Welcome to a brand new Financial Year. The books have been closed for another year and the slate has been wiped clean and we are now back to the starting line, ready to do it all again!! And like most organisations, we are being asked to achieve even more this year than we did last year. It’s an old cliché, but so true – we are only as good as our last sale, our last deal, and our results for last year. As a Sales Leader, how are you placed? Are you excited about the new year or are you dreading that it could be another Groundhog Year? I truly hope that you are excited.
Let’s help you get set up for an extraordinary FY16 with the following tips :
- Review FY15. Before you can move forward into FY16, it is important to reflect on the year that has just been, specifically on what worked well for you and the team. What were your most proud of? What didn’t work as well as you expected? What could you have done more of? What could you have done less of? Spend the time really asking these penetrating questions, and even seek input from stakeholders from outside the team to provide you with perspective. Why not ask your key customers the same question? This review is critical to laying the foundation for an extraordinary FY16. As part of this review, also ask what you and the team must Start, Maintain & Finish, so as to ensure that this year is exceptional.
- Re-Set your FY16 Goals & Objectives. Most likely you have already been provided with your FY16 targets and objectives, and if you are like more sales teams, you are probably looking at them wondering where the business is going to come from, and how you are going to achieve the numbers. The numbers may even scare you a little. Well, how about you do something completely different and radical? Re-set the objectives for you and the team, and double them!! Think of the sales targets as a ceiling, because they actually are – research has proven that most sales teams achieve an end of year result close to their set targets, plus or minus 10%. Now there are always exceptions to this, however, on average, the majority of sales teams will get close to their nominated target. So if you doubled your target and started to generate ideas and strategies to achieve it, you have all of a sudden separated yourself from 95% of your competition.
- Ensure your environment is set up for massive success. Having conducted a thorough review of last Financial Year and re-set your objectives for FY16, it is critical that you set up an environment that will give you every chance of being successful. This requires aligning everyone of your people onto the same page, moving in the same direction and being 100% committed to the cause. Get the team involved in setting a set of crystal clear standards & expectations that will be upheld every single day of the year. Even sign a team contract or team charter agreeing to the standards, that is visible at every team meeting throughout the year – this will drive accountability amongst the team, and it will also drive consistency. And through consistency, the results will follow.
- Establish & implement your Rule of 5. This comes from the work of John Maxwell and it is the identification and implementation of the 5 core activities/principles that must be carried out on a daily basis to underpin the achievement of your objectives. What are the 5 things that you and the team must focus on every day to ensure that the environment is maintained and you have every opportunity of hitting your FY16 objectives? Be uncompromising in your focus and delivery against these.
- First Quarter Focus. So many sales teams suffer from end of year burnout, resulting in the first quarter being really slow. To ensure that FY16 is exceptional, it is critical that you get off to a fast start. Turn on the ‘afterburners’ during the first quarter, and turn the Financial Year on its head. Treat Q1 like it is Q4 and watch what happens!
You are in a wonderful position to create your greatest sales year ever. Implement the above 5 tips and you will be set up for an extraordinary FY16. Get to work & make it happen and allow Groundhog Year to be for your competitors!!
To your FY16 leadership success!!
Darren
Are you seeking to increase your influence and make FY16 your Sales Leadership Year? Click this link to download a FREE copy of my eBook “Lead With Influence – The 7 Strategic Keys to Unleash Your Sales Leadership Potential”.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post – I greatly appreciate it, and welcome comments and feedback. Please feel free to comment below, to follow me on LinkedIn, or to connect via Twitter or Facebook.
About : Darren is an Executive Coach, Leadership Consultant, Trainer, Facilitator, Speaker. A passionate and driven individual specialising in personal development, strategic planning, coaching for advocacy & enhanced performance, situational and servant based leadership, executive coaching of people leaders, emerging leaders and ‘high potential’ individual contributors within the Enterprise & Government market, personal change management, and strategic workshop facilitation & training.
