Ready to Finish the Year Strong?

At TrustPoint Management Group, we believe our clients' success defines our success.

As we round the corner to 2020, how's your year looking?

Have you devised a mid-year strategy yet?

Now's the time to revisit opportunities from earlier in the year that lost funding or were dropped by the customer. Remember, funding can be restored based on client need changes or the brightening of a financial outlook. Your understanding of client environments increases your competitive advantage and positions you to win deals that your adversaries have dropped from their radar.

Do you understand customer financing in Q3 and Q4?

While this is a complex topic, one thing you can do pretty easily is to identify excess budget in your customer's organization through your understanding of their historical spending. This foresight can lead to pre-billing for services yet to be rendered, and, in essence, warehousing money for the client to spend in the next year - with you! In many situations for clients, it's the "use it or lose it." Make sure you clearly understand your client's financial calendar and fiscal year. Remember - it's not about you!

Don't forget to set actionable goals.

If you're a sales manager, don't tell your team, "We've got to finish the year strong." It's too ambiguous. Instead, set an actionable target such as increasing company revenue by $500,000. Also, connect the personal goals of your team members to the company's financial goals, and they'll work that much harder. (For example, if one of them is only about $100,000 from their next commission increase, let them know!)

A few other tips to consider:

• Optimize your team
• Be ready to make "close the file" calls
• Practice strong pre-call planning and have clear next steps

Finishing the year strong can make a real difference to your business. So can a systematized approach to sales.