3rd Quarter Sales Planning
My how time flies. We are already ending the second quarter and starting on Q3. So, how was the second quarter? The public companies will be a while before the numbers come out, but what I am hearing from the sales folks I know, is that they had a tough quarter. While getting meetings was doable, getting a signature was hard.
There was a nervousness in the business to business world and decisions got pushed out. Hey, just watch the news and you can understand what I mean. It is even harder for small businesses with smaller marketing budgets and fewer sales people. So, what do we do in Q3?
The first thing you do is is take a good look at where your first half business came from. Is that still a viable source? In other words if I got most of my business from web leads... will that still work? If I sold mainly to software companies... are they still a market? What industries and verticals are working and which ones are hurting? If there is a market you serve and they are hurting, can you help? Before you can plan for the next quarter, you have to do a quick analysis (not a guess, an analysis!) of the first two. Find out what worked and didn't and do more of the former and less of the latter. Re-calculate how many deals you need the remainder of the year and what the average size deal is CURRENTLY. The average may have dropped or grown, so do the calculation. Take any missed quota and add it to the remaining year and re-calculate. Lastly, see what a few small changes could do... That is, if the deal size increased because you sold an add-on on every other deal instead of evry 4th one. What would that do? What if you sold a higher value product more often instead of the moderate one? Get the picture?
Sounds simple doesn't it? Simple does not equal easy! How many sales people do you know do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result?
To create a sound sales strategy, have more information. Spend the time to really understand your market, industry, competitors, and product. Then take a hard look at where you spend your time. Then create a plan that will help you attack the market with full knowledge. Always find a way to add value to your prospects, and talk to more of the right people. Make a plan, write it down, and then work the plan.
Do the work. Guessing only makes things worse.
If you need help, download our white paper. It will walk you through the process.