A s if 2020 was not already hard enough, its lasting impacts are going to make sales evaluation a lot harder this year. Brick-and-mortar sales fell 14% last year — a number that even the big increase in online sales just couldn’t make up — leaving us with a 10.5% drop in sales overall. What does that big picture mean for your sales team? Should you measure 2021 against 2019? Focus on pre-pandemic projections for the current year? Throw your arms in the air and let the sales crew do whatever they want? First things first: Make sure your sales have stabilized. If you’re not starting to see sales climb again, you need an attack plan to meet your weekly numbers where they’re at. Evaluation is important, but you have to stop the ship from sinking first. Once you’re stable, you can take the next step and run the numbers. What kind of year did your business have in 2020? For many, it was worse than previous years, but some industries saw increased business. If you’re one of those lucky few, your plan is going to look a lot different. Remember, sales numbers are just part of the puzzle. You also need to look at productivity, profits, losses, and more to put together your own big picture. This is when you’ll see if your old metrics are still relevant or if you need a different way to look at 2021. Then, set up your sales targets for the year. Your first leads should be those who canceled or stopped participating with your business last year. Past clients cost less to reactivate than new ones. It often just comes down to how you incentivize them. This is also a good time to question whether your traditional “ideal client” still looks the same as before the pandemic. Economic downturns are rough, but every time, some businesses bounce back stronger. They often attribute this success to changing tactics on a number of key issues and freeing up resources (especially sales personnel) to tackle new areas of interest. Finally, examine your sales team. It can be unpleasant, but is there anybody you wish wasn’t there? Low performers make everyone look like amateurs. The second half of this process is asking yourself, “How can I incentivize the right sales people?” Make them happy, and you’ll be happy.
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