As an Eagle Scout I can discuss the topic of “Be Prepared” easily and based upon this past Sunday it even has more credibility. Sunday was “Boom’s Day” the largest fireworks display in the U.S occurs each Labor Day weekend in Knoxville, TN-so what does that mean? An estimated 400,000 people flock to the river front to watch the event; boats on the river, people lined up on the docks, roads and every home, parking lot and condo packed with friends and neighbors. As this was my first time to witness 45 minutes of noise, color and lots of OOOh’s and Ahhh’s I had to be prepared. Did I mention the potential of rain?
For two weeks, prior to Sunday, I asked everyone about the event; where to park, when to arrive, double checked my reservations for my dinner cruise and thought of what to pack in my knap sack. The good news was I found a parking spot in the first ramp I drove into, arriving at 2:30pm allowed my friends and I to casually walk thru Market Square, stop for refreshments and sushi and then walk the 10 blocks to the river walk and boat launch. When the rain came we had hats’, ponchos, umbrellas and at 9:30pm when the show began, the rain stopped. On the walk back to the car, I took out my flashlight and the four of us made it home by 1am. A great evening to remember.
What does this have to do with sales management? As a manager you must be prepared-at all times for almost any event. The best plan is to have a plan and to consider what might go wrong or what could impact your ability to exceed your objectives. I have simply listed below a series of topics for your consideration and for you to double check against your plan or lack of plan.
Do you have a plan?
If you lose a salesperson
If your sales team needs sales training
To increase the sales culture of your team
To increase your networking/partnering function
That generates excitement for your products/services
To say thank you to your support team
That increases your level of professionalism/education
To create a sales contest that drives revenue
That adds net new customers to your base
That drives the necessary sales leads for each month
To say thank you to your existing customer base
To increase your public relations exposure within your community or market
That will increase/improve your vendor relations
To improve your CRM effectiveness
If your computer systems fail or are destroyed
That’s enough for now, but if I missed anything, comment below, let’s build a complete list for the future.
HINT: this is a great idea for your next management meeting, simply begin by asking each of the departmental managers about their problems or contingency issues that arise on a day to day basis or what might occur if a disaster of any kind happens-then ask them for their plan.
Why is this critically important today? In any kind of business environment, the organization that operates the most efficiently generally out performs their competition, in more challenging times a focus on efficient effectiveness must become the mantra for the day.
