The Paradox Of Planning

Planning takes time and sales people are always time poor.
But productive planning is an investment that delivers better results in less time.
So how can you prepare to sell and at the same time make use of your most precious resource – your time?

Start high and aim high
What are you ultimately setting out to achieve? Could you aim higher? What is your annual budget and the associated KPI’s to be delivered? Start here and get really clear on what success in your role looks like. An annual activity that is regularly revisited.

Territory planning
With a clear idea of ultimate results, then consider where will those results come from? The starting point is the company sales strategy and the implications for you and your territory in aligning with those strategic choices. 

Segment your territory by customer value stream and use alternative filters not just existing size. Eg Future potential, strategic importance, ease of execution, degree of influence are some possibilities to use.

Apply a weighted call plan to this segmentation so your coverage and frequency are appropriately weighted.

Call Planning
There are two main considerations in call planning – the What and the How.

The What – this involves setting objectives as to what it is you wish to achieve. The more precise you are with objective setting, the more likely you will achieve your goals. When expressing your call objectives make them SMART

     S           SPECIFIC          Which products, what sort of promotion etc

     M      MEASURABLE      How many exactly

     A        ACHIEVABLE      Have you aimed high but not ridiculously so

     R          RELEVANT        Is your objective relevant to our business and theirs

     T              TIMED            By when are you looking to achieve this goal

  The Howis now the sales plan for engaging the customer and converting the opportunity. Typically it is considering the steps of the sales process and considering your options:

         RAPPORT         How can I engage the customer on this occasion

           NEEDS            What questions will uncover needs and priorities

               SOLUTIONS       What benefits will solve their problems

              OBJECTIONS      What will they likely push back on and how will I solve those issues

Finally the return on investment comes from executional excellence. If you invested the time putting it together, be disciplined in its execution, monitoring what works and what doesn’t.