A part of the Luce Performance Group training and management system is Strategic Budget Planning, the process of evaluating each and every client, where they should be budget wise, and how to get them there. When MediaPost's Online Publishing Insider stated "Why Ask Why When You Can Plan How", it mirrored the successful program we have engaged ourselves in for years....
"When managers start a dialogue with "why did you lose," there is no chance of producing positive energy - and I am an energy guy. I believe in its constant presence and impact. So turning this negative interaction between sales managers and salespeople into positive energy is important and possible, but it requires real change and a plan to achieve it. How much change is required starts with how you answer these two related questions. For salespeople, are you picking your wins or are you chasing dollars? For sales managers, is your entire sales organization aware of what specific advertisers your salespeople plan to win this year, or is everyone just aware of the annual revenue goal that needs to be hit?
Change starts with bottom-up account planning, which is far from revolutionary but may be a lost art inside the forward-thinking frenzy of online advertising sales. Each salesperson should be accountable for creating a physical playbook detailing the advertisers he/she plans to win this year, a meeting tree tied to each account, and a communication plan on how to best position the site to earn this win. Most importantly, each account plan should include a specific "big idea" uniquely connecting the advertiser to your audience. Finally, any internal requests for help in executing this communication plan effectively should be included, so the salesperson can excel during face-to-face meetings that must be obtained for anything significant to be won.
A detailed plan for each advertiser you call on forces your sales efforts to be properly focused, smart, and self-fulfilling, because you have decided upfront that your site and idea merits a meeting - and meetings grow revenue when planted properly on receptive grounds. Too often -- mostly caused by the "agency assignment approach" -- salespeople run through lobbies chasing dollars while bending the site's brand along the way, versus picking the right battles and sticking the brand firmly in the ground so buyers know what it stands for.
Detailed account planning won't prevent losses. But now when they occur, you and your manager can look at how the plan failed versus how you failed. This exercise doesn't preclude you from earning business unaccounted for -- but it will deliver the elusive answer to the question of why you lost business you did not plan to win."
For a Sales Manager, the process can take a couple of days but the effort and what the sales consultants get out of it is really worth it as you develop the plan to achieve the goals that are set in the process. At Luce Performance Group we do Annual Strategic Budget Planning and Mid-Year Reviews which keep your organization and people focussed on where they can plan to win.