Sales leaders are measured by making their numbers. The only thing worse for a sales manager missing their number is being surprised by the miss. With six months left in the calendar year, companies typically have fairly good visibility into future revenues.

This has certainly been a volatile year. Many very smart people did not see the mortgage crisis or oil price increase coming. How might these issues or other financial issues impact your next six month revenues?

With the exception of the airline and financial service industries, most major companies are doing ok. The reason for this is that most learned from the dot com bust a few years ago and tightly manage finances. As all sales managers can attest to, closing deals has defiantly gotten more difficult. So if most companies are doing ok, why worry?

Based upon conversations with several sales organizations and their customers, I am seeing a disturbing trend. Many companies are using the current economic downturn to further differentiate critical versus discretionary spend and are whacking expenses aggressively. Many companies are notifying vendors that 1) they need a price reduction 2) They will be spending less than projected in Q3 and Q4, and / or 3) they no longer will be a utilizing their product / service. Not good news for sales organizations.

So, what should a sales leader do? Choices include 1) do nothing 2) find a way to win

Unfortunately, many sales leaders are experts at the do nothing approach. If you have a solid do nothing plan, no need to read the rest of this post.

For those sales leaders who want to find a way to win, here's some ideas on how to prepare for and win Q4:;

Revenues come from two areas, net new customers and existing customers. Most sales organizations are highly focused on the net new pipeline and aggressively manage deals to closure. No need to change this tactic for Q4.

Where risks may lie are in your current customer base - revenue you may have assumed is "in the bag". Just because a customer has been spending at a certain level (or has a contract) should you assume that this revenue is a lock for the rest of the year.

A sales leader needs to constantly look at the revenue streams and determine what revenue is at risk. Here's a simple way to identify the actions needed to insure a solid Q4

1. Rank your customers by expected revenue for Q3 and Q4

2. For each customer (starting with the most important first), answer the following questions

            - What is happening in their industry?

            - What capital and operating expenses are absolutely critical
               to their business?

            - What expenses would they see as discretionary?

            - Is your product / service critical or discretionary?

            - What is the likelihood of them cutting what they spend with you?

            - How do they make these kinds of budgeting decisions?

3. Get in front of customers where you identify potential revenue risks

            - Meet with decision stakeholders that make budget decisions

            - Show the value you provide them (and the impact on their business) and provide ideas on how you can even make them more successful

            - Walk out with a commitment to take the relationship to the next level

4. Manage these conversations just like you would the new business pipeline

            - Document the customer, expected revenue, potential revenue at risk, action items

Of course, you could also use this process on your net new business pipeline. Identifying which prospects that see your product / service as critical (or not critical) to their business could shift your business development priorities.

I am curious to see what other sales leaders are hearing from their clients. Are you concerned about current customers falling short of excepted revenues for Q3 and Q4? How are you dealing with this issue?