One of my favorite things to do is to facilitate a dream session with my clients. We look through magazines and pick out pictures that represent things we want in the new year, places we want to go, accomplishments we want to achieve. Then we paste them onto a board and hang the board by our desks so that we can look at it daily. It may sound "woo-woo" but it works.
One of my favorite managers shared her goal with me. She wanted to own a Toyota Venza. That was her dream. Now she needed a plan to get it. But her plan included more than just owning a Venza. She wanted to own it without breaking her household budget. So, she devised a plan to make enough money to pay down other debt so that she would buy one.
After figuring out how much she would need to earn, she figured out how many sales she would need to make based on her closing ratio and average sale. Then she worked backwards to determine the number of new contacts she would need to make daily to funnel enough new prospects into her sales pipeline. The result? A new Venza is now parked in her driveway.
We all need goals and dreams to motivate us to press onward in the face of obstacles. But, dreams and goals alone won't get us where we want to go. We need a PLAN.
We are at the start of a new year. The months before us are blank slates, ready for us to write on them. Now is the time to establish your own dreams and goals, and to create a plan to help you reach those goals. Know your numbers. What is your closing ratio? What is your average order? How many approaches must you make to result in enough connections to fuel your pipeline? We cannot manage what we cannot measure.
Sales is a numbers game. We can improve our numbers by increasing our skill level in asking questions and drafting great solutions to our clients' needs. But it is still all about our numbers. Set aside some time today to plan 2025. It can be the stuff dreams are made of!
Happy Selling!
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