Planning vs. Having a Plan

“No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy.” ~ Helmuth Carl Bernard Graf von Moltke
(As quoted in Donnybrook : The Battle of Bull Run, 1861 (2005) by David Detzer, p. 233)

I don’t see sales as war myself, but it is certainly true that no call plan ever survives contact with the prospect. Nor does any scheduled meeting with one of your salespeople survive the first conversation sally.

What I mean is that you can’t have a conversational flow chart that you’re unwilling to deviate from!

Unfortunately in sales and sales leadership, most people believe that means planning doesn’t matter – yet nothing could be further from the truth. As Leanne Hoagland-Smith pointed out in last week’s Sales Coaching over Coffee, Coffee Klatch; there is a difference between planning and having a plan.

The activity of planning is an important one. It allows you, the leader, to look from where your team is forward to where you want to be and consider:

1. Objectives – the long term outcome
2. Mile Markers – the shorter term ways you’ll measure progress
3. Obstacles – determine what will stop you from reaching your objectives & mile markers
4. Resources – understand what you already know, have, can get to help you overcome the obstacles
5. Tasks – list what needs to be done to get where you’re going

In the show Leanne also quoted Dwight D. Eisenhower which is a great way to end this post.

“Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower, A speech to the National Defense Executive Reserve Conference in Washington, DC on Nov. 14, 1957

for more check back over the next two weeks to see posts dedicated to: action – reflection, and last week’s post on belief, plus April 29th’s Is the center obstacle YOU?