It's May!  Already?

February 22, 2010

If you have received an email from me you most likely have noticed my signature line is "Looking Forward".   That wording has multiple purposes: 1) looking forward is a positive statement, 2) Looking forward is also a reminder to stay focused on a goal and your plans.   As a sales leader you must be consistently looking forward or looking ahead to ensure all your plans and programs are well designed, ready to activate and your metrics/dashboard pipeline values are within acceptable levels.

The job of Sales management is to make sure they put their teams in position to exceed their quotas each month. Notice I said it is their quotas.  I have said multiple times it is the salesperson's responsibility to achieve their numbers; it is the sales leader's job to put the right people in place and put them in position to sell. Looking forward 60-90 days will help the sales leader be more organized and enough time to take corrective action if any is needed.  

That means as you close out February, effective sales management must begin to make sure their:

• Marketing or lead generation programs are developed and ready to execute.
• Sales pipeline values and sales opportunities at stage 3 are significant at the first of March to achieve May quotas
• Sales training programs are in place and planned for May
• Sales contests defined for April & May have been thought through
• Hiring and interviewing plans are activated to ensure talent is on board

These are just a few of actions strategic sales managers must do to be looking forward and taking action to build predictable revenue.   From a philosophical approach I am encourage everyone to be Proactive vs Reactive, this attitude means effective planning and Looking Forward rather than simply looking at historical performance or worst, finding our March first that you are out of control, lacking in sales opportunities to achieve quota and it's another month of scrambling.

 If you have not yet received our White Paper: "Top 40 Actions Sales Management Must Take for Building Predictable Revenue" send me an email and I will forward it to you. Ken@Acumenmgmt.com

Acumen Management Group Ltd. "operationalizes" sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America. Move up and move ahead!

Acumen Mgmt. provides Keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance.           Ken@AcumenMgmt.com   http://www.acumenmanagement.com/

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