G.A. and Paul have met in the Garden State of New Jersey to talk about what to get their mother for Mother’s Day (which is May 10, by the way), and to tape the May Day episode of the Pay Day podcast.

The credibility statement of the most important aspects of a sales conversation. Use this short, quick statement it to allay the prospects fears and position yourself as an expert. Here are the four parts of the credibility statement: 1. Your company and you, 2. Your typical buyer, 3. Success story, 4. Transition into discovery in the form of a question. Post your own credibility statements at silverbulletselling.com.

So today G.A. and I will be talking to you about Pre-Call Planning and how it can help you close more sales.

1. Create your vision
2. Create goals that will realize your vision
3. Create your game plan including the activities/tasks/behaviors that will accomplish your goals
4. Develop a score card to track your activities and goals
5. Execute mid-game adjustments (through the Monthly PDM*)
6. Plan the celebration for when you exceed your year-end goals (this includes how you’re going to spend your bonus money!)

In the next two issues we are going to break down each of these steps to help you develop your game plan.  In this edition we are going to talk about the first three steps.

Step 1: Your Vision

Nearly all great accomplishments in life begin with a vision or a dream.  We as human beings have the unique ability to imagine our future before we create it.  In fact, the future we imagine, to a large extent, determines the future we eventually create for ourselves.  Perhaps the greatest of all human abilities is the capacity to create, on purpose, the vision we intend for ourselves.  Success is not going to happen for you unless you see the possibility of it happening first, and then build a vision and a plan that will generate results.

Some people seem to have the ability to turn their dreams into reality.  How do they do it?  While many people fall into activities that seem urgent and build habits by accident, top performers do it differently: they start with the end in mind (their vision) and work backwards from there.

Vision is not as complicated as many experts make it out to be.  It is simply a compelling description of the ultimate destination you are trying to reach.  It is a clear explanation of what the destination looks like and feels like and what the reward is for all the effort it will take to get there.  The vision does not lay out how you will achieve this goal, but it does create an excitement-generating snapshot of what it will look like when the ultimate goal is achieved.  An effective vision motivates you to get up every morning and do the activities you need to do (especially the more unsavory ones) to make what you want a reality.

Creating Your Vision Statement

The whole idea here is to describe your vision and expectations in vibrant color to motivate you.  Effective vision statements have three different parts:

1. Definition of vision: Identifying the objectives of your vision and what it means to be successful.
2. How you will realize the vision: Understanding the behaviors and activities required to realize the vision.
3. Reward of realizing your vision: Identifying the rewards for realizing your vision.

Step 2: Your Goals

Goals provide the stepping stones to realizing your vision.  Remember, that to be effective, a goal must be SMART by satisfying the following 5 SMART elements:

S = Specific – The goal must be specific and clear with no ambiguity.
M = Measurable - The goal needs to have a measurable outcome.
A = Achievable - The goal must be achievable, practical and possible.
R = Realisitc - A goal needs to be realistic with the resources available (time, energy, capital, people).
T = Time specific - A goal must be achievable within a defined period of time.

Example Goals:

• $5MM production in 2009
• Bring on 4 new clients this year
• Grow my revenue by 25%

Step 3: Your Game Plan

An effective game plan includes the activities, tasks and behaviors that will accomplish your goals.  The key to an effective game plan is that it lays out in no uncertain terms the level of activity you need to do in order to accomplish your goal.  For example to accomplish the goal of bringing on 4 new clients this year I will have to make 20 calls to prospects every week.

So there you have it…the first three steps to accomplishing your vision.  Stay tuned next month when we will talk about the final three steps:

Step 4: Develop a score card to track your activities and goals
Step 5: Execute mid-game adjustments
Step 6: Plan the celebration for when you exceed your year-end goals (this includes how you’re going to spend your bonus money!)

Download the SMART Goals Worksheet

Effective game plans and effective execution are two of the fundamentals that set top performers apart from the rest.  That’s what was missing in my early January goal-setting sessions.  I knew what I wanted to accomplish, but I had no idea what activities, tasks and behaviors I had to execute to accomplish it.

As a Sales Professional the amount of success you have depends solely on your ability to create and execute an effective game plan.  Most people have a lot of difficulty navigating the muddy waters between setting goals and executing on those goals.  The top producers in any industry have a game plan to turn their goals into activities and then execute those activities to create results.  This is why top producers blow the doors off their numbers and they do it year after year!

The Vision-To-Reality Process: A Navigation System To Success

If you were planning to drive cross country, what are the three most important things you would pack to take with you?  Music to pass the time…probably.  Cell phone to stay connected to the outside world (your buyers)….certainly.  A GPS system to help you find your way across the deserts and mountains…definitely.

Think of a game plan as your navigation system to success.  It will keep you on course so you can accomplish your goals and eventually realize your vision.  A game plan is standard equipment to Sales Professionals who want to succeed.

Your job right now is to create your goals for 2009 and then figure out your game plan – the activities, tasks and behaviors you have to execute to make these goals a reality.  With this in mind we offer you a proven six-step process for making your vision a reality:

1. Create your vision
2. Create goals that will realize your vision
3. Create your game plan including the activities/tasks/behaviors that will accomplish your goals.
4. Develop a score card to track your activities and goals.
5. Execute mid-game adjustments
6. Plan the celebration for when you exceed your year-end goals (this includes how you’re going to spend your bonus money!).