Next time the CEO knocks on the door asking for a sales strategy to grow revenue at a more significant and faster clip, you'll be ready. This strategic framework will impress the board of directors, the C-suite, and the sales team you lead. Let's break down an example of a Sales VP tasked with taking net new revenue from $8,000,000 to $12,000,000. Here are the five components:
- Mission Statement
- Top Urgency Drivers
- Top Initiatives
- Top Beliefs
- Top KPIs
Mission Statement
Start your strategy with a standalone mission statement unique to the sales team. Communicate the objective and where you plan to take the team and company. Set the tone with your audience and grab their attention. Be bold but ever-realistic.
Top Urgency Drivers
For your strategy to work, draw up a list of top urgency drivers – those handfuls of ideas that require immediate action. As a sales leader, this is your opportunity to get the necessary buy-in and the action undoubtedly needed across business functions. Aim for three to five ideas to balance inspiration with reality.
Top Initiatives
So what's next? Now that you mapped out a few urgency drivers, it's time to get to work and start executing. Once your plan gets the stamp of approval, this would be a list of initial steps to take.
Top Beliefs
Share your strategy with conviction. Here is where you insert those truths you believe are real now or will be so in the future. Are there underlying patterns backed by your own sales data or market trends underway in the company's space that are here to stay? And without a change in strategy, the company will be left behind. This section requires a storytelling element. Lean into it.
Top KPIs
Finally, the fun part – turning the strategy into a mathematical equation based on your key metrics. Highlight the year-over-year increases needed for the plan to bear fruit. Though it shouldn't be an exhaustive list, feel free to add secondary metrics you might not see on a company-level dashboard or new indicators to show the team the strategy is working.
Keep in mind a strategy is not the same as a sales process – the sales motion that is scalable and repeatable and makes up all the steps in the customer journey from top-of-the-funnel to the bottom. But having a strategic framework like the one above gives a company its North Star to commit to and support the sales organization. Feel free to email darren@theweeklypitch.com for a copy of this strategy template.
