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That’s a common issue. Inaccurate forecasting is a common issue and one where you really need to understand the bigger ‘why?’ Do the sales team not have the commercial smarts to forecast? Do they fear giving you the real results because they’re not good? Or simply do they not understand the consequences of a shaky sales forecast? Either way – time to drill to the bottom, once you understand the cause, the fix will become evident. For more help – book a call

That#s a big one to unpack here. The first thing is to understand why the 20% gap. What’s happened to the conversion rate? lead volume? average order value? sales cycle duration? you might want to look at all these stats based on different products and services, regions and reps – what you’re looking for is the leaks. Find the leaks and your answer becomes obvious…if in doubt, book a call and I’ll you through what to do

Typically in this sort of situation – you don’t have a pricing problem, you have a value problem. Sales teams can sink fast when dealing with price challenges, and it doesn’t take long for them to become scared of talking about price, which means prospects can easily get a discount, often without asking! Break the cycle today – do this exercise in a small group away from the phones – ask them to double the price of your product and now to list as many value based statements as they possibly can – then distil this list until you have only those value points that are uniquely applicable to your product /service – remember this – the first sales you make is to the sales team! Your sales team have fallen out of love with the product/service – and if they don’t love it – they can’t sell it! P.S. also do yourself a favour and listen to some of their sales calls – their language will be shouting discount – and they won’t know it – share your thoughts with the, If you need more help on this – book a call – I’ll show you what to look for and the fix you need

You have to meet the board wehere they are. You have to meet them with information, data, insights, wisdom and a plan for what you would need, what would need to be true, and what support and budget you would need to get then the uplift they want, including any risk factors. You might well feel deeply and certainly that this is a fool’s errand to hike the sales targets by 15%. You need to suspend your disbelieve and give them a plan and your wish list so that they can see clearly what you would need to make their 15% hike do able . Faced with all the evidence, date, wisdom and signposting you give them, then can decide if they want to back you and stick to 15% increase in sales targets or, maybe, they come back to you with another ask. That’s ok – once you give them then the data, they can decide. The skills for you is be prepared, and detach from the outcome. It’s not about being right – it’s about coming to a consensus you can both get behind. Good luck

The Sales Boardroom | Blog

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