Be Ready to Be Ahead
Fourth quarter is here. Are you ready for it? Are you ready to be proactive in your 2010 sales and marketing plans, to pick up from where 2009 might have left you: in the lurch or in a downward spiral? Maybe you were one of the lucky few whose companies will end the year in successful up-ticks in sales. Even you need to look forward with care. We all want next year to be profitable, and to make that happen we need to start now.
Do you know where your brand will be and where it needs to be to justify your marketing budget forecasts for next year? How will you get the greatest bang for your buck in 2010?
In the past, you may have reviewed your sales history simply to report it, and then forecasted for the year ahead by depending on gut feeling. But this year’s economic situation has been so extreme that this method may no longer work. Given the current recession, how can you be planful in order to avoid disaster and stay on course to be profitable?
Below are five helpful steps that will help you get on the right track:
- Stay focused on sales and goals
- Create an analytic framework
- Use simulation
- Anticipate your competition
- Refine your activities
In essence, don’t go for the gut; look to analytical reporting to guide you in the direction you wish to head. Trend reporting can provide helpful ideas, numbers and feedback for your planning and can provide the outlook you need to get your brand where you want it to be.
Carefully and deliberately determine your goals and objectives for next year and plan now. Stay firm with your objectives and stick to the brand strategy that conveys your messages to your target audience. Above all, stay on course.
Here we come 2010!
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