3 Mid-Year Mistakes The VP of Sales Can Avoid

3 Mid-Year Mistakes The VP of Sales Can Avoid:rom Sales Force Effectiveness Blog by Matt Sharrers
As the VP of Sales, you are tasked with making the in-year revenue quota. When all is said and done, that is how you are measured. You just finished prepping for the July board meeting and if you are like 69% of your peers, you are behind.  Download the sales strategy review to quickly identify why you are behind and what you need to do first to reverse your fate.


 3 Mistakes to Avoid

1. Blame the Economy— The board knows you are behind and so does your boss. You want to please your boss. We all do. Please him by taking a bullet and admitting you failed to prepare properly at this time last year.  Companies are thriving right now. Best in class sales forces are ahead of the number.
2. Oversell Pipeline—Every sales leader is known to have rose colored glasses. “It is coming”.  You will lose credibility and be grouped with every other average leader who tries to spin bad news.
3. Wait and See - Remember, things happen slowly, then suddenly. You are not behind because of what you did in April of 2012. You are behind because of what you didn’t do in Q3 of last year. So instead of beating the same drum and calling an “all hands” meeting, demonstrate your commitment in the second half to act differently.

What should you do?
Ask yourself if any of the 4 problems below are happening in your sales force.

1. Thrashing - The wrong solutions implemented due to incorrectly diagnosed sales problems. Result: lots of effort but very few results.
2. Detachment - Sales strategy selected with no understanding of industry/company/product life cycle. Result: a go-to-market plan not in sync with target markets.
3. Sequencing - Poorly ordered programs that cancel each other out.  Result: improperly sequenced set of solutions causing change fatigue.
4. Alienation - No appreciation for the level of day-to-day impact on the rest of the company. Result: further deteriorating sales results and entry into the “valley of death”, destroying morale.

To get an answer to the above 4 items, attend our CEO’s webinar next week.  In these 30 minutes you will get a preview into how to plan a full fiscal year sales strategy that is prioritized for your sales force. The VP of Sales is paid to make the in-year revenue quota; you can miss once if you show signs of making noticeable improvements to ensure you don’t miss twice. Share your thoughts below on what you are seeing in those companies that are ahead of the ’12 number; love to hear them.

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