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No one likes going to the doctor. No one!...And yet, we are told that we need to see a doctor regularly. Each year, usually after the New Year, I go see my primary care doctor for my annual physical. Don't get me wrong, my Dr. Smith is very nice, and is an excellent physician, but I know that the results are not going to be great.
Look! You don't have to be an MD to see that I'm not the healthiest person on the planet. I LOVE to eat! So, I'm a little heavier than I should be, and I don't eat the healthiest meals... although they are delicious. I could also exercise a little more and reduce my stress levels (can't we all).
Yeah, the reason that I don't like to go to my annual physical is that I know that I'm not going to like what I hear. She is going to tell me that I need to lose some weight, exercise more, and eat better. Ugh! I know it, I just don't like it.
Newsflash! We're the same way with our businesses, especially our sales organization. As an owner, manager, or even sales rep, we know that we could get better at certain aspects of our business. We can probably tell you the areas that we need to focus on, but we often ignore the problems and "hope" that they will just magically go away. Well, it doesn't work that way with your health OR your business.
An annual physical is a perfect way to assess your organization through a comprehensive, analytical sales diagnostic. It's a way to pause and assess your organization in a factual and objective manner. An annual physical allows you to dive deep into your numbers, your processes, and your people, and objectively determine what is working and what isn't.
It is an incredibly valuable process that any organization can benefit from. It allows you and your team the opportunity to self-diagnose the good, the bad, and the ugly things that your organization and personnel are doing. A strong sales physical will give you analytical data that will allow you to make improvements in your sales organization based on facts, not just feelings. It also gives you the opportunity to tackle some long-standing "sacred cows," and finally make the changes that you've known that you needed to implement.
Here are the 3 basic phases of an annual sales physical:
1. Discover Blockage
Your initial discovery is too dive into all of the aspects of your sales organization and gather the data that you'll use to observe the strengths and weaknesses of your sales structure. You will usually review around 50+ separate categories from account lists to compensation and budgets to sales software and everything in between.
2. Detail Observations
During this phase, you will begin to separate fact from fiction, as you analyze the data that you've gathered so that you can summarize your observations. Be sure to stick to the facts of the numbers that you've collected. Don't allow your feelings or traditions to cloud your judgment. Rely on facts. They are your best friend in a sales diagnostic.
3. Develop Strategies and Tactics
The final phase of a sales diagnosis is to deliver specific, actionable, and proven strategies and tactics for your team. A successful diagnostic is measured by what is implemented and the results of those actions. Don't be too general, rather be specific and make sure that everything is measurable.
All three steps usually take 4-8 weeks to complete, and you'll need some assistance from your sales team, business office, and product teams, to gather all of the necessary data, but it is worth it.
A good sales annual physical can be the catalyst that you need to revive sales, your staff, and your organization!
If this sounds like a lot of work and you're not ready to do it yourself, The Center Sales for Strategy would be glad to assist you. We have successfully executed over three dozen Sales Diagnostics for our clients over the past few years. For more information, visit, www.TheSalesDiagnostic.com.
