the filter upon which you can target top prospects.

Step 3: Do Your Research
The next step in the process is to look for solid, trustworthy information to help you identify specific companies within your ideal profile. Most people start with Internet searches, as well as tapping into existing networks for past clients, peers and colleagues who might offer referrals. In the course of your research, make sure you include a company’s history, annual profits and business associations. Not only does this help hone your prospect lists, but it provides you with more confidence when you approach these people with your value proposition.

Step 4: Align Sales Activity to Support Goals
Once you have set your goals, you must make sure prospecting and sales call activity is sufficient to build the pipeline to support those goals. Set standards today and revisit them periodically to make sure you are on track to achieve the goals. If there are gaps, make adjustments early in the year to minimize any miss in quota attainment by the end of the year.

Prospecting can be daunting, particularly in today’s business climate where companies continue with great caution to invest in new products and services. That’s one reason your plans should include a campaign to stay in touch and remain visible to your customers, particularly larger ones in your territory.

Also remember a basic principle of the ValueSelling Framework: People need a reason to change. By helping them arrive at that reason on their own, and then maintaining contact, you not only build trust but you build a loyal customer base. That can then translate into fulfilling – even exceeding – the sales goals you set today.