Ah, as an original Upstate New Yorker, there was nothing like this time of year. Crisp autumn mornings. Gorgeous yellows, red, and changing greens of leaves. Apple cider and cinnamon donuts. Football. Jeans and sweaters. Back to school. Living in the Midwest now, I still get this fabulous change of seasons and September is still my favorite month of the year. I LOVE THE FALL SEASON!
There is something else I always loved about this season… it was also that time of year when I would sit with my sales stars to develop next year’s goals and individual sales strategies, and plan for the upcoming year. It was that time to reflect on the year thus far, look at what worked, what didn’t work so well, and focus on what was ahead. It was mentally “back to school” time to buckle down, strategize, and get individual plans together.
As their sales leader, I then collected all of the individual plans to develop a companywide annual revenue goal with strategic plan. Why did I start this process in Q3? I wanted it to be methodical, well thought-out, and “massaged” so the final result would be completed and buttoned up by mid-November. As we all know, once the holidays hit we are all too busy to focus on anything strategic and then boom—it’s the new year.
This strategic goal development process is a daunting task if you have never tackled it before. However, it is imperative for sales and executive leadership to encourage this now as they grow their organizations. Salespeople want goals. They want to be successful, accountable, and have defined expectations. The easiest way to start measuring tangible success is writing down an agreed upon and achievable numeric goal. This is the first and initial step toward individual sales success that, in turn, results in team success. Get your team back to school now. Do not wait until the new year begins…because that’s kind of like being the last person in the lunch line.
See Jennifer Perna at #catersource 2018!
Jennifer Perna is the owner and founder of fulton market consulting and will be teaching two sessions at catersource 2018. Click here to view her bio and session links.
