Several years ago, I had an illuminating moment that helped shape the course of my career while attending a sales kickoff event. A professional speaker was doing an unremarkable job of telling his remarkable story of using the few dollars in his pocket to build a small company into a very successful and thriving business. His story was really amazing, but his monotone voice left me fighting through a bad case of the bobblehead. Suddenly, something caught my attention. That monotonous voice rang out with the words I didn’t know I needed to hear: “A bad plan is better than no plan at all.”
Sales Kickoff
Most companies with substantial sales organizations start their new year with these sales kickoff events. The annual affairs include all of the sales and supporting staff you’d expect, like marketing, sales operations and the leaders of the company. The purpose of most sales kickoffs is recognition, inspiration, and education, and for an extra boost of morale, the top-performing salespeople are even celebrated at an awards banquet.
The company leaders state the new year’s goals, and others help educate the sales staff on new company messaging, new sales strategies or new or updated products to help everyone meet their marks. Many companies bring in professional speakers with stories of success or overcoming a significant challenge to inspire the sales organization as a whole.
There’s usually copious volumes of booze, too. And just like company Christmas parties mixed with too much hooch, at least one person is sure to show how stupid they are when drunk, coinciding with their last day at that company (Oh boy, look for some funny Sales Kickoff stories in the future!).
Having No Plan is a No-Win Situation
Maybe the speaker’s comment on a bad plan being better than no plan caught my attention because I was flying blind. It was early in my sales career and, truth be told, I didn’t know what to do to be successful at sales. It escaped no ones’ notice that my employer didn’t require all the salespeople to have plans.
The speaker’s explanation of why a bad plan was better than no plan was very simple and made total sense. He described me perfectly: with no plan, you’re burdened with activities that are happening to you, not activities you’re making happen.
Worthless Noise and No Sales Activity
Do you find yourself starting your business day by diving head first into email? Then, while churning through said email, you get pinged by colleagues through your company instant messaging system as your phone is buzzing from texts and not-so-important social media updates. This is the best way I know to increase your blood pressure, lower your productivity and, like me, look up at the end of the day and wonder where in the wide world did the time go. To add to my own stress level, I often find one small, simple question bouncing around in my head: “Did I move the ball forward today?”
The answer on those sort of days? A resounding NO!
Make a Sales Plan
The best time of the sports year for me is March Madness. It’s a wonderful testament to the power of planning and preparation. Each March Madness season there are multiple instances of David beating Goliath. When you examine how the teams pulled off the upset, it’s due to the coach developing a plan to exploit Goliath’s weaknesses, then getting every player on the team to execute the plan.
Working from a plan is the common thread among recurring winners regardless of the sport, business or salesperson. If you’re struggling to consistently achieve your business or sales goals, stop and reflect on what you’re not doing that’s preventing you from being more successful. Start with the end in mind and work backward to help build your roadmap to success.
Would you do a cross-country vacation by jumping in the car and driving? Of course not. You’d take time to plan where you wanted to stop and what you wanted to do. As you drive, you’d constantly check your directions to ensure you’d get to your destination on time.
The same approach applies to your business and personal plans. Use it as your daily, or at least weekly guidepost to planning and driving your actions to meet goals.
