Kicking Off 2017 Properly

Your attention as a Sales Manager should have shifted from 2016 to 2017 this week. The 2017 revenue budget is set.  It may be time to kick back for holidays, but your sales reps also need to ready themselves for 2017.  How do you coach them to get out of the gate strong?  A planning process helps.  Have a conversation with your team before the holidays about planning the start of the new budget year. 

1. Understand which of their customers is on a calendar year budgeting program.  If they are not on a calendar year-get in synch with them, their projects will have a different priority than other customers’-understand who these customers are and prioritize appropriately.
2. Emphasize that most of their great customers will come out of the gate strong too.   Remember your holiday niceties but set up your January meetings in December.  I like to have as many meetings in January as I can. It’s hard to recover from a tough 1Q.   It may sound counter intuitive, but start with the Purchasing Managers at major accounts.   They typically are involved in multiple projects so will prioritize them in terms of corporate impact-follow their lead.  Have fast following meetings with the project teams once you meet with the Purchasing Managers.  You will then be able to prioritize new opportunities as well as the hangover projects from 2016.  Circle back with the Purchasing group once the projects have moved through the funnel.
3. Encourage them to break down total revenue targets into likely projects that will help you meet your sales plan.  Break them down into A/B/C projects and into quarterly achievement chunks.
   1. Start measuring progress during 1Q to ensure you are on track.
   2. Don’t backload your projects to 2H or 4Q because they will invariably be delayed and you will leave your self very little recovery room in the back half of the year.  Try to manage outcomes early 1H.
4. Encourage them to go a bit deeper by breaking down their projects into two areas-ones with existing customers (higher likelihood for success) and ones with new customers (lower likelihood for success.)  Historically, new customers will generate more unforeseen obstacles and take much more time to bring across the finish line. 
5. Ask them how they will get their 2017 big projects moving forward in Q1.  Big projects are time and energy vampires, but pay longer term dividends.   They will appear as new products, distribution channels or markets with shorter term imp[act.  They also have the greatest long term benefits.
6. Help them set their leading indicators needed to achieve to get the lagging indicator (revenue achievement) they want.  Good leading indicators e.g. sample fulfillment, beta tests etc.  Keep them simple-2-3 measures.  http://www.jimthomasintl.com/blog/archives/07-2016
7. Share your calendar and ask them how they will plan their annual calendar, set aside time for:
   1. Professional seminars-reserve a time when you will not be prone to cancellation.
   2. Vacation-recharging is necessary-do it off season if possible.
8. Reserve a separate time in January to review their plan.  Provide input and counsel for potential outside influences that could affect their plan. Allocate resources for your reps to achieve their plan.  Your success is mutual-we win together or not at all.

Do you want to have a free fifteen minute discussion on getting off to a strong start to 2017?  Sign up on my web site http://www.jimthomasintl.com/ or contact me directly by phone.

Good selling and enjoy your break!