PPB July 2015

showed open estimates and presentations to

follow up on and invoices that had been gen-

erated against goal tracking. But much of

what was readily available from a goal per-

spective was focused on the rearview mirror.

How are you doing against the goals set? The

problem with this is that once you have seen

how you have done, it’s too late to course-

correct if you’ve missed your goals for that

time period.

So we started focusing by looking out

the windshield instead of in the rearview

mirror. Instead of sending out estimates and

crossing our fingers that the client would

want to go ahead and we would magically

just hit our sales targets, we started rigor-

ously and methodically reverse-engineering

exactly how we were going to get there. We

started identifying exactly how much busi-

ness needed to go in each week to hit the

goal and exactly where that business was

going to come from.

Reverse-Engineering To Set

Achievable Goals

Start with what the salesperson ideally

would like to achieve in total sales for the

year. Then take the 30,000-foot view of the

potential for each customer in the salesper-

son’s portfolio by having the salesperson

assign a dollar value of what they think that

customer can do on an annual basis. This

number can be determined through existing

knowledge of the client, market research and

understanding the industry in which the

client operates.

The next step is to put a stake in the

ground indicating how much business of the

total potential for a specific customer the

salesperson is aiming to land. Again, this is

based on knowledge of the customer and

what their promotional calendar typically

looks like. In the case of prospects, it is a goal

the rep wants to hit for landing foot-in-the-

door business.

All of this rolls up at the portfolio level

to a total amount of potential sales. A prob-

ability should be assigned to the total

amount as the rep is not going to hit a

homerun with each customer or prospect.

The final number with a probability factor

taken into account should then be compared

to the sales target the reps want to achieve.

Where does that leave the reps? If there is

plenty of business potential in the portfolio,

they shouldn’t have a problem reaching their

goals. If the total number falls short of the

goal, either the goal is not realistic or they

clearly need to be adding more prospects to

the portfolio.

The final step is to break the goal into

quarters, months and then weeks. This is

done based on knowledge of existing clients

and the seasonality of their spend mixed with

any knowledge of prospects.

The goal is based on final invoices, and

the key is to then track weekly progress

going forward so the reps always know

where they stand.

How To Achieve The Goals

Setting the goals is only the first step;

getting there is the hardest part. The key is to

provide a clear view out the windshield so the

salespeople know what’s coming down the

road and can ensure their pipeline is strong

enough and will convert into sales at the

right time.

The two leading indicators that plug into

those numbers are the orders currently in

production and the estimates that are likely

to convert to orders in production. If the

salespeople know how much they need to

put into production every week and are

tracking against that, they will know if they

are going to miss their goal while there is

still time to correct it. By identifying which

orders are going into production that week,

this process also provides focus to ensure the

reps make it happen.

70 •

PPB

• JULY 2015

THINK

PPB

spoke with Charles River

President Barry Lipsett to learn

some tips to help other promo-

tional products companies deter-

mine what’s best for them.

PPB:

Did Charles River engage a PR

firm previously?

Lipsett:

Yes, we engaged with a public rela-

tions agency for a brief period, in 2009-2010.

Prior to and after discontinuing our previous

public relations partnership, the Charles

River Marketing department handled all PR

related activity.

HOULD YOUR COMPANY

hire a public relations

agency—and if so, at what point do you need one? It’s a ques-

tion that’s often debated because there are a number of schools of

thought about how companies can get the most bang for their pub-

licity buck. In general, a PR agency can help companies promote,

protect, enhance and build their reputation through

the media. Earlier this year, Sharon, Massachusetts-

based supplier Charles River Apparel (UPIC:

CRA) enlisted the services of Boston-based 360

Public Relations to help promote the company’s

performance apparel for men, women and children.

360PR is charged with handling all consumer,

trade, business and cause media and influencer

relations along with the supplier’s social media

strategy and overall content development.

WHEN TO HIRE A PR FIRM

Barry Lipsett