As 2020 races to a close and 2021 moves ever closer, it is natural for sales leaders to reflect on this year’s progress and think about how to achieve next year’s goals. However, with the continued uncertainty as a result of COVID 19, the idea of planning must sound daunting and a near impossibility. Not to mention trying to finish the year off strong.
In this article, we give some guidelines on how to finish the year off strong and also how to start preparing for 2021.
Fourth quarters can be stressful for sales development reps and sales leaders, and whether you’re feeling the pressure of hitting your fourth quarter goal or making your yearly plan, you need to finish the year strong without jeopardising the first quarter of 2021.
The first step in doing this, is to sit down and strategize for the rest of the quarter and how it will be your best one yet. There are two important questions you must ask yourself:
1. What is your primary focus? – Who are the target accounts, customers and prospects that you believe can deliver revenue for you in the fourth quarter?
2. Where is your time best utilised? – What level of activity do you need to make your revenue goal? If you need better results, think about the increased level of proactive calling and networking that will be necessary.
But what do you do now?
The answer to that question depends on a multitude of factors. However, there are three things that stand out;
1. Having qualified Data
2. Being able to Manage your pipeline and fill it with qualified leads
3. Having a unified, scalable outbound SDR process
1. Data
The first building block toward sales success and a good outbound process is data. Data forms the foundation to building a scalable, predictable pipeline.
As we all know, over time data erodes, decays and becomes outdated. Usually we see data eroding by up to 2 – 3 % a month, which means that over a year, a third of the contacts in your database will have become obsolete. This means that you have to keep updating and cleaning your contact lists and data.
Collecting and managing data requires top technology and a dedicated team of professionals. If you want to succeed and be ahead, and you don’t have enough time or the skills to manage the data collection process, why not consider outsourcing!
2. Pipeline Management
All organisations aspire for faster and smarter growth to their sales processes. However, many find it a challenge to develop and manage their pipeline.
Why do you need a sales pipeline?
As a sales leader you already know the answers to the below important points
1. What has changed in your business?
2. Knowing who your High ROI lead sources are?
3. Who your best future sales prospects are?
But the questions you probably are asking yourself now is do you use these leads to try push for a strong close for the the end of the fourth quarter and possibly risk losing a sale, or do you continue to nurture these leads and keep them in your pipeline so as to start 2021 with a strong lead base?
The answer to the above comes down pipeline management which is a critical business process needed to drive revenue growth. There is however one thing lacking, is it not easier and less stressful to ensure that you have a constant flow of quality leads and a pipeline that is predictable and scalable?
Why do you need a sales pipeline?
• It leads to consistency.
• Having more prospects leads to more appointments.
• Sales forecasts become real, not just guesses.
• When you’re active and setting appointments, your team gains confidence
• The chances of making your sales quota are so much greater when you have more appointments.
3. Having a unified, scalable outbound SDR process
As a sales leader and SDR team having an uninterrupted flow of verified leads arriving at the top of your funnel is key to ensuring that you have a constant flow of qualified appointments that fill your team’s diary.
By setting up a repeatable outbound SDR process, you’ll get the data and insights needed to do this successfully and scale your outreach. The more uniformed your approach, the better data you’ll receive to optimize your strategy.
The true strength of having a uniformed, scalable outbound process comes from an unparalleled ability to combine and integrate various tools combined with human insight to build the perfect sales solution.
In summary, your Q4 success requires a plan, a healthy pipeline, sales cycle, time management and closing skills. As you make your push to finish the year strong, make sure to also set yourself up for success in Q1.
Learn more about how Quantanite can grow your business by booking a call today.
