[email protected]

Sales training and sales consulting to increase sales.

Call For A Sales Consultation

972-380-0200
  • About
    • What We Do to Increase Sales
    • Sales Philosophy on Hiring Salespeople
    • Clients
    • Customer Comments
    • In the Media
    • Contact Us
  • Speaking and Training
    • Sales Coaching for Performance Improvement
    • Professional Speaking
    • Sales Training
    • Sales Consultant for Business Development & Increase Sales
  • Sales Products
    • Books
    • Audio CDs
    • Webinars
    • E-Books
    • Manuals
    • Booklets
    • Merchandise
  • Free Resources
    • Videos
    • The Selling Newsletter
    • What is your Selling Issue?
    • Recommended Reading
    • Free Reprint Articles
    • White Papers
    • Sales Pro
  • Upcoming Programs
  • Membership
You are here: Home / Blog / A Better Way to Plan Your Selling This Year

A Better Way to Plan Your Selling This Year

January 1, 2015 By maurasf

sales plan
What’s your plan to sell this year?

What is your plan to start the year off right? Now it is time to start selling. Here’s a better way to start your selling this year.

Where is your plan?
Think of the start of the year as beginning your sales journey. You need a map to guide you along the way. That map is your list of prospects or who are the sources of your new business. Write down all your prospects along with the products or services you think they will buy from you. How much revenue do you forecast that they will generate? That plan is the map that will guide you this year.

Your plan quickly tells you who your most important prospects are. The ones with the largest revenue are clearly important to your sales success. Be sure to allocate your time accordingly. The largest accounts should get most of your time. You can make an exception if an account is going to contribute large margins or is strategic in another way.

You are not ready to start selling If you haven’t developed your prospecting plan.

Incorporate last year’s plan.
Look at this year’s business. Have you identified your most important accounts? Your most important accounts are the ones you should be spending the most time with and working for the hardest. Are these the same ones that you spent 80% of your time last year? If not, reevaluate your time and plan to spend it more wisely this year.

Just remember, most important customers are not just your largest accounts.

Most important accounts could be strategic for other reasons. They could be industry leaders who confer credibility to you and your business. They could be very profitable for you to serve despite buying less. They could be customers who you plan to increase your sales to by taking business away from your competitors. If you’re serious about increasing your business then you have to spend time with the customers who will help you meet your goals.

Where do you plan to focus? On customers or competitors?
Too many salespeople spend their time and a great deal of energy focusing on their competition. It’s fine to know who your competitors are and generally their strengths. You are missing some valuable information if you’re making sales strategy decisions only based on your competition. Why?

Your competitors don’t buy from you. Change your focus if you are looking too much at your competition. Talk with your customers and prospects to learn how they make buying decisions, what’s changing at their companies and how they are using your products. Ask them for their ideas on what you can do to improve.

Your customers are the ones who are looking for new answers to their problems. In business today you can be sure they’re experiencing new problems and challenges. You, not your competitors, can be who they speak with if you demonstrate that you want to know what they think and are willing to try to solve their problems.

You would never start an important trip without a plan. Your selling journey is no different. Get your sales plan done now so this year can be your best year yet!

Best wishes for a happy and successful selling new year!

maura schreier-Fleming

 

Tweet
PinIt

Filed Under: Blog, Sales Strategy Tagged With: prospecting, sales plan, territory management

THE SELLING E-LETTER® SIGN UP

Social media

  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Selling Tips

*What was your last “mistake?” Did you make it before? There’s nothing wrong with making mistakes in sales provided you are making different mistakes. (You are learning from them!)

About the principal

Would you take auto mechanics classes when you buy a car? Maura did because she wanted to be able to work on her car. She takes that same approach to selling. She can show you how to get below the surface of selling to learn why and how different strategies work. She will show you which skills to implement that will shorten your sales cycle and increase your sales. She was Mobil Oil's first female Lubrication Engineer in the United States and one of Chevron's top 5 salespeople in the country. She knows what works for sales.

"I would recommend your work to other sales organizations who want to get better results from improved selling strategies."
Jamey Rootes
President
Houston Texans

Sales Expert at Allbusiness.com

Selling is the easiest job in the world. Just ask anyone who is not in sales. Read Maura’s ideas on “more brain…less mouth” selling to make your selling easier and more successful.

Maura’s Allbusiness blog posts

Recent Posts

  • Sales Is Not Fair
  • Less Stress Selling:  What You Can Do to Reduce Sales Stress
  • Segment Your Prospects and Customers. Are Your Largest Prospects and Customers the Most Important?
  • Women In Sales: Beware Mansplaining and other gender stereotypes!
  • Sell In A Recession

Search

Copyright © 2023 · [email protected]