Welcome to another Front Line Friday with my special guest, Bridget Gleason. On this week’s episode, Bridget and I discuss, among other topics: how to approach developing your sales plan for 2017 (for individuals and managers);  the ideal timeframe for sales planning; sales manager planning and how to convert your plan into action.

 

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[1:59] What sales managers and sales reps need to do to improve the value of their sales plans.

[3:10] What did Bridget propose when she consulted with a large company about their huge ‘planning exercise’?

[5:49] From the Board, CEO, and VP, yearly sales mandates roll downhill. How sales managers should plan to meet these mandates.

[6:30] How sales managers should break top down goals into actionable quarterly goals strategies.

[8:20] How to hold yourself, or your team, accountable to achieve specific outcomes.

[9:14] With a roadmap, when you take a detour, you can find your way back to the objective.

[12:01] What is the purpose of calculating a rep’s lead deficit?

[14:23] How to deal with morale issues when reps keep missing their numbers.

[17:51] If you don’t like the details of your goals, can you change the variables in some way, to meet the same goals?

[23:37] Why it can make sense to write quarterly plans instead of an annual sales plan.

[24:58] Why a sales plan that just sits on the shelf doesn’t help you to hit your numbers.

[25:55] Where and when does action take over from planning?

 

CONTACT BRIDGET GLEASON

Bridget is VP of Sales for Logz.io. Before that she was VP of Corporate Sales at SumoLogic. Her other recent experiences includes being VP of Sales for Yesware and SVP of Worldwide Sales for Engine Yard. She can be contacted at [email protected].