Sales is a great place to be if you want to be in sales, as one of my top salesmen once said to me! It’s like running your own business. It demands that you think like a businessman. So here are my top 15 questions every sales professional should be asking themselves:
The Questions
- Was this month’s performance better than the same month last year?
- Are my Year To Date sales better than target?
- Are my Year To Date sales better than last year?
- Are my pipeline forecasts consistently accurate to within 5%?
- Am I predicting failure in the current quarter? (Weighted forecast relative to Target)
- Why am I losing business? List the main reasons.
- Why am I winning business? List the main reasons why my customers/prospects are spending money on my products.
- What are my product unit sales compared with last year?
- What are my earnings this year compared to last year?
- How do I compare with the rest of the sales team and I can learn from my colleagues?
- What are my average deal values from all transactions compared with last year?
- List my historical sales figures by customer since I joined the company. Can I graduate the lowest value customers up the table?
- Do I lack technical knowledge in any specific product/area?
- Do I have an Engagement Strategy worked out to extract more money from the top 30 players in my sector.
- Do I understand my personal cookbook for success? Do I understand the behavior needed to consistently exceed Target?
