Strategic Planning for Salespeople

"Ready, shoot, aim." Unfortunately, that's the all too common

description of the field salesperson's modus operandi. In a

misguided attempt to stay busy and see as many people as

possible, too many salespeople subscribe to the theory that any

activity is good activity.



There was a time when this was true. Customers had more time,

sales was a simpler job, and any conversation with a prospect or

customer was a good thing. But times have changed, and the job of

the salesperson has become much more complex. The pressure on the

salesperson to make good decisions about the effective use of his

time has never been greater. Salespeople now must confront an

overwhelming number of potential "things to do," and that

requires them to make decisions about which customers in which to

invest their time, to prioritize their activities every day, and

to continually choose from a menu of possible activities. In

other words, salespeople must now engage in strategic planning.



Not that this is new. There have always been salespeople who have

regularly planned strategically for the effective use of their

time. It's been a characteristic of superstar salespeople and

highly effective sales forces. For that small percentage that do

it instinctively, or are encouraged to do so by their management,

it's as much a part of their routine as brushing their teeth in

the morning.



Unfortunately, that describes the minority of salespeople and

sales forces in the world. What was a practice of only the best

has now become a requirement for everyone. Most salespeople have

never been trained in the best practices, processes and

disciplines that will set them apart from the pack. In this case,

that means that most salespeople have never been exposed to the

principles, processes and disciplines of effective strategic

planning.



Let's define our terms. A strategic plan is composed of a set of

measurable goals, coupled with a list of the most important, most

effective things you (or your company) can do to reach those

goals. A strategic plan is not a detailed action plan. That comes

later. The plan itself is often limited to no more than two or

three pages. The idea is to identify the highest priority and

most effective: too much detail defeats the purpose.



Strategic planning is the process of thinking about your job (or

your company) in such a way so as to develop your strategic plan.



Creating a strategic plan for your company always involves a

dedicated chunk of time devoted to the process. So, too for a

strategic plan for a salesperson. Creating a strategic plan for

your company always involves some preparation, and a gathering of

the best minds in the company. So, too for a salesperson's

strategic plan: Preparation, and a melding of the ideas of the

salesperson and his/her manager. Strategic planning for your

company always involves the discipline to adhere to a formalized

process. So too for a salesperson.



With your company, the creation of a strategic plan is often an

energizing, inspiring event, from which everyone leaves

optimistic and full of confidence, assured that they have

identified the goals, plans and tasks that will bring them the

best results. And that is exactly the benefit for a salesperson

creating a strategic plan. Salespeople spring up out of the

strategic planning process confident that they have identified

the most effective focus for their action, that they have

identified the highest priority activities. They emerge

confident, focused and optimistic, ready to take on the world (or

at least their customers) with renewed vigor. And that's a good

thing!



How to go about it?



Set aside, once a year, a significant amount of time dedicated to

the task. I'd suggest at least a full day or two. The date of the

strategic planning session should reflect the salesperson's

selling situation. Salespeople vary in their seasonal "busyness"

depending on the industry to which they sell. For some, a time

towards their end of their fiscal year might be in order, for

others, a time at the end of their busy season. For most, a time

around the Christmas holidays works best.



One of my clients brings all his salespeople into the office for

a planning retreat once a year. In another, salespeople come

together for an annual goal setting and strategy developing

retreat. At this three-day event, they meet with their sales

manager and create specific goals for the year. Then, together

with the manager, they jointly develop the overall strategy for

achieving those goals. If your company organizes such an event,

good for you. If not, then you need to do it yourself.



Find a space where you can work virtually uninterrupted. This may

take some creativity. I doubt if it's your company office. It may

be your home if you have a room in which you can seal yourself.

One year, I was one of two people responsible for leading an

organization. The two of us drove to a state park, climbed in the

back of my old conversion van, and worked in the back of the van

all day long. We were isolated and uninterrupted.



Gather the materials you'll need: all your account folders,

account profiles, your company's goals for the year, information

about key products, services, or categories, computer print-outs

of last year's sales, maps of your geographical territory, and

anything else you may want to review.



Immerse yourself in the process. For the duration of the

planning, don't do anything else other than emergency tasks. You

want to focus your thinking on the strategic decisions you'll be

making. Any interruption will disrupt your thinking.



Focus on what you are going to produce in this planning event - the output or result of your efforts. You are going to create

these things:





A set of sales goals for your territory.

