‘Tis the Season! The Walmart countdown displays in the seasonal section of their stores were up and counting down before Halloween was over. That irks me for a number of reasons, but it also motivates me. I need to finalize my growth plans for next year… and so do you!
Have you finalized your plans for growth yet? Specifically, revenue growth for your organization? Some react to this planning stage by waiting for clients to reach out to them and start the “2017 Discussion,” to see how much money they plan to spend and with who. I think reacting is bad planning. In fact, it’s an oxymoron, right? I encourage you to use a proactive sales strategy... plan ahead! If you do, you’ll earn yourself greater dividends.
Ask yourself these questions, and follow these proactive steps with all your key accounts, to successfully complete an annual revenue growth plan:
- Do you know what their current needs are? If so, how do you know this to be true, and how current is this information?
- How do you plan to respond to these needs?
- What is your depth of contact? How does each contact influence the buying process?
- Should you know more people? Who could offer you additional selling opportunities, addressing different needs, within this organization?
- What are your helping forces and hindering forces? What odds are in your favor or what odds are going to be held against you?
- What top three goals do you have for this client in 2013?
- How will you justify growth for this client? Revenue growth, rate increases, growth in market share, etc.?
Don’t fly by the seat of your pants with your best clients. We’ve all heard it’s easier to grow a client versus finding new ones. Taking the time with your best clients makes them feel great, too!
Are you delivering value to your clients? Download the Retention Checklist for ideas that will help you retain clients long term.
