There are a few core elements to a successful sales career: a sales strategy, organizational discipline, and a customer sales cycle. I will be addressing these elements in three consecutive columns. I define a sales strategy as a three-year plan with specific goals to ensure near future success, often referred to as a sales vision. Without it, the driving force is what I call the “Kick the Can” principle: each time you kick the can, it has a little less likelihood of going where you intended it to go. In the context of leadership, consider the proverb, “Without a vision, the people perish (Prov. 29:18).”
Here are some defining rudiments of a workable sales strategy:
It is individualized — Each of us has a different comfortable, but stressful operating level. For some, growing their sales 20 percent in three years is appropriate. Yet for others, different current developmental priorities are more appropriate: education, time with the family, focus on servicing existing customers for developing a better network base, etc. Tailoring the individualized goals of your three- year plan and taking time to develop a pathway for achievement is critical to ongoing success.
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