Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square recently tweeted, “Hyperinflation is going to change everything. It’s happening.”

His comment drew the ire of economists everywhere. It wasn’t the inflation part they were riled about, it was the hyper part (inflation concerns: yes; hyperinflation: no).

But, like all rumors, Dorsey’s tweet contains a kernel of truth.

Both US and Canadian central banks are throttling back their growth predictions on the economy slightly for 2022 and they’re keeping a watchful eye on inflation as supply chain constraints, rising wages, and a continual spike in consumer demand creates erratic and unpredictable waves in our economy. Fed Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said elevated inflation is highly unlikely, but both Canada and US banks are proceeding with an intense overwatch.

But macroforecasts -in the view of business planning- should be eyed with great skepticism. Regardless of what the economic temperature is today, or economic forecasts for 2022, if there’s one thing we are all accustomed to by now, it’s uncertainty in macroeconomics but conviction in micro-movements, i.e., your numbers (more on that below).

It’s because of this uncertainty in the macro and confidence in the micro that we should all have a solid sales plan. Sales planning should never cease, it should only adapt. A solid sales plan is tactical, inspirational, and most of all, flexible enough to adapt to any unknown or unforeseen challenge.

In the next few posts, we’re going to unpack how to create a solid sales plan as you head into 2022, but before we do, there are a few key trends you should be aware of that will greatly impact your planning, your budget, and your mission for growth.


TREND #1: GET READY FOR THE GREAT REFRESH

“The Big Quit” or “The Great Resignation” is shaking up employment across the world. Planet Money wrote that what we’re seeing now is unlike anything we’ve seen before. In August, more people left their jobs than any other month on record which poses challenges for us in retention but also an incredible opportunity for recruitment. How this impacts our budgets and planning:


Comp and Benefits: A tight labor market means we must sharpen our pencil and become more competitive in compensation by analyzing our pay scales and benefits. As we prepare for more team selling (below), we must review our comp plans to ensure teams are incentivized for growth.

Recruitment: But it also means that those who have created a solid offering, rising opportunity, and a great culture have an opportunity to recruit best-in-class talent. Martha Maznevski, a professor of organizational behavior, says many are leaving companies who are “good” or “better” and looking for “best.” Moreover, the geographic lines have blurred. Since remote and virtual have become the standard (not the exception), your candidate pool is now incredibly large. It’s a golden time for recruitment.

Retention: At skucamp, one of the tips shared at our working round tables was that retention --building a solid culture, and keeping colleagues-- actually costs, and if it costs, then building a line item in your budget for inspiring your team is not a cost but an investment that we should plan and budget accordingly.

What does this have to do with sales planning? Everything. As you’ll see below, the selling process is mainly done through teams. In fact, the democratization of the sales role (dispersed through multiple people on your team) has changed how we “sell.”

Moreover, any time there is a seismic disruption in the business landscape, there is also ample opportunity, particularly for those who shift their focus. Rather than look at the current state of employment as something to fear, embrace it as a catalyst for change. Turnover, new talent, fresh perspectives, and newly energized teams mean you might be in a muddle of mayhem (for them moment) but on the cusp of a great reboot and refresh!

Action tip: Attracting, retaining, and inspiring teams is no longer an HR imperative, it’s now a sales mandate. Rethink the great resignation through the lens of recruitment and retention. It’s not a time to lose but rather a time to recruit, adapt, and win.


TREND #2: GET READY FOR TEAM SALES

Since sales growth is now largely powered by teams and rarely the solo work of one lone individual rep, selling is exclusively collaborative, which means teams who work better together, win.

Easier collaboration must become a priority in 2022, which includes managing effective handoffs between sales stages. That sounds like something we would suggest, but we didn’t say it. That’s a quote from the Forrester Research Planning Guide for 2022 on how to build a path to growth in a fast-changing climate. Improving collaboration among your team is vital to the selling process.

Sales growth in 2022 will be fueled by high-performance teams. If there is friction in your team process, it slows sales, moreover, the tension creates a funnel-block creating exorbitant opportunity costs for future sales.

Biz is on a rocket rise right now. ASI reported an 18% increase in Q3 sales. And at commonsku, we’re in a unique position to detect trends industry-wide. In October, we added more licenses from companies on the platform than in any month in our history - even compared to pre-pandemic numbers, meaning there is a major hiring spree going on across the industry which reflects growth. That’s a staggering reflection of the uptick in business, and your bandwidth will determine whether you grow slightly or substantially.

Action step: Review your team’s sales process. Is there friction from ideation to closed-deal, if so, where? How many handoffs exist outside of one ecosystem (platform) for you and your team. Where there is waste, there is loss. As you head into 2022, is your team limited or limitless?

TREND #3: GET READY FOR REAL-TIME

“It’s not you, it’s me,” says the post-pandemic B2B buyer, “I’ve changed.”

Sure, most of us changed through the pandemic. But consider how dramatic the changes have been for B2B.

Two-thirds of B2B buyers now prefer digital or remote selling. And the word “buyer” now means a buying group writes Forrester in their 2021 B2B Buying study. “63% of purchases have more than four people involved vs. just 47% in 2017, and they can include different buyer roles —champions, influencers, decision-makers, users, or ratifiers— from multiple departments.” Plus, the number of buying interactions during the pandemic jumped from 17 to 27!

A surprising dark horse in the race to win clients and drive future sales? Reducing buyer complexity.

This year, we released client portals, a portal that allows your client to view all past orders, start new projects, request reorders, and view all past interactions with your team. A portal activates real-time decision-making and eliminates friction in the buying and tracking of projects.

”Real-time buyer enablement” is not our phrase but Foresters, which refers to the shift from selling “at” buyers to now, enabling buyers to get the information they need --at that moment-- to support their decision-making. Real-time requires automating many of the tasks you are currently buried beneath (particularly during supply chain disruption), tasks like order status, follow-up, starting projects, and requesting reorders.

How significant is this shift? Gartner reported that chief sales officers are now turning their focus from being leaders of sellers to being leaders of the selling process, moving from people-focused (only) to people+process focused to drive sales.

Action step: Analyze all touchpoints with your clients. Are they frictionless? Are projects constantly upheld due to your buyers’ congested systems? Are you creating an effortless sales process to enable future growth?


MARGINAL GROWTH OR EPIC GROWTH?

Howard Marks is an investor and writer. He has a net worth of over $2.1 billion. When Warren Buffet sees a memo from Howard Marks in his email, it’s the first thing he opens and reads. A few months ago, Marks wrote, “one of the six tenets of Oaktree’s investment philosophy states flatly that we don’t base our investment decisions on macro forecasts … I can count on one hand the investors I know who successfully base their decisions on macro forecasts. The rest invest from the bottom up, one investment at a time. They buy when they think they’ve found bargains and sell things they consider overpriced – mostly without reference to the macro outlook.”

Our sales planning strategy should mirror Marks’s philosophy, bottom-up, one client at a time.

A rough draft sales plan beats no sales plan. Why? At least you’re thinking about how to unlock sales and drive growth. A rough plan, quickly realized, can be amended and set on the right path, but many choose no sales plan at all and instead hope, wish, and wait.

Here are some additional blog resources to help you boost your sales: