Many companies hold sales kick-off meetings in January. This is a great time to evaluate what is working and what needs improvement. To have a successful year of sales, there are a number of steps you should consider before your sales kick-off. Steps to take to help kick off sales:

1. Establish a plan of action. Establish sales and prospecting goals and then measure your actions and results. Take the time to develop a game plan to grow your existing customers, find new customers and develop prospective customers.
2. Determine your best customers. Review your "best customers" – Why are they a good fit for you? What are you offering that best meets their needs? What must you do to keep them happy? Are you positioned to meet their future needs? Are there un-met needs within your "best customers"?
3. Find new customers. To find new customers you must do your homework. You need to determine what other companies might fit your "best customer" profile. Look for organizations that have similar needs. Explore associations and groups where your best customers may be members. Use market research and create a list of potential customers. It is generally best to prioritize your list first and then develop detailed sales and marketing plans to turn prospects into customers.
4. Develop prospective customers. Many prospective customers may not know your organization or may have a misunderstanding of what your organization can offer. When developing prospective customers make sure your sales and marketing messages are concise and address real problems. Use referrals as much as possible to help open doors and facilitate discussions. Developing prospective customers can be a long process and requires multiple touches.
5. Review your customer database. Do you have a customer database (not just names on a spreadsheet)? Is the information accurate – people move and change positions all the time? Are you collecting the right information? Without an up to date customer database you will waste a lot time and loose sales. Your customer database is invaluable for building successful sales relationships, developing prospective customers and creating marketing programs.
6. Align your Marketing. Your marketing must align with your sales efforts. Make sure you are using the right marketing methods – if customers prefer email communications, then make sure your email marketing efforts are in place. From our experience the most successful marketing programs have consistent messaging, use multiple media (direct mail, email, web) and support the primary sales efforts.