Here are 9 questions to ask to be sure.
We are off and running… 2026 is underway. Are you ready? More importantly, are your seller-doers ready?
If you’re responsible for managing your firm’s seller-doers, does a sales system exist that provides a foundation for driving their success? If not, ask yourself the following questions to help you uncover key management elements that should be part of your 2026 sales program…
Is there a full-blown sales plan in place? A living document that lays out for your seller-doers how to be successful? Does it detail their goals, strategies, tactics and messaging to help drive their actions? Even a mediocre plan is better than a “go sell something” approach.
Are there achievable sales goals in place? Two of them, actually – one for new business and one for existing clients. Often, the focus on new business is so strong that we ignore our current clients (assuming our good work will bring them back), resulting in a higher churn rate than expected.
Do your seller-doers all have the necessary selling skills to be successful? Those skills include acquiring new clients, keeping and growing existing clients and – given their role – smart time management. [Need a training resource? Click here.]
Do they have the time to sell? By definition, a seller-doer has two roles (selling and doing) and in the vast majority of cases, they’re ‘doing’ workload is so heavy it leaves little time to sell. Are you giving them the opportunity (and permission) to block off time on their calendar for selling activities?
How are you managing your very largest clients? That is, the 2, 3 or 4 clients that account for 40-50-60% of your revenue? You really can’t afford to lose even one of them. Have you assigned an Account Manager to them… or created Key Account Plans?
Do your seller-doers have the tools they need to support their work? Things like a CRM, pipeline tool, AI tools that improve productivity, maybe a subscription to Sales Navigator or ZoomInfo to help with new business acquisition?
Is the reporting in place for the effective measurement of sales? Not just ‘sales by client’ each month, but:
- Sales year-to-date
- Sales year-to-date vs. last year-to-date
- Sales year-to-date vs. goal year-to-date
- Sales by industry
- Sales by service line
- Pipeline metrics to help track your sales cycle and conversion at each step of the sales process
Are sales and marketing closely aligned at your firm? They should be. Marketing needs to know what sales is hearing from the marketplace, what buyers are asking for, what obstacle sales is facing so they can provide the tools and resources to help sales respond. Sales needs to know what campaigns marketing is working on so they can be prepared to follow-up. In a perfect world, one person is leading (and coordinating) both sales and marketing.
Are your seller-doers getting the right kind of management support? Even if you’re a part-time sales manager, are you providing support to your team frequently and consistently? The ‘sales manager’ function has two primary roles… to manage the sales process and to coach his/her salespeople.
Bottom Line
Sales success happens when you have good salespeople… and even better sales management. By providing the necessary tools, direction and leadership, your seller-doers will be better prepared for success… not just out there wingin’ it!
Good luck and good selling.