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Please
remember my columns are copyright-protected.
Feel free to print a copy for
yourself but please do not reprint
them for distribution without
contacting me first. Thank you.
 SAVVY
SELLING - JANUARY
5, 2007
Selling
Strong in the New Year
by Michelle Nichols
EXECUTIVE
OVERVIEW
You
can align your annual sales
goals with your personal goals
to sell more effectively using
this six-step planning guide
I love the start of a new year.
As I look at my clean, fresh
calendar, I see 52 weeks of
opportunity to sell better and
live more fully. If you're like
me, it's tempting to jump right
in and start filling up those
hungry boxes with your routine
appointments and activities.
Resist that temptation!
No matter whether you keep
your calendar on a computer
or on paper, before you write
a single entry, now is the perfect
time to create a master plan
for the upcoming year. I call
this "Intentional Sales
Planning" because it helps
align your selling activities
with your intentions, and as
a result you will sell more
and be happier. My six-step
process follows:
Step 1. Review
the previous year. Did you make
enough money? Have enough fun?
Do something meaningful that
could affect the rest of your
life? If you answered no to
any of these questions, it's
time for a new plan.
Step 2. Take
some time for some dreaming
and scheming. If you could design
the year ahead, what would it
look like? Another approach
is to mentally project yourself
a year out and look back. What
do you wish you had accomplished
during that year? Set goals
to do more in areas or activities
that matter to you. These could
include work, community service,
family, friends, travel, exercise,
health, spirituality, and personal
fun.
Step 3. List
the activities necessary to
accomplish each goal. Maybe
this is the year for a "Big
Hairy Goal" (see BusinessWeek.com,
10/5/06, "It's Not Just
About Sales Goals"). If
so, you need to do things differently
from last year. For example,
if you sold 100 units last year
and you decide you want to sell
250 units this year, you will
need a new strategy. Maybe it's
time to add some extra employees,
outsource your marketing, or
delegate follow-up calls to
your customer service reps.
Remember, you don't have to
do it all yourself. In fact,
your highest returns will come
via your planning and leadership.
However, if you just want to
sell 110 units this year, you
can probably just do the same
things you did before, only
a little more or a little better.
Another way of selling a lot
more is to target larger customers.
This takes more planning and
effort up front, but many successful
sales organizations have chosen
this path. For ideas on selling
to large companies, check out
my two podcasts with Jill Konrath
and David Pearson (See BusinessWeek.com,
11/24/06, "Selling to Giants"
and 12/22/06, "Smart Sales
Strategies").
If you choose this path, don't
forget to make a plan concerning
what you want to do with your
smaller customers. I once consulted
for a company that sold two
products, one of which went
for 100 times more than the
other. They were having difficulty
servicing both customer sets.
I recommended they sell one
of the two divisions because
it was really two different
businesses. You can make money
selling to minnows or whales,
but selling to both will drive
you and your customers crazy
and drag down profits, too.
Step 4. Honestly
evaluate if you must scale back
one goal to reach a more important
goal. For example, to reach
a significant sales goal, you
may have to pass on coaching
your child's sports team or
on Sunday golf outings. Be sure
you think this through. Beware
of unintended consequences.
If it requires a sacrifice from
your family and others who depend
on you, you'll need to sell
them on your plan. If they are
behind you 100%, you can accomplish
a lot more than if they begrudge
the time you're away from them.
Step 5. Consider
if you're at that point in your
life where you don't want to
give up any of your non-work-related
goals. If so, it's time to make
peace with that and be satisfied
with just maintaining your business
activities and free up the time
and energy for your worthy lifestyle
goals.
Step 6. For
each goal, eliminate those activities
with the lowest return-on-investment
in terms of money or fun. This
is hard because you have to
admit that an activity didn't
work out the way you'd hoped.
For example, for the last few
years I have sent out a sales
newsletter to subscribers who
requested it. However, my analysis
showed that I wasn't getting
an acceptable return on the
time and expense it entailed.
So last fall, I sent out a final
newsletter announcing I was
ceasing its publication. This
freed up some time and energy
for other projects that produced
a higher rate of return.
Planning is one of the few
tasks a salesperson or business
owner can't delegate. No matter
whether it's planning a year's
work or a specific project,
it must be done, and by the
person who's ultimately responsible
for the results. As reader Ron
Hubsher paraphrased in a recent
post, "An ounce of planning
is worth a pound of frenzied
activity." Better planning
now means better sales and more
enjoyment in the coming year—and
beyond. Happy selling!
Michelle Nichols is a
professional sales speaker and
consultant based in Reno, Nevada.
She welcomes your questions
and comments. You can visit
her web site at www.savvyselling.com
or contact her at michelle.nichols@savvyselling.com.
Her toll-free number is (877)
352-9684.
Copyright 2007. All rights
reserved.
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