Finish Strong & Secure Success in 2018

At this point, your year is pretty much set. However, there is much work to be done if you want to finish strong and secure your success in 2018. Here is a quick list of priorities for Sales Leaders for the 4^th quarter of 2017:

• Close Business – At this time of year, your pipeline is most likely full. Your focus, from a coaching standpoint, is to move business through the pipeline to decision. You should not abandon development and strategy with your team, but it is time to finish strong.
• Talent Evaluation – Many times talent evaluation is put off far too long, but you need to act. Which team members are a fit? Which are not? Where are you going to have gaps? Re-evaluate the skills your sales professionals should have to be successful. Review your on-boarding process to address gaps. Most importantly, get your new hires! Don’t delay as hiring gets tough toward the end of the year.
• Strategy – ugh! That lousy word that most people really don’t get. What are the goals for next year and what is your strategy to exceed them? Start from the outcomes, then work backward. Use all of your resources available, including customer feedback, marketing, team feedback, and research. Don’t make this a-night-before-the-strategy-meeting-with-leadership activity. Dedicate time to do it well and engage the leadership team in the process, so you get buy-in on your plan.
• Spend Time with Marketing – that’s right! The more closely aligned you are with Marketing, the more effective your efforts will be. See what they have planned for next year and become a partner to your Marketing peer. Don’t be the Sales Leader who acts blindsided by their plans because you didn’t want to make the effort to collaborate.
• Take Care of Your Top Performers – Don’t wait until the year ends to make sure you have your top performers fired up for next year. Think about point #2 above: your competition is evaluating their talent right now and they are trying to figure out how to steal your top performers. Don’t wait until it is too late.

The 4^th quarter is busy. And once the middle of November gets here, it gets even worse with time off and holiday distractions. Focus on your critical factors for success now and secure your success for 2018.