Sales Planning: The Setup for Success

Benjamin Franklin once wisely said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” He knew even in the 1800s that hope is not a strategy and that a well-established and aligned plan is the key to success.

For many sales organizations, the planning process is riddled with challenges. For starters, it’s  time-consuming and a continual struggle to get the sales organization to execute the plan. If this is the case, why don’t sales leaders adopt a new approach? The answer is simple: Moving from the status quo – no matter how painful it may be – is never an easy or seamless decision.

At this year’s SiriusDecisions Sales Leadership Exchange, I will introduce our sales planning process research. This presentation is designed to guide the audience through a consistent planning process that interlocks with corporate goals, creates a sales strategy, drives execution and allows for agility to change. The SiriusDecisions Sales Planning Process defines the roles, objectives, actions and outputs that are needed and aligns to some of SiriusDecisions’ existing frameworks and models.

I recognize that for many sales leaders, the challenging memories of the annual planning process may still be fresh, depending on when your fiscal year begins. However, my goal is not to rehash and relive this pain. What I plan to do is enable you to use the next fiscal year to adopt a new planning process, so that your next planning cycle will not be status quo.

I am looking forward to you joining me and the SiriusDecisions analyst team for the Sales Leadership Exchange. If you are unable to attend this year’s SLE, please contact us so we can set up a time to discuss sales planning with you and your sales team directly.