For most sales organizations, we are going into the third month of the quarter.
The knee jerk reaction for many SVPs and VPs of Sales is to schedule an unprecedented amount of internal forecast calls to track movement in deals with a March 31 deadline quickly approaching. The pressure is on! I get it.
A few things for sales leaders and their boards to think about before sh*t hits the fan.
Don’t let the craziness trickle down to your front line. They need you to maintain your composure to come up with creative ideas to ensure you and your buyers reach a mutually agreeable solution by March 31. That’s your job. You have the experience remember.
It’s a given that your first line sales managers have met all the people involved in the buying process with your sellers. If not, that’s on you. If you’ve done your job right, you too have also met all the key people in the must win-deals. If not, that’s on you too.
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Reflect. Have you done everything you could have done to support your people in these deals? Have you looked at your own network to see who can walk you into that elusive key executive? If you’ve been building and nurturing your network effectively, that should be easy. Have you studied the must-win opportunity with the first line sales manager, rep and cross functional team to ensure you have all people in the consensus purchase covered? Have you spoken with leaders in your network at other companies who have sold into the same buyers and sought their guidance on how to get it done? Do you have a network that you can lean on for questions of this nature?
Really reflect. Have you set your sales organization up for success? Have you provided them with the RIGHT training to be successful? Do they have the tools, and knowledge of how to use those tools, to get to the right people? If not, that’s on you too.
Have you asked your people how they are doing? Have you checked in with them as human beings? How are they handling the pressure? Have you asked them how YOU can help outside of all of the above? If the answer to all of the above is yes, yes, yes and yes, then that’s what it means to be human and a true sales leader in 2018.
Thanks for reading. Hope it helps.
