By Christopher Thompson
Published March 15th, 2009 – Union Leader NH Sunday News
If you sell for a living and are anything like the majority of sales professionals I know, you are most likely going a hundred miles an hour every day. You are prospecting. You are managing accounts. You are following up with customers and prospects. You are responding to inquiries. You are doing everything you can to hit your numbers. You are attending sales meetings. You are also responding to updates your manager and company requests. And we all know the list goes on and on.
Professional obligations and efforts combined with your personal commitments often force sales professionals into an extremely fast paced, often stressful lifestyle both in and out of work.
I am not a life coach or a psychologist, so I’ll stay away from giving you advice about your personal life, but I will point out one factor that I have seen cause many sales professionals to miss selling opportunities as well as professional growth opportunities. That factor is recognizing the importance of getting away from the daily madness in your professional life and evaluating your progress and performance.
I know, most people are thinking “My company evaluates my performance every day!” But trust me, there is more to it.
Because of the fast paced world of sales, it is rare that we have the opportunity to take a step back (a full step) and take a long hard look at our business. Many companies refer to this process as a business review. Others call it an evaluation. Whatever you decide to call it, it is one of the most important steps a company and sales team can take to improve its business and help people develop professionally.
Here are a few suggestions on ways sales professionals, managers and executives can benefit from conducting regular business reviews and performance evaluations.
Make It a Routine
Having a business review once in a while is close to pointless. Develop a routine schedule of at least once per month to sit down, get away from the madness and take a serious look at your performance, trends and other selling opportunities.
Identify Key Performance Indicators
Most companies have specific performance indicators they measure. Categories such as the number of new accounts, number of qualified prospects and growth percentages are a few examples. But the important point is to identify and measure the indicators that actually matter. They should be specific and measurable and most importantly, they should be tied directly to impacting sales.
Prepare All of the Data
It’s nearly impossible to truly evaluate your business if you don’t have data to examine. A productive business review should happen with all of the appropriate reports and measurements that will allow you to make educated decisions about business trends and results.
Don’t Do It Alone
Doing a business review alone is never suggested. I recommend having at least one other person with you during your review, preferably your sales manager or someone with experience in identifying opportunities in your business. I have also seen group interviews work very well, where your peers, along with your manager help you evaluate your business and make suggestions for improvement. The more eyes, the better.
Develop An Action Plan
This is by far the most important step. If you are going to take the time away from selling to strategically evaluate your business, there has to be next steps and actions. I am a big fan of using predefined specific categories for an action plan, such as strategy, tactic, timeline and owner. Document your plan, keep it simple and do yourself a favor, execute your plan!
Christopher Thompson founded Catch 22 Solutions and hosts the Business Advantage Show on WKXL 1450AM (www.wkxl1450.com). For more information visit www.catch22solutions.com.
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