Minus 5 right now out by the barn this AM.
Pitch black right now as I sit in my Vermont office waiting for a 7:30 board meeting which will begin...as all good board meetings should...with a status snapshot of our Q1 plan, where we are close to the end of the month and success tactics for the rest of the quarter.
- Solid management
- Directors have access to our CRM in real time, so everything is transparent and therefore helpful
- A trusting culture between directors and management-everyone focused on the same plan
In addition to the fact that we have very experienced management coupled with board members who have actually run companies and sales organizations, one of the keys to our success last year...as it will be in '22...is that there is a definitive sales plan that is commonly shared everywhere and is updated each quarter with go-forward corrections, changes and revised metrics.
Our sales plan is not our 2022 business plan, and it's not a general subset of that master business plan document which provides our overarching strategies, tactics and guideposts for the business as a whole.
- It's a tactical quarter-by-quarter game plan.
- It contains detailed monthly action plans for the Sales organization overall.
- The salespeople then use this to create their own account or territory plans.
- It's developed between Sales and Marketing with total buy-in as to who does what.
- It's reviewed and modified by everyone in Sales the first week of every new quarter.
Right now, as you're thinking through your own sales success plans for Q1 and '22, it might be useful to take a look at our recently updated "Writing the Winning Sales Plan in 2022" for a few ideas, reminders and perhaps a different view of a sales plan structure - Last Friday, I provided our most recent edition of Writing the Winning Business Plan in 2022. There were lots of downloads, which was great to see. Thanks very much! Most importantly, if you have questions or ideas of your own, just connect with me. Easy to do
- Next Friday, we will hopefully release our new edition of writing a 2022 Marketing plan, which is providing to be a bit more challenging given the huge changes in 2021 and the go-forward new tactics ideas for '22.
Need to prep for this board meeting!
Have a great day selling today! Stay out of the cold this weekend!
AN ANYTIME SOUNDING BOARD IN '22
If at any time this year, you have a need for a confidential sounding board for your 2022 business or sales planning process, just connect with me! Text or email me, and I'll quickly set up a call. I'm a very good listener, and we can get deep into tactics if you want. Obviously, no cost for a call or two; just an opportunity to listen intently and make a few recommendations based on decades of experience.
Derby Entrepreneurship Center@Tufts.
