For just about every company, private or public, the "end of quarter Friday" is either a reason to celebrate or a cause for grave concern. The CEO, CFO and VP of Sales have been exerting constant pressure on darn near everyone to meet or exceed the number. At the end of the day – and literally, at the end of THIS day – your sales organization will have either hit the number or missed it. There is no equivocation. You and your team made it or you didn't. It’s a cruel reality that the sales leader lives through every quarter. By the way, when you run your business on Salesforce you most likely knew on Monday or even before whether the number was in hand or not.
Today, I have some advice for those sales leaders who MADE their number. First of all, congratulations! No matter how great your CEO thinks the product is and that it could sell itself, making the number is always tough. Pat yourself and your team on the back for a job well done. Now, exhale. Now, inhale. Good. It’s time to focus on the next quarter which starts on Monday. Here are four Sandler Rules for Sales Managers to help you achieve greater success next quarter.and beyond.
Rule #3 No Mutual Mystification – Accountability requires clarity of expectations.
Start with scouring your pipeline to ensure you have an acutely accurate understanding of what transactions are real and can close within the first 20 days of the new quarter. There are bound to be deals that pushed. Get on top of why those deals didn't close and assess their integrity. Debrief your Account Executives thoroughly so you and they fully understand what needs to be done by when to close those deals. And, if pushes were caused by customers, review the importance of setting strong up-front contracts to ensure every meeting is structured and all participants commit to the stated outcomes. In other words, start the quarter knowing exactly where you stand.
Rule #35 Attitude Matters – Success is located between the ears – so master the three core beliefs all successful salespeople share: belief and confidence in themselves, in the potential of their company, and in the abundance of the marketplace they serve.
Take this opportunity to reinforce the positive attitude on your team coming out of a strong quarter. You have momentum going for you, don't let it fade. When your team understands that success is built on the three pillars of Behavior (what they need to do every day to find and win business), Attitude, and Technique they will look forward to coming in on Monday to get started on the new quarter. If, on the other hand, you’ve got people who think because it’s Spring Break, or the 4th of July, or Labor Day week that they can take all or part of the week off, you’ve got work to do. You can't afford to have your team mentally checked out one week of the quarter. I know, you will hear lots of reasons why next week will be slow, but don't buy into it. Those who do will regret it in 10 weeks. Set the tone, make sure that everyone knows the number the organization MUST hit in the new quarter, and schedule a conference call first thing Monday or at the latest Tuesday to get everyone on the same page.
Rule #38 Celebrate What People Do Well – Most managers focus on the things someone can do better – but if you focus on what people do well, they will tend to repeat it.
Recognize performers: There are a number of reasons why you hit your number. Indeed, many people contributed to making it happen. So, recognize each Account Executive or Sales Rep who met or exceeded plan. Do this during the next all hands meeting or during your next conference call. Sure, they will earn a nice commission check but positive reinforcement by extending kudos will go a long way to getting people to repeat the actions you want them to repeat. And be sure to give thanks to the often unsung contributors in Sales Enablement, Sales Operations, Marketing, Finance, and Operations. These people work very hard in support of the sales team and deserve to be praised.
Rule #43 Track The Leading Indicators – Forecast effectively.
Be ready for the predictably classic line from your CFO as you walk by his office at the end of the day. "Well, you got lucky and hit your number, what are you going to do for me next quarter?" Now....exhale. Now....inhale. Keep walking and remember that he (usually) just can't help himself. Ignore him for sure but do have your plan set when you walk in the door on Monday. This plan should include deal review, organizational assessment and changes required, key customer focus and risk analysis. Is there any bad news that needs to be dealt with? If so, get out ahead of it. Don't wait to act. Require everyone on your team to get their plans in place within two days of the start of the new quarter, then review those plans together.
Also, you need to understand that there’s a big difference between effective and ineffective forecasting. Ineffective forecasting typically tries to predict a specific revenue number. The challenge is that literally no salesperson knows what’s going to happen in the next three months that will impact that number. A more effective approach is to draw two lines down the middle of a piece of paper. In the left column write the top five behaviors that will impact their plan. In the middle column write down weekly goals for each behavior. And in the right column write down the activities the sales person actually achieves. After tracking this every week for six weeks or so, you’ll be able to see the revenue you can expect your salesperson to achieve based on activities they actually control. This will give you the opportunity to start tracking leading indicators (your sales team’s behaviors) rather than lagging indicators (revenue) to be able to provide a more accurate forecast in the quarters ahead.
In the event you DIDN’T MAKE plan, the Silicon Valley Sales Group is ready to help. Our expertise is helping companies accelerate revenue growth by building high performance sales teams and developing their talent with Sandler training. Contact us for more information.
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