′Tis the Season for Sales Planning: Five Elements That Must Be Checked Off Your List

*A portion of this blog post is republished with permission from SiriusDecisions, Inc. To read the full post, please visit: http://www.siriusdecisions.com/blog/%E2%80%B2tis-the-season-for-sales-planning-five-elements-that-must-be-checked-off-your-list/

I know that for many, the sales planning season does not conjure up thoughts of joy and happiness. However, it is that time of year when sales leaders and sales operations must focus on how to ensure success in the coming fiscal year. For help, sales organizations should take a lesson from the jolly old guy in the red suit: Make a list and check it twice. The list below contains five critical elements that need to be on the planning list to make sure that the sales organization kicks off the new year aligned.

1. Target diagnostics. The corporate targets may not make us smile, but before sales operations can begin to apply a strategic plan, it must understand the targets and how they relate to corporate goals and objectives. Since sales will be expected to grow the business, where does the company want that growth to come from? It’s important to determine growth potential from existing customers, net new customers, product/solution offerings, contract renewals and acquisitions.
2. Business analysis. Once the sales organization knows exactly what is expected (how successful performance will be defined), sales operations must understand what happened last year (descriptive analytics) and what the future looks like (predictive analytics). Using history to validate what worked well and highlight where improvements are needed will help align the strategic plan of action – based on forward-looking market intelligence.

*A portion of this blog post is republished with permission from SiriusDecisions, Inc. To read the full post, please visit: http://www.siriusdecisions.com/blog/%E2%80%B2tis-the-season-for-sales-planning-five-elements-that-must-be-checked-off-your-list/

By Mark Levinson, from: http://www.siriusdecisions.com/blog/%E2%80%B2tis-the-season-for-sales-planning-five-elements-that-must-be-checked-off-your-list/