My conversation with Bill went like this.

Bill: Hi Al, I wanted this session with you because while I had a good sales year and hit my quota, I feel I can do better. I don’t know how much to increase my sales numbers, sales quota and how many more business opportunities I can capture.

Al: Well Bill, you certainly have a positive attitude, can you expand on that?

Bill: Sure, I have a vision of improving my sales process, not to be overly challenging and yet increase my sales performance. I want to increase my sales volume, do a better job of pipeline management and have a sales plan that would help me increase my quota and sales for 2012. But I don’t know exactly where to start.

Bill: Do you have any ideas, sales tips or new concepts that would help me increase my sales and market share.

Al: I want to take you through a sales process that will help have a clear vision of how to increase your sales and market share. Are you open to some self improvement as a sales person?

Bill: Sure, Where do we start?

Jumping ahead, Bill, at the end of our meeting had created a sales plan and sales strategy and a sales quota that represented a substantial increase in sales over his previous year and felt he was on the road to success.

Like Bill you can discover what you can do to increase sales, profits and market share in 2012. Here is the process we went through which you can replicate.

First determine how many new first appointments you had in 2011.

Then figure out how many working days you have in 2012.

• Start with                                 365 days
• Subtract weekends                   104 days
• Number of days left                   261 days
• Subtract holidays                         9 days
• Number of days left                   252 days
• Subtract vacation days                15 days
• Number of days left                   237 days
• Personal/Sick/Misc days              5 days
• Number of days left                   232 days
• Sales meetings/planning days     24 days
• Number of days left to sell         208 days

When Bill went through this process he realized he had 47 new appointments in 2011 in a 208 day period and closed forty percent for a total of 19 new accounts. Bill could not account for the rest of his day’s activities.

Bill also realized if he doubled the amount of first appointments to 94 he still had and all other variables stayed the same he could close 38 new accounts and 114 days left.

If he committed one day a week for phone calls which is 52, he still had 62 days left. Bill committed to attend 1 networking event each week and still have 10 days left over.

With a commitment to increase his first appointments he still had time each day for follow calls, servicing customers and making new appointments.

Every situation is different. But the exercise Bill went through should give you some insight on how to increase your sales. I would suggest you calculate how many working days you have in 2012. Then calculate how many first calls you had in 2011.

You will have to engineer your own vacation days, holidays, sales planning and sales meeting days, and planning the other days mentioned above where and if they apply.

Please let me know what sales plan you come up with and if there is room for increased sales and market share.