The Problem: Bridging the Gap Between Ambition and Credibility
This week’s question came from a UK-based manufacturing firm with global sales managers submitting ambitious growth plans:
“Nicola, how do I get my board to buy into my sales managers’ overly ambitious sales projections?”
It’s a familiar tension. Your sales team is optimistic. Your board is sceptical. And somewhere in the middle, you’re trying to bridge the gap between vision and credibility.
Here’s the truth: ambition is brilliant—but without a clear plan, it’s just noise.
Strategy vs. Plan: Know the Difference
A sales strategy is your vision. A sales plan is your execution.
If your managers are submitting targets without showing how they’ll achieve them, they’re muddying the waters. To rebuild board confidence, they need to articulate both.
The One-Page Sales Plan Framework for Clarity
Every territory should be able to present a one-page spreadsheet that answers:
- How many transactions?
- At what average order value?
- Selling what?
- To whom?
- Over what timescale?
This isn’t just forecasting, it’s accountability. Whether you’re selling services or manufactured goods, this framework forces clarity.
If your team can’t break down their number into these components, they’re not ready to defend it.
Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Planning
I recommend both:
- Top-down: Start with the target and reverse-engineer the path.
- Bottom-up: Build from existing customer data, pipeline, and realistic growth assumptions.
When both approaches align, you’ve got a credible plan. When they don’t, you’ve got a negotiation.
Rebuilding Board Confidence
To get buy-in, your managers must show:
- They understand the variables they control
- They’ve accounted for market conditions, they can’t
- They can translate ambition into action
Once the board sees that the team isn’t just guessing, but planning, they’ll lean in.
Want the Full Breakdown?
I unpack all of this in my latest video: “How Do I Get My Board to Believe My Sales Managers’ Overly Ambitious Sales Plans?”
Let’s turn ambition into action and build a sales engine your board can believe in.