In the past, if you said the word "plan"
to me, I would bolt and
run. I'm the "creative type," a former ballet dancer
and
choreographer—I'm terrible with details. When I was
dancing
professionally, all the details were taken care of; all I
had to
do was show up and dance. Even when I was choreographing,
as long
as I met my deadline for when the dance needed to be complete,
I
could go with the moment, go with the impulse and see where
the
dance led.
A hearty dose of reality hit when I began to run a dance
company.
All of a sudden, I had people—employees, volunteers
and dancers—
waiting. I had to know where we were going and how we were
going
to get there. It was a different world. Every decision had
impact
down the line. If we were going to have a spring season, I
needed
to know what we would be performing and where we'd be performing
it. How many dancers would I need? What about costumes? Were
we
going to commission music? What would it cost? How would we
pay
for it all?
It took a long time for me to grasp the impact of having
a plan.
Because I was running a small, grass roots organization, there
never seemed to be enough time, people, money or resources.
I was
always putting out fires. Every plan I developed changed the
moment I keyed in the last sentence and printed it out. Plan—who
has time to plan? Especially when the plan keeps changing!
Over time, I began to see the planning process as a road
map. You
know your ultimate goal. You figure out the best way to get
there. Your plan needs to include contingencies and have enough
space that you can deal with fires and still move forward.
And
sometimes, the plan changes; it might need some adjustment
or
"tweaking." As long as the goal remains the same
and as long as
you keep taking steps forward to achieve that goal, your plan
will help you get there.
In sales, your goal is revenue-driven. How much money do
you want
to make? Or a better question: How much profit do you want
to
make? Then, how are you going to achieve that?
Your basic plan should start with a dollar amount and work
backwards. If, for example, you want to gross $500,000 in
sales this year, on average, how many sales would that be?
What is your
average sale? On average, how many prospects do you have to
see
or speak with to close one sale? So, how many prospects would
you
need to see or speak with to close the number of sales you
would
need to reach your goal of $500,000? What steps do you need
to
take to see or speak with that many prospects?
Wow! What a mouthful! Here is a mathematical formula:
First:
Value of average sale =______________
How many prospects to close one sales: _______________
Then:
Gross sales ? average sale = total number of sales needed
Number of prospects to close one sale x total number of sales
needed = total number of prospects
(This formula is from a dancer who counts up to 8 and starts
over
again! If I can do it—you can do it!)
Then:
How will you reach those prospects?
Stay tuned! More articles about your sales plan are in the
works.
Wendy Weiss, "The Queen of Cold Calling & Selling
Success," is a sales trainer, author and sales coach.
Her new program, "Cold Calling College," can be
ordered by calling: (866) 405-8212. Contact her at wendy@wendyweiss.com.
Get her free e-zine at http://www.wendyweiss.com.
©
2004 Wendy Weiss
www.liwomen.com
October 2004
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