The Sales Coach Newsletter
January 1997
© 1998 by Galante & Company

Now that you have set your 97 sales targets and worked out a very sensible budget...here are a few more tasks that need to be taken care of before your plan can come true. Someone said you eat an elephant one bite at a time. Your elephant is your 97 projections. In order to hit your very do-able sales goals, stick within that extremely tight budget, and realize that wishful net profit figure, you must have a plan. Look at it this way. Before you can shoot an arrow into the Bulls eye, you have to do a dozen or so basic tasks first. For example, you have to hold the bow properly, you have to hold the arrow properly, you have to aim accurately, and you have to release smoothly. My point is that if you want to hit your financial Bulls eye, make sure you and your people are completing the basic tasks regularly.

1^st - Communicate the companies goal to all your employees as soon as possible. Organize a company meeting or at least send them a memo. Each employee must be committed to the success of the team and realize that there is something in it for them. Everyone wants to be on a winning team.

2^nd - Coin a phrase that indicates how you plan to reach your goals. Such as:
Improving Customer Satisfaction in 1997 or Creating Partnerships in 1997. Inferring that all employees will pay more attention to the customer, hence increasing sales. Or Building a Better Team in 97, inferring that the company will focus on building more communication and teamwork between departments and employees to improve productivity.

3^rd - Sit with each department manager to reaffirm how their in put and commitment is essential to the success of the plan. Your managers should be clones of you. They should be able to run the company if you are not there. I'm not talking about one or two days, I mean one or two months. If they are committed and you value their input, they will work harder to meet your expectations. They will also communicate the company's mission to their staff and make sure each is buying into the corporate goals. They will be your gate keepers.

4^th - Schedule a meeting with you sales manager and each sales rep to review that rep's quota. Break down their yearly goal into monthly quotas. Make it easy for them to understand what is expected of them. They should walk away from the meeting with the feeling that you and the sales manager will work with them during the year in order to help them. So many companies assign quotas but never give the rep the support they need to succeed. The rep should agree with the quota and understand that the sales manager's job is to help them grow.

5^th - Have the sales manager sit with each rep once a week during the year to review progress. Design an easy to read report that includes month to date productivity and compares this number to the rep's quota. It's important to keep the rep aware of how they are doing and also focused on their monthly quota. If in the middle of the month they are behind, the sales person and the sales manager can do some extra work to put a few more deals together. The purpose of the report is not to chastise the rep, but rather to keep him/her focused on progress and learn when to push harder or take a rest if needed.

6^th - Train your sales manager to be a coach instead of a manager. Coaches motivate and develop, managers delegate and pressure. Salespeople are very similar to athletes. Their job is to perform. If they don't perform, you don't win. Great performers such as athletes and symphony orchestra musicians have coaches. They get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars but they still have coaches. The reason is because a great coach will challenge the performer to be better tomorrow then he/she is today. I can not discipline someone into striving to be better, but I can challenge someone to be better. That's what a coach does.

7^th - Count the number of working days in each month and determine how much in sales you need each day to reach that month's goal. Have a daily quota to hit. Sit with the sales manager regularly to determine if you are selling enough each day. Devise plans that will increase your sales by the day, then make sure this is being done daily.

8^th - Review the past two years sales by month and look for trends. Make sure you are taking advantage of every opportunity during these periods. Offer customers additional specials on slow moving items or services. They are in the buying mood, make sure you are pitching all your stuff. Schedule manager and salespeople vacations during slow selling periods. Make sure you are fully staffed during peak seasons.

9^th - Hold regular staff meetings with key departments to brainstorm. Look for: a) ways to improve procedures, b) new opportunities c) new ideas. Offer your employees a creative environment to work in.

10^th - Offer incentives to managers, sales people, credit department employees, etc. for performing at a higher level then usual.Give them extra dollars, extra days off or a paid weekend holiday.

11^th - Run monthly P&L statements and really read them instead of just filing them. Make sure you are on track and/or sticking to budget.If you are, congratulate your people. If you are not, assign yourself a task or two to get back on track.

12^th - Review goals, budgets and quotas quarterly with department managers. Determine the pace at which the company is performing. This will give you the chance to make adjustments based on current market conditions and economic conditions.If you take steps day by day, week by week and month by month, your 97projections will be much easier to reach. Track individual and company performance regularly and make minor adjustments. By mid- year you should have a pretty good handle on how you will do in 97. If you use your head during the year, you won't have to make drastic adjustments during the last quarter.

Quotes to sell by:

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

- Chinese Proverb

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.

- Patrick Henry

It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The questions is: What are we busy about?

- Henry D. Thoreau

The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Galante & Company is a sales training and positioning firm.Our mission is to help entrepreneurs, executives, managers and salespeople realize greater success.Our purpose is to increase the performance of individuals and organizations.Our role is to understand our client, set realistic goals, help create practical action plans and follow through to completion.Coaching, consulting, speaking and training services are available nationwide via telephone, e-mail and in person.The Sales Coach is a free newsletter. Please copy it and pass it on to your associates or anyone who you think would benefit from it.

Thank you.

Michael J. Galante

GALANTE & COMPANY