When to go short:
Much of the work we do at Choose Growth is mid to long-term strategy and execution. While getting the fundamentals correct is the surest way to guarantee consistent YoY growth, we sometimes need to focus on the here and now (like Q4 in just about any business). The trick is in not losing sight of tomorrow while in the heat of the year-end push.
If you think about it, short-term execution is nothing more than executing a quality sales plan while on steroids. It’s still the same concepts and principles, just in a very compressed timeframe. Although there is a change in focus – you will now be spending far more time closing existing opportunities than generating new ones. And this is where you must be careful.
The typical year-end push includes not only aggressively pursuing every existing opportunity but also pulling in Q1 ops – this is where you need to be careful; otherwise, you will start the new year facing an uphill battle. So, what are some of the things you can do to satisfy year-end needs without sacrificing Q1?
- Marketing automation – but this needs to be in place already. Q4 is not the time to start an automation program.
- Promise yourself and your business to commit resources to nurture and develop new leads. Depending on your organization structure there are multiple ways to achieve this:
- Commit X number of hours per day to longer-term goals.
- Needs to be a daily commitment, not weekly otherwise you know what will happen every Friday.
- Commit a resource 100% to longer-term goals, while the rest of the team focuses on the here and now.
- Don’t forget to align the compensation plan for the change in focus.
- Commit X number of hours per day to longer-term goals.
- Involve outside resources. Is this the time to contract a call center? Or hire an outsourced inside sales resource? There are options out there.
While the need to handle year-end numbers is clear (although I personally dislike it), don’t sacrifice your future for the sake of investors. Either find a way to accomplish both, or it’s time to sell your investors away from year-end numbers (arguably a very difficult challenge, but you’ve never shied away from a challenge before – keep the courage).
