I see a fair amount of business plans - it's an occupational hazard.
Not long ago I sat with a company to discuss their business plan. The CEO and founder of this start-up presented his operating and fundraising plan. His basic plan was to raise $8-10M in a second round of financing.
They had all the charts, financial data, revenue forecasts, market studies, etc. Every chart was “up and to the right”; every conclusion was a tremendous profit in years 3-5.
What caused this post were their less than confident and convincing answers to the following questions I had of their plan:
1. Why should I believe you'll achieve your plan?
2. How are you going to assure success in the first 6, 12, and 18 months of your plan?
3. Forget the multiyear success you expect, what specific things are you going to do to achieve your plan in the next 4-6 quarters?
4. What is your sales cycle?
5. How many suspects need to be "touched" to reach your revenue plan?
6. How many prospects do you need to close to reach your revenue projections?
7. How are you going to support the customers you win?
My message to them is if you can’t convince me you can be successful in the near term, why should I believe you’ll be successful in the long term.
You should be able to see the near term clearly. You should know your business, market, and tactical plans for the next few to several quarters. If you can’t convince me you can be successful now, your chances of being successful later are slim to none.
If you say you’re going to achieve something this year, you should be able to detail the tactics used to achieve it.
It's In The Mail - Direct Mail is Alive and Kicking!
Compared to a lot of companies in our field we do a lot of direct mail – postcards, sales letters, promotions, announcements, lead generation. Between client business and ours, we’re averaging one campaign every two weeks; about 1500 pieces per mailing. We’re planning expansion to over 2000 pieces per campaign and will increase mailings to once per week. One particular business interest will grow to 10,000 pieces a month. We’re constantly building and adding to our mailing lists.
Are You Afraid to Ask For The Order?
"The time has come for one of us to buy and you’re the only one at the table that can do that." It’s not the most polished closing statement ever made, but it won a $3.5M deal when I gave it. I smiled, looked our prospect in the eye, and almost saw one of my regional manager’s lunch when I said it.
There's never a bad time for a great sales promotion!
I love spring! The warm days, sunshine, fresh flowers…it’s a welcome relief from colder, shorter, wetter winter months. Plus, it’s a built-in great opportunity for a sales promotion! From March 21 – June 20, you can run a promotion targeted at both existing and new customers. There's never a bad time for a great sales promotion and spring is real-made for such an event.
