If you stand in front of a room with your sales manager and fellow sales executives to deliver a forecast, you had better be prepared. A polished PowerPoint presentation means little unless it is supported by specific details explaining why a deal will close within the forecasted timeframe.
The monthly forecast meetings we held at EMC were often entertaining. Each rep stood up and presented a quarterly forecast—at EMC, a quarter felt like a year. We were expected to hit our numbers largely because the guidance given to Wall Street flowed down through the organization, from region to district and ultimately to each sales executive.
EMC was famous for “whacking” sales executives—excuse me, relieving them of their jobs—when numbers were missed over multiple quarters. Accuracy mattered. There was a fine line between forecasting enough business to make your number and being able to defend it when management began asking hard questions about individual deals.
District managers needed solid data from each rep so they could roll up an accurate regional forecast. To get it, they asked pointed, detailed questions designed to determine whether a deal was truly going to close as predicted. Depending on the rep and the account, the questioning could be intense.
Typical questions included:
- Is the deal budgeted?
- Are you speaking with the decision-maker?
- Is the technical influencer aligned with the proposal?
- Who is our primary competitor?
- What is our competitive advantage?
- What compelling event requires the deal to close within this timeframe?
- What could derail the deal?
If you couldn’t answer those questions, you were exposed. While these sessions were entertaining for those watching, they were far less enjoyable for the person presenting. Still, they reinforced a critical discipline: know your deals and be prepared to defend them.
A seasoned sales professional should have answers to most of these questions. In reality, nearly all of them can be answered by asking the prospect thoughtful questions—and then listening carefully. Over time, you learn to separate real opportunities from wishful thinking.
I learned this lesson firsthand years ago while running a custom motorcycle business. We displayed several high-end custom bikes outside our shop, hoping to draw in passersby. Each bike was handmade from the frame up and priced between $25,000 and $50,000.
One afternoon, a mechanic excitedly told me he had spoken with a prospect who loved our work and intended to buy a bike. Given how few custom builds we sold each year, I was encouraged. I grabbed my notepad and asked a few basic questions so I could follow up.
Timeframe? He didn’t know.
Budget? He didn’t know.
Current motorcycle? He didn’t know.
License? He hadn’t asked.
I finally said, “Just give me his name and number, and I’ll call him.”
“I didn’t get it,” he replied.
We never heard from that “prospect” again.
So what’s the takeaway? As professional sales executives, we should constantly ask ourselves the same questions our managers would ask in a forecast meeting. On a daily basis, it simply makes sense to continue qualifying opportunities to ensure we are spending our time on legitimate prospects.
At the end of the day, time is the only thing we truly have. Spend it wisely.
UNIVERSAL SALES TRUTH #4
Work your land
Proverbs 20:4
A farmer too lazy to plant in the spring
Has nothing to harvest in the fall