A well-defined ABC analysis of your customers and prospects. Individual goals and strategic plans for each of your key (A)

accounts.

A basic territory plan.



Sounds arduous, and it is. But, when you spend disciplined,

focused time thinking about these things in detail, you will find

it to be much easier than it looks. You will prepare the best,

most effective plans that you are capable of; and that will free

you to implement effectively when you are in the field.



Later in the year, you won't be tempted to head out on Monday

morning without a clear plan in mind, because you have spent this

time formulating the plan. And when the press of customer

problems and inquiries threatens to overwhelm you and force you

into becoming too reactive, you'll be held on track by the goals

and plans you created in your planning discipline.



Outcomes...



Let's consider each of these four outcomes of your planning

retreat.



A set of sales goals for your territory.



Your work should lead you to a series of sales goals for your

territory. In order to get there, you must first determine the

categories of goals that you are going to create. It may be that

you work for a company that has already determined this, like my

clients described above. If so, good for you. If not, then it

will be up to you to determine your own set of categories.

Depending on your unique set of products and services as well as

your company's emphasis, you may create goals for the following,

most frequently used, categories:





Total sales

Total gross margin

Number of units

Total sales per product category (dollars, gross margin, or units)

for each of several categories of product or service that you

sell.

Goals for acquiring new accounts.





This is just a list of the most common sales goals. You can have

a virtually unlimited variety of goals. The categories of goals

are up to you, your company, and your manager.



I'd suggest no more than five categories. Remember, one of the

reasons you create goals is to help you focus your energies on

the most important issues, and thus become more effective. More

than five goals defeat that purpose. Too many goals cause you to

diffuse your energies, not focus them.



Let's illustrate. Assume that I sell sophisticated cleaning

equipment and supplies to three different market segments:

manufacturers, school systems, and shopping malls. My product

line consists of a series of heavy-duty floor cleaning machines

and the associated supplies used by those machines. I select the

following categories to create goals:





Total sales.

Total number of cleaning machines

Total number of "Superscrubbers," our new, high-tech machine. Number of new accounts. Total sales of supplies (as opposed to equipment).





Now that you have determined which categories on which to focus,

you next need to create specific numbers for each. This is where

the art comes in. You consider your company's goals, you consider

your understanding of what the market is doing, you factor in

your best understanding of what your competitors are doing, and

you consider your customers' situations and yours. Out of this

comes your best attempt to predict a result that will cause you

to stretch, but not be unreasonable.



I prefer to look at each account individually, think about it,

and determine its likely contribution to each of the categories.

Examine each account, analyze the potential, consider your

situation, and determine a realistic goal. Go on to the next

account, and do the same. Then compile each of the numbers from

the specific accounts, and presto! You have an annual number.

Back to the example. Let's say we've done this, and come up with

a set of annual goals that looks like this:





Total sales = $1,765,000

Total number of cleaning machines = 71

Total number of "Superscrubbers" = 16

Number of new accounts = 10

Total sales of supplies = $1,000,000



Now you are ready to move unto the next step.





A well-defined ABC analysis of your customers and prospects.



When it comes to strategic planning for salespeople, one of the

most important strategic exercises is determining in which

accounts you want to invest the bulk of your sales time. Too many

salespeople become very reactive in their decisions, responding

to whoever happens to be on the other end of the phone. Others

find themselves in a route-type rut, mindlessly traversing their

sales territory out of habit.



The cure to both of these is to strategically think about the

potential of each account, and then to rank each account into one

of three categories based on its potential. I describe a system

to do this in Chapter Six of my book, 10 Secrets of Time

Management for Salespeople.



The result of this exercise is to have graded each of your

prospects and customers as either "A" (highest potential), "B"

(medium potential), or "C" (low potential).





Individual goals and strategic plans for each of your key (A)

accounts.



If you are in the kind of selling position where you are

attempting to sell more to certain key accounts, then you need to

create specific, monthly strategic plans for each of those key

accounts. For now, let's assume that you have prioritized your

accounts and that you have a list of your "A" accounts.



In the typical sales territory, around 50 - 80% of your business

is going to come from this group of accounts. That means that

these accounts warrant special attention, special preparation,

and special thought. You ought to apply the disciplines we have

already discussed to your "A" accounts. In other words, create

annual sales goals for each "A" account, and think about how you

are going to do that, one account at a time...