The
Most Underrated Planning Tool in Business
It's called
a calendar. About as high tech as the wheel, and just as indispensable. If you
aren't making use of it, you're probably losing sales. Let me show you how it
works.
CEO, 1871@tullman
I'm always
amazed at how few technology-focused entrepreneurs understand the power and
value of maybe the lowest tech tool of all, the calendar, which has been around
for at least 5,000 years. You'd think that everyone had figured out how it
works. And it's even more depressing to learn that even fewer entrepreneurs and
executives use the calendar effectively to help plan and manage their
businesses. So much in the business world happens on a schedule, and yet, too
many sales and marketing "experts" are either ignorant of that fact
or oblivious to exactly how important timing is to successful sales. If your
customers aren't ready to listen, or if you're pitching them at the wrong time
or place, it just doesn't matter what you're saying or what you've got to sell.
(See Three Keys to Becoming a Sales
Wizard.)
I'm not talking about just one
central calendar that's critical to this task; I'm talking about developing a
consistent "discovery and triage" process, updated quarterly
throughout each year, to identify and incorporate the events, activities and
opportunities found in all of the calendars that bear on your business. And
doing it without fail at the beginning of every new year.
Discovery, because there
are always new and relevant events (albeit way too many) beyond the recurring
and basic ones. Even the old standbys get refreshed, rebranded or repositioned
over time. There's no upside in taking any of this stuff for granted or
assuming that what may have worked or didn't work in the past for your company
is the case going forward. If you don't make it someone's business to look up
and carefully track these things, they'll be over and gone before you know it;
you'll be sucking wind while someone else is taking advantage of the
opportunities that they offer. (See Do Your Customers Love You More
Than Yesterday.)
Triage because,
even though we all suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out), not even Fred
Astaire could--- dance every dance, play every stage, or be in 2 or 3 places at
once. So, once you have all the data and dates on hand, you will always have to
make some hard choices. Some involve time, resources, available staff, etc.
and, of course, they all involve dollars. But at least when you consciously
decide to play or pass, these will be your choices and not oversights,
omissions, accidents, etc.
All because, to do this right,
you need be get outside your little CRM program and track the obvious as well
as the esoteric haunts of all the likely prospects and suspects that you need
to get your story in front of before the competition does. If the rate at which
things are moving outside your business exceeds that of your own actions, plans
and activities, you're on a downward path and headed to the exits. To compete
and remain at the top of your game, you need to map and manage the entire
ecosystem-- not simply your little corner of the world.
The big calendar buckets are as follows:
Universal calendars: Annual
Events and Holidays, Elections, Recurring Celebrations and Anniversaries, Film
Releases, Award programs
These calendars provide obvious
and easy opportunities to free-ride on and tie into available media, promotions
and content that is being generated regularly and consistently by other
providers. In addition, millions of engaged eyeballs are already focusing on
these outlets and channels and, if you're smart, you can "hijack"
some of that volume and interest as well.
I'm not talking about stealing.
I'm talking about sitting down with a national events calendar and building a
full year of piggy-backing your content and linking your messaging to the
constant and recurring flow of annual activities, promotions, releases and
other communications that will eventually beat a path to your door throughout
the year.
And, to be very clear, none of
this prime traffic will include your stories unless you get ahead of the curve
and make it your business to build the links and connect their content and
their communities to your own media, messaging and commerce. Done well and in a
timely fashion, you'll be enlisting the entire entertainment, news and media
world in promoting a regular stream of your content ideas. How much easier and
cheaper could it be?
Industry calendars: Conferences, Events, New
Product or Technology Announcements, Publications, Effective Dates of
Significant Legislation or Regulations
This is pretty obvious and most
companies do a decent job here, but they don't cast a wide enough net. Too many
businesses think that because they know a great deal about their own company
and a fair amount about their direct competitors that they're on top of the
situation.
But that's not where the industry
disruption, the new products and services, and the most threatening competition
is gonna come from. It's at the edges, the intersections and the adjacent
industries where the new solutions and the biggest risks to the status quo lie.
So, you've got to have a plan to
see what's going on in those verticals and other industry sectors as well and,
frankly, it's the fastest and easiest way to get a boatload of new ideas on the
cheap as long as you've got good shoes and a couple of days to spare.
Customer Calendars:
Businesses are no different
from trains. They stay within some well- defined rails and they run on
schedules, cycles and procurement systems that, to a large extent, you can get
your hands on if you spend the time and know what you're looking for.
Do your homework. Make damn sure
that you and your sales team understand the budget and buying cycles of your
top target customers and prospects. These things are set in concrete. Bad
timing can be the quickest deal killer of all. Plus, if you show up at the
wrong time, it's pretty obvious to the customer that you don't know much about
his or her business, calendars or requirements. Don't make this amateur
mistake.
There is one exception to this
rule, and it depends entirely on your relationship with your buyer. It is
possible that, on occasion, you will tumble into an Alice in Wonderland
scenario where the buyer lets you know that, instead of their budgeted funds being
totally spent, they have excess funds which they need to spend in order to
avoid having their budget cut the next year. Make a compelling offer, sign the
deal, take the money and run.
Other Calendars: Educational,
Government, Political, Regulatory & Administrative
There's nothing sadder than a
salesperson who returns empty-handed to report that he or she just missed the
boat-- beat out by someone who was there at the right time. Or they got misled
or misinformed by the client about the purchase schedule. You learn that, in a
lot of selling situations, the client doesn't want to say "no" to
your face. So, you're told it's too early in the company's cycle to buy or
commit, until one day the potential customer finally breaks the bad news to you
that it went elsewhere. In sales, the rule of thumb is: "It's always too
soon until it's too late."
There's never a perfect time for
the customer to buy because most of them would just as soon not buy anything if
they had the choice. It's the sales person's job to control the clients'
calendars; to always be in their faces; and to be there whenever the customers
are ready to buy. It's all about "at-bats" and always asking for the
order. Lots of important things are lost for lack of asking.
You never want to be at the airport
when your ship comes in.
