New Years Resolutions for the CEO Sales Manager What resolutions are you committed to making for your business in 2008? Every year CEO’s and Sales Managers set new goals and objectives for their sales team. But how do you ensure you reach these new targets? By setting the following reachable and inspiring goals that are guaranteed to keep your companies sales increasing throughout the year!
1) Stop obsessing over the close.
Spend a few minutes (or hours) to map out your sales process. If your sales cycle is 90 days, and you are not asking about what started today, then there will not be any sales in 90 days. It’s as simple as that. By outlining what steps need to be taken in order to start a relationship, submit a proposal, sign a contract and receive a deposit, etc., you will be better prepared to analyze what steps are working and which aren’t.
2) Reward people with more than just commission.
Sales people are a special breed of people, highly self motivated and positive; most of the time. Recognize that sales people face rejection numerous times throughout the day and can always benefit from a pat on the back for things they are doing right. Encourage yourself and your people to celebrate every success that comes their way. It will go a long way towards maintaining and increasing momentum, and when sales people feel appreciated and acknowledged, they stay longer. And we all know how costly hiring and training can be. Keep your people by rewarding them more often.
3) Commit to hiring and promoting better.
Hopefully you’ve all read Jim Collin’s Good to Great and understand what he means when he says ‘Get the Right People on the Bus.’ Nowhere is this more prevalent than for hiring salespeople. Hiring sales people can be tricky and traumatic, but there is help available. Many recruiting companies perform psychometric testing to weed out unlikely candidates. You can also administer these types of approaches for a small fee. In addition, spend the time necessary to identify the qualities and traits that you are really looking for, and take your time. Hiring too fast is one of the biggest mistakes small businesses make.
4) Identify innovative ways to package and promote your products and services.
Nothing happens until you sell something. But how do you ensure your products and services are attractive to your target audience? By committing time and resources to understanding your ideal customer better you’ll be able to sell more. Learn about your customer through conducting surveys, taking them for lunch, studying their habits. What are the motivating factors that caused them to accept your phone call or seek you out? What de-motivates them?
5) Commit to spending 1 – 3 days per month on your own professional development.
Being the CEO is different than being the Sales Manager. And being a sales manager is very different than being a sales person. Understanding what your strengths are and what weaknesses you need to delegate can take you very far on the road to success. Commit to learning something new each day, putting a new skill into practice each month, and rewarding yourself for your successes and achievements on any occasion. Statistics say that less than 10% of all business books purchased each year are actually read. Make sure you don’t fall into that control group and you’ll be sure to increase your sales and effectiveness.
So along with your resolutions to exercise more and eat less, commit to these 5 resolutions and watch the profits start pouring.
Happy New Year!
Jude
To learn more about this author, visit Jude Smiley's Website.
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