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It’s that time of year! Sales leaders everywhere are stressed trying to close out the year with a bang (honestly, is there any other way to close out 2020?). At the same time, they are responsible for getting teams prepped AND pumped for 2021. SKOs are around the corner, which means goals, tech, and motivation are all taking up brain space for our customers.
Our customers are already crushing using Ambition to finish out the year strong. In this Office Hours, we cover how you should be using Ambition to get primed for 2021.
The TLDR is that it is absolutely worth it in this hectic season to carve out time for 2021 prep. Future you will thank you.
Here's the recording, recap down below!
Some highlights:
Use smart benchmarking in Ambition to automate your 2021 Scorecards
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Our theme here is “Set it and forget it.” Block some calendar time to put in all of your targets for 2021. Ambition will automatically launch these new targets for you as each month rolls along. We could all use one less thing to think about!
Review and refresh your Goals to make sure you’re tracking towards what’s most important
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This is a great time of year to think through what you are tracking and how you are tracking it.
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Are the goals you’ve set for your teams and sellers the ones that are moving the needle for your business? Or should you refresh?
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Set these Goals in Ambition before Jan 1 so your team can leave 2020 in the past.
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I personally love team goals -- especially when reps are remote, it keeps them focused on how their efforts contribute towards the big picture.
Distribute TV URLs to keep everyone aligned -- including your executives
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Remote TVs:
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One bummer of remote sales teams is that office TVs can’t serve their function of aligning and motivating your sellers.
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Send the TV URL to your team members so they can keep a TV tab open on their browser -- same result as the office TV, but from home.
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Executive TVs:
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My colleague Chad just worked with a customer to build out executive TVs, so her boss can see her teams’ wins, activity, and the work they are putting in every day to drive towards goals.
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This customer also has 5 team TVs, one for each team she runs, and each team uses their TV URL to keep their goals front and center.
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She no longer has to send out reports or scramble to find numbers -- everyone has what they need 24/7.
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Align Coaching with 2021 initiatives
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I won’t beat around the bush. 2020 has been a dumpster fire. There is no more important time to check in with your team on how they are really doing. Every manager needs to be doing this.
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I’m seeing many of my customers adding mental health check-in questions -- how are they handling remote work? Are they feeling connected to the rest of the team? I love what Chad said about this: “Keep things human and start with the human questions that get lost in the day-to-day of running down numbers.”
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I’m also seeing customers increase the frequency of their check-ins. You might have gotten away with monthly 1:1s in the office, but remote teams need more connection than that to stay engaged.
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And finally, tap into your reps. There is no better time to ask them what they want to talk about in 2021.
Kick off your 2021 Competitions
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With new years come new energy. If you wait to figure out your competitions until after the near year, you lose that window of time to get people hyped up.
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One idea I’m loving is aligning competition incentives with your reps personal goals. If they have a personal goal to cook at home more, use an AirBnB virtual cooking class to reward them!
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Again, tap into your reps. What competition ideas do they have? What do they want to win at?
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Side note: Accolades are incredible for making sure reps are recognized at home.
At the end of the day, it’s easy to let things slide at the end of the year. It is super busy and we are all going after our goals. I coach my customers to not miss this valuable opportunity to use visibility, motivation, and development to get ahead of the game, get ahead of your competitors’ sales teams, and get your teams pumped for 2021.
