The end of the year is rapidly closing in and while everyone in your organization is focused on achieving their targets; as a sales leader it is crucial you are also focused on the new year.  At this time of year I am working with each of my clients to begin to position them for success. I have listed the actions most organizations need to consider to exceed next year’s quota.

• Begin to recruit. This is the best time of year to recruit as top performers are evaluating their current situation, so you may lose individuals and you can add individuals. Assuming your sales quota will go up, you will need additional salespeople on your team to achieve those higher numbers.  Recruiting takes time and training new salespeople takes time, get a jump on your headcount. Also you may have salespeople failing and you may need to let other go, not having enough quality salespeople to achieve your numbers is the number one reason sales managers are let go! Check out my book on Recruiting High Performance Sales Teams, if you do not currently have a recruiting/interviewing process-it also includes a salesperson “On Boarding” process.

• Evaluate your compensation plan.  Does the plan match your organizations strategic objectives?  Is it competitive? Will there be changes to your products/services in the new year that could impact your compensation plan?  It takes time to build a new compensation plan, do no leave this till December!  You need to test it and plan how to roll it out.  There is a free sales compensation assessment on our website: www.AcumenManagement.com

• Review Account Planning and Salesperson Business Plans.  Depending upon your sales model, review whatever templates you are currently using; are they sophisticated enough, do they achieve what you want them to accomplish?  Account Plans should at a minimum include a “strategy” and 5 tactical steps to either open or penetrate the accounts more effectively.  Salesperson Business Plans should include more than simple forecasts; they need to include goal setting, training needs, marketing activities and business objectives. If you want a free sample, simply ask: Ken@AcumenMgmt.com

• Create annual sales contests. One of the key components in building high performing sales teams is the creation of the annual sales trip.  There are many variations to concept and I don’t have room to detail in this blog, but the facts are where we have annual team reward trips, I see great sales organizations. They build pride, team work and drive revenue. In my book; Creating High Performance Sales Compensation Plans I have an entire chapter on incentive compensation.

• Plan what major sales training your team requires.  Consider the skill level of your general team and what changes there are in your market and then assess various training programs that are available. We are not a sales training organization but we can make recommendations based upon your general needs. Create a budget and insert it into your new year plan!

Each organization is different and requires a unique solution however these 5 basic actions, if acted on, will position you to be ahead of the game!