Do You Have A Plan?

Do you have a plan?

Do you have a plan for winning this deal?

1. Do you know the key activities you must execute to win the deal?
2. Do these activities align with the customer’s buying process?
3. Do these activities align with your selling process?
4. Do these activities align with the target decision date?
5. Do you know who is inovled in the decision, their priorities, concerns, attitudes and role in the decision?
6. Do you know the customer decision making process?
7. Do you know who the competition is and how you will position your solutions?
8. Do you know what the customers value and how you will position your unique value?
9. Do you know how the customer will evaluate the business case?  Can you create a compelling business case?
10. Do you have contingency strategies, to address changes you discover in executing the plan?
11. Do you know the resources within your organization or partner organizations you need to execute the plan?  Do they understand their roles and are they committed to them?
12. Have you documented the plan?
13. Are you executing the plan, updating it based on what you learn?

Do you have a plan for this sales call?

1. Do you know how this call fits into the execution of your opportunity plan/strategy?
2. Do you have clear goals for what you want to achieve–does this move you forward in the execution of your opportunity plan?
3. Do you have stretch goals for this meeting?
4. Are the right customers participating in this meeting–do you have the people involved that enable you to achieve your goals and objectives?
5. Have you prepared the questions you need to ask?
6. Have you anticipated questions or objections the customer may have?  Are you prepared to deal with these?
7. Have you thought of the worst possible question the customer might raise in the meeting?
8. Do you have a written call plan?
9. Do you have an agenda?  Have you reviewed and agreed upon the agenda with the customer?
10. Do you know what value you will create for the customer in this meeting?
11. Are you adjusting and updating your opportunity plan based on the outcomes of this call?
12. Have you written a follow up thank you to all who participated in the meeting, updating on agreements and next steps?

Do you have a plan to achieve your quota?

1. Do you know the number of opportunities you need to close to achieve your goals?
2. Do you have a sufficient number of opportunities in the pipeline to achieve your goals?
3. Do you have the right opportunities qualified and in your pipeline?  Is it a quality pipeline?
4. Do you know the prospecting activities you need to conduct to make sure you have the right flow of qualified deals coming into your pipeline?
5. Do you know your win rate?  Do you have a plan to improve it?
6. Do you know your sales cycle time?  Are you working on strategies to compress it?
7. Do you have good flow/velocity through the pipeline?  Are you avoiding stuck deals?

Do you have a plan to manage your time this week?

1. Do you plan your calendar and meetings at least 2 weeks in advance, do you write it in your calendar?
2. Do you know how many prospecting calls you need to make this week?  Have you scheduled them into your calendar?
3. Do you have an efficient meeting plan?  Are you managing your time and travel most effectively?
4. Have you allocated/scheduled time for internal meetings and administrative tasks?
5. Do you have a meeting with your manager schedules?  Do you  have objectives for what you want to achieve in the meeting?
6. Do you have buffer time allocated within the week to handle unanticipated items?
7. Have you scheduled time for social business activities?

Do you have a plan for yourself?

1. Have you established short term, intermediate, and long term goals for what you want to achieve—both in business, in the community, with your friends and family, and for yourself?
2. Do you have an agreement with your manager on what you would like to achieve in your job, how your performance will be evaluated, and your manager’s role in coaching and supporting you?
3. Have you identified things you need to learn and develop? Do you allocate time for this every week?
4. Do you have a plan to exercise and have you scheduled it into your calendar?
5. Do you have outside interests and hobbies that you pursue?
6. Do you have a reading list?  Are you checking things off?
7. Do you have a bucket list?  Are you checking things off?
8. Do you have a mentor?  Do you leverage your mentor(s) in your development?

There are other plans you should have–account, territory, and others.

If you have a plan, are you executing it?  If not, then your plans are just wishful thinking.

If you don’t have a plan, you won’t get to where you want to go!