2019 sales planing

Delusional Forecasting

  As we begin the new year how does your opportunity pipeline look? Too many business owners build their annual forecasts based on myth. They set goals that are unrealistic and often bae them on fiction. The fiction they use is the bad data in their CRM.  Some times they are not even using a CRM. They just have a list of suspects that they believe are prospects.

  How do you know if your forecast is real? You have to first understand your data. The problem however is too many leaders do things to sabotage themselves.  The require the entry of false data into the CRM, so they end up with false reports. Then they act surprised when things do work out as planned.

  There are ways to understand if your data is real.  Unfortunately, too many leaders are not willing to do the things necessary to really gain true understanding. They would prefer to believe in the hype.  They hope for the best.  All successful business people know, hope is not a strategy.

  So how can you know for sure if your forecast for this year is accurate?  You could work with someone who has a decade of experience developing 100% accurate revenue forecasts up to 2 years out.

  But you would have to be willing to take a deep hard look at your business.  If you want to be like the ostrich and just stick your head in the sand, go ahead. But while you are ignoring the danger signs your competitors will be busy taking your customers, and winning the competitive bids that you thought you had in the bag.

  You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by doing a factual pipeline review.

   So, what are waiting for?

  Its January 3rd now is the time to schedule an opportunity assessment and start the year armed with the knowledge of exactly where you will end 2019.

  Or you could just keep guessing, and see how that works out for you.  Do you think that’s what your competitors are doing?

Contact us and find out what your real 2019 forecast is today.

5 clues you should be aware of to verify if your software vendor can really deliver, or is just blowing smoke.

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1- If they ask you to pay in order to see if the software will do what you want. That is a sure sign you may become the victim of a smoke and mirrors act.

2- If it takes more than a week to set up a demo that can prove they have the capabilities you need. You might be in for a very expensive solution that after your investment fails to live up to the hype.

3- If the vendor tells you that the value is in the service they offer, and their primary answer to your questions is “We can support that but they can’t show you”. You may be in for some big trouble if you buy.

4- If they can show you exactly what you want to see, and they can do so in a reasonable amount of time, that is a company that you want to work with.

5- If they can provide you with references without having you sign a letter of intent first, that shows they have enough satisfied customers that they have nothing to hide.

7 General Orders of Sales Leadership Free for a Limited Time.

Right now you can get a Free copy of the 7 General Orders of Sales Leadership. With only 3 months left in the year make sure you have the right tools to finish 2018 strong.  Just complete the short questionnaire below.  The offer ends October 15th so don’t delay.  The free book is only available to the first 15 responses.

 

P.S.

If you miss the deadline you can still get a Free copy. Just schedule a no obligation initial business assessment. Complete the business owner survey here or call 703-226-6200 to schedule.

7 General Orders of Sales Leadership

There is a new book available called No Limit-7 General Orders of Sales Leadership.

The book is available at Amazon

In this book a number of principles are outlined for successfully leading a modern sales force.

There are ideas about modern prospecting, presenting, and even storytelling as an effective sales tool.

There is also information about how to effectively motivate your team for maximum performance.

You can get the book from Amazon for the kindle or in paperback.

Highly recommended.

Why should you talk to me?

One of the biggest challenges companies are facing is how to engage with new prospects.  Before a sales rep even picks up the phone they need to ask themselves this question. Why should this prospect talk to me?  In most cases the answer the rep comes up with, is not something the prospect would even care about.  The reason is the answer is, in most cases all about the rep.  Your prospects don’t care about you. They care about themselves.  You must give them a compelling reason that is all about them in order for them to want to engage with you.

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Your employees are not doing what you want them to. Maybe it’s not them. Maybe it’s you?

In a recent meeting with a client the business owner complained that their employees just were not doing the job they are being told to do.  I asked the owner are they sure they know what they are expected to do?  The owner said yes. I then asked did you properly train them? The owner then paused. Then told me that they expected them to know what to do when they hired them. 

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6 reasons your sales are slower than you would like.

  1. Many sales processes are not actually processes.  This ensures a false sense of reality                 when adding opportunities to the pipeline.

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