Surviving January in Vermont means taking a long look at the woodpile and measuring what's left balanced against the need to heat the house for the next three months on one hand and, on the other, making sure that all of the wood gets consumed so that I'm not hauling unused wood back to the woodlot up on the ridge.

The good news about last winta' is that we did not use a lot of wood-maybe only two cords. The bad news is that I ended up having to haul three cords back into the woodlot and restacking it up on the ridge since the LP will not allow the ugly wood tent to stay up during the summer.  Must agree with the LP on this; the grey tarped wood tent really is ugly.

But, this winta', I've already gone through two cords and have a bit less than three more to go, however, I also know that we have three more months of Vermont cold, snow and the dreaded ice storms, so now it's all about calculating the equation of balancing creature comfort against wood hauling against the cost of operating the backup electricity baseboard heaters.  Ugh!  Tough decisions.

But then a few years ago, I did figure out that the mental and physical cost (lots of massages and a couple of bottles of Advil) of taking every single piece of wood, one stick at a time, throwing it back into the tractor, driving it up into the woodlot and restacking, once again, piece by piece was the primary decision maker.   Bottom line:  One way or another, we're going to burn all of the @#&% remaining wood this winta' even if it means we're opening the windows come the end of March.

Creating Balance... 

This equation of creating balance is much more critical in the world of Sales.  Here we are  starting off the year just after, most probably, pulling every possible order into our 2012 numbers in order to beat quota and make Club.  Not a bad decision. It's what we do as salesguys since most of us are performance-driven by quota, and it always seems to balance out eventually during the new year.

All of that however was way back last year.  The question right now that absolutely must be answered quickly and worked into our detailed Q1 and Q2 sales planning and especially into our H1 Key Account Plans is what do we need to do next week in terms of...

• ...defining the lead gen that we need from Marketing in Q1 & Q2
• ...calculating the number of Qualified Opportunities that we need in Q1 & Q2 
• ...figuring out the number of defined Discovery Calls that we need...

...that will yield our Q1 and Q2 quota.

It's all about the math & the planning...

As you're sitting here two weeks into the new year, and you're trying to figure out exactly how the heck you're going to achieve that huge quota number that somehow the boss got us to commit to come the end of December, 2013 remember the words of my favorite sales manager, General Sun Tzu, the author of The Art of War.

The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought.  The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand.  Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat; how many more do no calculations at all!  It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.

Working through the annual rhythm of sales planning, there are only a couple of times during the year that are absolutely critical, and the month of January is the first of those annual rhythm points.

Carve out 3 hours this weekend...

• Figure out your own waterfall math that you need from MQOs to Qualifying calls to Discovery meetings to Contracts.  Give that number to Marketing on Monday and ask them to show you their waterfall math that gets you to your Q2 requirement of MQOs.
• Complete the detailed Q1 and Q2 activity planning for just 3 of your Key Accounts.  Do another 3 next weekend, and the final 3 on MLK weekend.  As you're doing this, remember that as good as you are, you personally have zero ability to manage the Results that have been given to you. 
  
  What you can do is to work with your bosses to define mutually agreeable Objectives. 
  
  But, the only component of selling that you  have total  control over is your Activities. 
  
  Results-Objectives-Activities: 
       -Focus your Key Account planning only on those Activities 

Use the next two weeks wisely.  In the rhythm of Sales, your January sales planning is critical to your 2013 success.

Welcome to 2013...and Good Selling! 
It's going to be a great year!

Jack,
Head Coach

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