Working a quarterly business plan ought to be second nature for most experienced sales representatives. Yet everywhere I go as a sales leader I find that reps are poorly skilled at this essential task. Even sales reps who have been with large pharmaceutical companies struggle with putting together a solid plan for their key accounts.
It’s really this simple:
1. Take your sales goals for the quarter and decide which accounts you need to focus on to meet and exceed your goals. That’s easy.
2. Develop strategies and tactics for each of those accounts. Strategy is what you are going to do; the tactics are how you’ll do it.
3. Make sure that your strategies and tactics are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevent, and Time-defined). You know this!
4. Take enough time to make a plan that you would be proud to show a potential investor in your business. It IS your business.
5. Get it to your manager on time and ask for feedback. Your boss wants you to succeed so that she will too.
6. Review the plan weekly and make sure you are performing the tactics. If the strategy is not working, try changing tactics first.
That is all it takes. So what’s your excuse for not writing a great plan?