As James Clear said in his brilliant book, Atomic Habits, “we don’t rise to the level of our goals; we fall to the level of our systems”. At Sales for Startups, we have a clear working process and know how to deliver success for our clients. It’s part of our 90 day methodology, a combination of several methods designed for maximum effect. Read on to learn more about winning at sales in 90 days and how it applies to your startup.
What, when, why?
The what
Understanding root causes is key to establishing any successful sales formula. You need to know what you’re trying to achieve and identify typical challenges the business faces. Only then can you start thinking about how to overcome them.
The when
Execution is always the most crucial aspect, and creating a concrete plan of action is critical for delivering success to your business.
The why
The 90-day sales plan asks ‘why?’. And it answers it to rally your team around a common goal, enabling you to piece together different revenue activities from various teams in one coherent road map.
Why specifically the 90 day methodology?
So why the 90-day plan? We believe it’s a long enough timeframe to have a vision and theme, yet short enough to keep focused. Most sales-related tasks take around three months, meaning the length is something many founders and teams are already familiar with for plotting and executing processes.
For example, most enterprise-qualified deals take three to four months, and core onboarding and ramp cycles usually last for the same time. This time frame enables you to go from macro to micro-planning with built-in flexibility.
It works out as a quarter of the year, which we split into two halves: both six weeks long with several tasks designed to derive the most out of your business. We’ve leveraged the 90-day plan with our clients many times to bring them success.
Four steps to building the plan
We work with four key principles:
- Agree on the objectives
- Sequence the objectives
- Activities required to achieve those objectives
- Completion criteria
Agree on the objectives
We work with clients to create objectives by looking at the priorities, impact and relevance of your goals. Next, we create a successful framework and leverage it to amend and offer additional insight where necessary.
Sequence the objectives
Having a structured approach based on your needs is vital to achieving the right results. This isn’t a rigid set-up, either: we focus on the client’s specific needs using our experience and their input to deliver the highest priorities.
Activities required to achieve those objectives
Achieving your objectives requires activities focusing on the who, what, and when.
Completion criteria
Each objective needs to have completion criteria so it can be marked as complete and approved by any additional stakeholder if necessary. We use the SMART framework with our clients so any objective can be timely and realistically approved.
Winning at sales in 90 days
Startups can take their sales to another level, no matter the current bottlenecks you face. But don’t just take our word for it – download the full 90-day template and see how Sales for Startups can help you reach your business goals.
