Hi, and welcome to another clear-thinking session with Nicola.
This week's question is one I get often: "We made a plan, we followed the plan. The plan hasn't worked." This is the frustration of a flat year, even after putting in the hard work and process.
In my methodology, I differentiate between the Sales Strategy (the numerical breakdown of how you'll hit the target - transactions, value, product mix) and the Sales Plan (the activation and execution of that strategy). If your results are flat, you need a disciplined review before taking drastic action.
Before you panic, ask my four-point checklist:
1. Do We Just Need More Time?
Have we underestimated the time it takes for the market to respond to our decisions and activation? Every business has a sales algorithm - the predictable output created by activity and resources. We must first check if the timeline was simply too ambitious.
2. Is The Plan Correct?
If time isn't the issue, the foundational strategy might be flawed. Have we made some assumptions that the market has since rejected? Ask yourself: Has a new competitor entered the market, or has the market shifted in some way that renders our target avatars or messaging irrelevant?
3. Execution (A & B): Are We Misfiring?
If the plan itself is correct, we move to execution, which has two parts:
3A: Sales Governance & Offer: Is the Value Proposition (UDP) triggering the market? Do we truly understand the pains and wounds of our target avatars? Are there legislative or trading barriers to the route to market we missed? And crucially, are we reading the wrong numbers in our dashboard?
3B: People and Process: If everything else lines up, we come back to your team. Do you have the right levels of competency and right level of resource? Do your internal processes hinder the execution of the strategy, or do they speed things up?
You must continuously refine and improve by iterating what works to build consistency and accelerate the delivery of results.
Ready to diagnose why your plan failed and get back on the path to growth?
Watch the full strategy video now!