Taking Aim at Performance Targets

“Everyone wants to win, but not everyone is willing to prepare to win.” – Coach Bob Knight

Have you hit your performance target for this year? Are you concerned that it’s too late to impact your results? This time of year, the opportunity for generating new business often diminishes. People are focused on the holidays and finishing projects, and less so on negotiating new deals. For sales people, if they haven’t already met their goals, it’s sometimes difficult to make it to the finish line.

No matter where you are in relationship to your targets, there are still things you can do to generate more sales. Now is a great time of year to put together a specific sales action plan. You can test the plan between now and the end of the year, and be ready to hit the ground running in January.

The key to creating a successful action plan is to have enough actions in it to insure you reach your goals! It may sound simplistic, but many salespeople underestimate the number of tasks they should be performing each week if they are going to hit their targets.

We use the 95% rule when we help clients create definitive action plans. Start by making a list of every action you need to take to get what it is you want. If your sales goal is $1MM, what has to happen to generate that much business? Do you need to make 5 sales per month? How many sales calls? How many presentations? How many follow up calls? Break down the sales goal into a series of actions.

Once you have your list, look it over carefully. If you complete everything on the list, will you be confident about reaching your target? We tell our clients that they need enough actions on the list to insure a 95% chance of meeting the goal. If the actions on your list will only get you an 80% chance of meeting your goal, you need to add more actions to the list.

The action plan is an opportunity to start thinking about what exactly needs to happen. Imagine you have met your target. How did you get there? What had to happen on a monthly basis? Weekly? Reverse engineer the goal and get specific about what has to happen every week to make it a reality.

Next time we’ll talk about how to put the plan into action. Because you can’t have an action plan without taking action. You have to play if you want to win the game.

Are you ready to win?

Is the Target in Your Sights?

“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up somewhere else.” – Yogi Berra, American Baseball Player

Last week we started a conversation about how to finish the year strong and meet those 2011 sales goals. This week we’re going to dig a little deeper into one of the most important, yet frequently overlooked concepts that impacts success in sales.

At Possibilities Unlimited, we believe in being specific and measurable. Whether it’s personal intentions or a management mandate, every goal should be designed and communicated as clearly and specifically as possible. This is good for both employees and employers, as it clearly marks the playing field and defines the rules of the game.

All too often, the benchmarks of success are muddy at best. New employees are told they will be evaluated on “how much business they bring in,” “being a team player,” and “outperforming last year’s results.” These are all valid measures of performance, but they are not specific. And when the goal is not specific, the employee will make up his own version of what those goals mean.

For instance, if an employee is told he needs to outperform last year in order to make his bonus, he doesn’t know by how much he needs to exceed last year’s results. By 5%? 10%? We’ve worked with salespeople who will meet those minimum distinctions by September 30^th. If there is no clear incentive to do more, they will back off the sales effort, or hold off booking deals until the next year. If they hit what they perceive to be the target, they will stop taking aim.

With only a few weeks left in 2011, it is imperative to know what your targets are and how close you are to hitting them. How much distance do you need to cover? How do you need to schedule your time so that you can meet that target? Where do you need to step on the gas, and where have you already won the game? It’s hard to hit a bulls-eye when the target is fuzzy or moves around.

A good employer will create precise and measurable benchmarks so that every employee knows what is expected. Write down at least ten specific things that would tell you this person is doing a good job. Talk it over with the employee so there is no misunderstanding about the expectations. A good employee will ask for specifics, and ask the employer to define goals and objectives. The players have to know where the goal line is if they want to have any chance of scoring. And it’s the well managed team that will score more points and win the game.

Are you ready to win?

Two Months and Counting

“The bad news is, times flies. The good news is, you’re the pilot.” Michael Altshuler – Entrepreneur

There are only two months left in 2011, and if you are like many salespeople, you are looking closely at those sales goals you set back in January, and wondering how you are going to make it.

Depending on your industry circumstances, and your sales cycle, you may be able to make your numbers and you may not. But no matter where you find yourself on the path to meeting your targets, there are things you can do to make the most of the time you have left, and set yourself up for a winning 2012.

The first task is to make sure you have a specific target. Do you have a set revenue goal? Is it set by you or by your employer? If you are setting goals for yourself, make them specific and measurable. “Make more money” is not a definitive line in the sand. You need a specific target so you know where to aim your efforts.

Next you have to be certain of where you are now. How much distance is between you and your target? How often are you monitoring your progress? Equate that distance to the number of tasks you must complete to reach the goal. How many new clients? How many sales calls?

We coach our clients to aim higher than the actual target. If you need 10 new accounts, be talking to 15 prospective customers. If you need $100,000 in new sales, work on making $120,000. You’ll have a much higher probability of hitting your goal if you are in action to exceed it.

Create a list of actions that, when complete, will get you what you want. Don’t worry if there are too many things on the list. Just create a list of everything you would need to do to get to the goal. 25 sales calls a week. 5 written proposals. 2 product deliveries a week. Make sure that when you look at this list, the tasks would give you a 95% chance of hitting your target. If your list would only get you to 75% of your goal, add more things to the list.

