Planning isn’t just for New Year’s resolutions – it’s a year-round habit of top sales pros.
So, you’re probably reading this article for the first time sometime in January of 2025. But don’t worry if it’s later than that, it’s still relevant. My question to you is: are you planning for the new year now? Now if you’re reading this in June of 2025, maybe the question is: are you planning for next quarter now? Just remember, it’s never too late to start planning for your next year or your next quarter.
In fact, this is where I think a lot of salespeople make a huge mistake. We think today: what am I going to close today? Or maybe what am I going to close this month? But at the same time, we also have to have this longer-term vision.
You need to be planning for what’s going to be in the pipeline for you to be closing next month, next quarter, next year. You don’t sit around and wait for your manager to tell you what your quota is. You know it’s going up. You know what your quota is going to be.
And so plan for what you guess your quota is going to be.
Or maybe go high and backfill your pipeline so that you start the new year or the next quarter even higher than you need in order to succeed. What’s the worst thing that can happen? Well, you overachieve.
You know, as sales reps, I think this is one of the hardest things that we have to do is think both short term and immediate. What am I going to get done today in order to hit my goal? And also long term, what am I going to get done today that’s going to help me in two months, three months, four months, five months or six months? And of course, it goes without saying, if you’ve got a yearlong, month or two-year sales cycle, then you’re really working ahead of the curve because it’s the work you’re doing today that is going to manifest itself in commissions in a year or two from now.
So, wherever you are in the year, start planning for the next one and Heat Up Your Sales!