SMART SALES STRATEGY

Heya! 2021 is here! Well almost. In less than two months we will be in January next year. The question I have for you today is, have you prepared your sales strategy for next year? Or are you one of those people who go with the flow? You know, a new year comes but for you it’s business as usual. No goals, nothing significant to work towards. By significant, I mean well written goals. For you and your business, everything is in your head. Am I talking to someone?

Listen, If no one has told you this, I am proud of you for reaching this far at this time of the year in your business and entrepreneurship. Yes, I know the pandemic has set you back in one way or the other. Perhaps, you had to close your business premises and work from home. Maybe, you had to cut down on your staffs. You probably, had to keep on hold the plans you had to expand your products and services.

Someone else wanted to start or open a new business, but the pandemic destroyed those plans. Then, there is another person like me who had a well written sales plan for the current year, but the pandemic distorted everything! So I had to go back to the drawing board, and restrategise over and over again, and even then things did not falling into place! One day, I will share with you this struggle.

So, Yes. I am so proud of you for keeping it together against all odds. You have made it this far. You are here. I celebrate you.

Understand, 2021 is a year of recovery and new beginnings. We have by now, however tough it has been, learnt to adjust to the unprecedented times. So should your business. Hence my question, have you prepared your sales strategy for next year?

Do not wait for January to start planning for the year. That will be a catastrophic mistake. Corporates have mastered the art of creating annual strategies. Believe me when I say, most corporates are done with their 2021 strategies. Some are probably in the final fine tuning stages. Understand, there is no corporate that starts a new year without a clear direction of where their organization is headed. That is what makes them successful. This should be no different with a small business.

As a small business, you must have a clearly written sales strategy of where you wish your business to head to. Having it in your head is not enough. When you have a clearly written document, the reality of your business and it’s journey is more meaningful and purposeful. Unless, you are just in business for the heck of it, to make some few coins and then you close shop.

But, if you are a serious business owner, you must be purposeful in your business. Remember, you are building a business that you wish to leave to your generation and their generations. You want to build a business that will outlive you for generations to come. You want to leave a legacy. If you are not this serious business owner that am talking about, then this post is not for you.

You don’t need any sophisticated systems or materials to write a smart sales strategy. Here is a simple way that you can do it. Remember your strategy should also be flexible enough in a way that you can make adjustments and build on it as you progress in the year. Purpose to create a sales strategy today and start the year with a bang!

Take time out, do this with a business partner if you have one. Be sure to have a pen and notebook or laptop. The idea is to make sure you are writing it down.

Recognize where your sales numbers are currently and write that down.

Brainstorm on what affected your sales numbers in the current year, note these factors down. Understand, you can not move forward, if you don’t appreciate where you are and why.

Project the annual closing sales number at the end of the new year. Identify a full final figure that as a business you wish to make at the end of 2021.

Discuss the factors that will propel you to hit those sales. Eliminate any possible hindrances. Write it all down. Here you can look at the sales team, marketing, new products/services, training, coaching, costs etc.

Work a backward plan on how you will hit the annual sales figure.

Break down, the bigger sales target, into biannual, quarter, monthly, weekly and daily targets. The idea is to break the bigger figure into smaller achievable targets on a daily basis.

Come January you will be prepared. Yours will be to work on a daily basis towards your set annual goal. Each week, you will be analyzing where you are, what and how you can keep up the progress.

Point to Note: Your sales strategy should be realistic. It must be figures that your business is capable of surpassing and be careful not to undervalue your capability!

Easy? Right? Great! Now fine tune your sales strategy, communicate to your staffs, pin it up strategically in your work area and work on smashing those numbers!

Need help on how to formulate your SMART SALES STRATEGY?

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