Put those tasks in your calendar. Setting appointments with yourself to accomplish tasks greatly improves the likelihood of you accomplishing them. Your calendar is everything when it comes to meeting your goals. Put your tasks into the calendar and show up.

Create an existence system for your plan. What motivates you to stay on track? A visual reminder of your progress? Working with a team member? Our clients find that working with a coach is the best way to hold themselves accountable to their intentions. A weekly conversation with a coach goes a long way to staying on top of the tasks that will deliver results.

Over the next few weeks, we will explore these ideas in greater detail, and help you structure a plan for winning the game in 2011 and beyond.

Are you ready to win?

A Culture of Character

“I believe it is the nature of people to be heroes, if given the chance.” – James A. Autry, Author and Businessman

This week’s blog is a brief departure from our discussions about sales and profitability. Instead I want to examine a facet of corporate culture, and invite your thoughts and comments.

Last week I vacationed in Indiana, my home state, and I was in Indianapolis when the Sugarland stage rigging collapsed into the State Fair crowd, killing five and injuring dozens. It all happened in a matter of seconds, and many people became trapped underneath the shattered structure.

Hundreds of concertgoers immediately rushed toward the scene, and instinctively worked together to lift and hold up the rigging so others could climb underneath and drag the wounded to safety. Let me re-state, they ran toward the trouble, not away from it. The skies were dark and ominous. Officials had acknowledged storm warnings in the area. These are people who are not strangers to violent weather, and I’m sure more than a few wondered if tornadoes were headed their way.

And yet they stayed, and they helped, and they did whatever they could to assist the authorities and medical personnel who quickly descended upon the scene. Because of the heroism of these “regular folks”, countless victims were rescued, received medical treatment faster than they otherwise would have, and were comforted during the ordeal. In his remarks the following morning, Governor Mitch Daniels stated, “That’s the character we associate with our state. People don’t have to be paid to do it.”

Does the culture at your company mirror this commitment to character? All too often management and employees fall into a habit of pointing fingers when things go wrong. They look around for scapegoats. Instead of putting forth 100% effort, they try to get by with as little effort as possible and still get a paycheck. They run from the trouble, not to the trouble. How many times have you raised a customer service issue, only to be told, “That’s not my job,” “I don’t know,” or “There’s nothing I can do?”

Shifting a corporate culture from one of apathy to one of commitment can be like turning the Titanic. But the result is a high-performance business whose employees are invested in the company’s success and are certain of their roles in it. This kind of culture needs to be bred not only from the top down, but from the bottom up.

Companies large and small can learn a lot from the good people of Indiana. What can you change about your business to inspire employees to run “toward the trouble?” How would that mindset that impact your customers, your bottom line, yourself?

We’d like our readers to tell us something about their impressions of corporate culture at their companies. You can email me at leeann@consulting2win.com or simply post a comment below. Our shared ideas may facilitate a shift toward a commitment to character, which is the foundation of a winning business.

Are you ready to win?

Let's Talk About Profit

“I don’t want to do business with those who don’t make a profit, because they can’t give the best service.” – Richard Bach, American Author

Profit is the oxygen of any business. If your business is not making profit, you have a hobby, not a business. We all go into business for a reason, and if you want to fulfill your purpose for having a business, your business must be profitable. Profit is what allows a company to expand and stay viable. Profit allows the company to contribute back to the community, to research better ways of doing things, to explore and experiment in ways that benefit us all.

How do you know if your business if profitable or not? Successful business owners know that they have to regularly monitor several key profit measurements if they want to know how well the business is performing. Too often, business owners don’t take the time to study profit indicators. They figure that if the accountant is still able to write checks, they are still in business. They don’t have time to look at the math and determine what is and isn’t working.

When you’re not on top of your profit numbers, you are likely missing opportunities to increase your profit. Many businesses can increase profit substantially just by making a few quick changes to the systems they have in place. And in this economy, no one should be leaving profit on the table if it’s right there for the taking.

Profit margins and ratios provide a comprehensive and current snapshot of the company’s bottom line. They quickly point to bottlenecks in your production system and what part of the business is costing more than it should. Every company should have profit targets they work toward and periodic reviews to see how close or far they are from those targets.

Profit margins, such as gross profit and net profit, show the company’s ability to turn sales into profit. The business does a certain amount of sales and generates a certain amount of revenue. How much of that revenue falls through to the bottom line is an indication of how well the company is being run.

Return ratios determine the company’s overall efficiency. Efficient companies keep cost of goods and operating expenses under control, allowing them to convert more revenue into profit.

Companies should also evaluate customer profitability. Do you have some high maintenance clients that cost you more than you make on them? Monitoring customer profitability allows companies to better define who their ideal clients are and how to effectively and profitably manage them.

Next week, we’ll dig into the math and calculate some actual profit margins and explain what they mean to a company’s success. In the meantime, consider how well your business monitors profit. Are you confident that you are meeting your targets? Or are you just guessing at your bottom line? If you want your business to win, you’ve got to know how to keep score.

Are you ready to win?