Convert Targets Into Activity

You have done a great job of defining why” you are doing this.  You have a crystal clear picture of the life you want and the income you must generate in order to provide that life.  You are thinking in terms of not just this year – but the next 3-5 years.  You also have an abundance mentality.  You are setting BIG goals that will motivate you.

You have also now converted that income goal into a specific sales target that, based on your industry averages, should bring that income into your bank account.  You know how much you need to sell.

Now it is time to plan the activities you need to complete in order to achieve your sales target.

There are variables across industries that make it almost impossible to give one example in this post that will apply to everyone.  However, the principles will be the same and should be followed.  Check with your sales leader for specifics that would apply in your situation.  Or, you may want to get a personal sales coach to help guide you if a local sales leader is not practical.

“As a rule, referred leads may save you 75% of your prospecting efforts as compared to cold call leads.”

You will need to set activity targets in each of the following basic areas:

1. Sales Made: You established this target after determining your income needs and applying the averages sales/commissions in your industry.
2. Sales Presentations/Recommendations/Discovery Sessions: Is your sales cycle based on a single call close – or a multi-call close?  How many prospects must you enter this phase with in order to make ONE sale? Multiply that answer by your sales made target for your sales presentation activity goal.
3. Prospecting Contacts Made/Follow-Up Contacts Generated: How many prospecting contact must you make in order to have one sales presentation?  How many follow-up calls are normally needed to get your appointment scheduled?  Multiply this number by your sales presentation activity goal to determine your prospecting activity goal.
4. Leads Identified: How many leads must you identify in order to make a prospecting contact?  This should be relatively close to the same answer as your prospecting contacts.  The only fall-off should be from leads you disqualify.
5. Referred Leads: How many referred leads would it take for you to schedule ONE sales presentation?  As a rule, referred leads may save you 75% of your prospecting efforts as compared to cold call leads.
6. Divide the Activity By the Work Period: Divide the annual total by either daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly time frames to set smaller snapshots of activity.

Once you have a basic activity plan – you must track your activities so that you may compare your results to your industry standards.  Next week we will discuss how your ratios will help your sales coach effectively guide you.

QUESTION:

Sales leaders:  Do your team members have a detailed activity plan that you are confident will help you coach them into achieving their goals?