The Beauty of Joint Planning
At this point in time, I’ve been fortunate to have worked in the field with 7 territory managers. It has really been enjoyable to work with each one of you, and I look forward to spending time with all of you.
As we are working together, my job has been focused on following the process we spoke about in our sessions last spring. Intuitively, each person has been focused on taking care of the customer. We have been following the mantra of have a valid business reason for being there, understand the customer’s concept, match the strengths from your value proposition that addresses their concept, and ask for an appropriate commitment. It really sounds simple- and it is. If you pre-plan your call, you can intentionally move your capturing of mind share forward at a much quicker rate.
There is an area we touched on at the sessions that has yet to reach its full potential. That is planning with the DSM (sales leader). This is a powerful tool. Chris Castle held a meeting with the RSM and the local branch manager for AIT to understand their goals, drivers and motivators, i.e. their concept. He worked to match Emerson’s strengths with their needs. They built a joint plan. He is selling with them, not selling to them. The RSM and Chris spoke of what the drivers were for him for the year. They were things like establishing a presence in government accounts, having their customers buy a wider range of products from them, selling HVAC contractors’ motors as well as steel and rubber. Based on this, Chris identified the challenges together with the RSM and they built a plan of action to impact his goals.
Whether the plan is successful as its written (few initial plans are) or if it is modified, Chris is in different, deeper conversations than he typically would have with the RSM and branch manager. He is improving his odds of winning mind share, and market share because he is planning with the AIT sales leadership.
Other TM’s are doing this as well. Chris is the first person I worked with after the sessions and I believe he is the first one who started this, so naturally he is further in the planning process. Planning with the DSM drives growth.
If you have questions about how to plan or if you would like a refresher, please feel free to contact me at jdphillips@psd3.com or visit the Emerson page on www.psd3.com. The video section on planning is module 12.
