What Does 2016 Hold in Store?.

At this early stage of a new year, many companies are still settling in.  The year stretches ahead, budgets have been set and activities planned.  The exhaustion of the last minute rush to the finish line of 2015 is a fading memory, but one that contained stress and intense pressure, and here we are about to start the race all over again.  Now is the time to focus on the plans for the coming year. Budgets are finalised, forecasts locked in place, expectations set and plans developed.  The business starts to ready itself for the year ahead with a mixture of hope and trepidation.

It is therefore pertinent to pose the question:  “What does 2016 hold in store for your company?”

Let’s set out some base assumptions to get us started here, shall we?

• Your customers will demand more.
• They will want better pricing.
• Your margins will slip or come under intense pressure.
• The opposition will prove to be stronger than expected or anticipated.
• A new player will hit your market and potentially further reduce your market share.
• The goals will be set higher than last year, and may possibly move as each quarter as the year progresses.
• The mantra to achieve More with Less will continue, while the end productivity number remains the same or increases.
• You’ll do more of the same training that you have done before, you won’t get much behavior change and results won’t dramatically shift.
• Your sales pipeline will fail to deliver as per the forecast, and that will impact Finance and Production and Logistics and the Board and the Shareholders – all of whom will be highly vocal and increase the pressure further.
• Your bonus and commission payments will exceed forecast by around 9+%, as you try and use MS Excel to manage an increasingly complex narrative.
• Each month and each quarter will be tougher the closer you get to the end of 2016. The pressure will increase in accordance with those results.
• You will lose some good people as they are “cherry picked” and the ones you want to leave will stay.
• You will hire replacements and hope for the best, as statistically many will fail.
• You will use LinkedIn to source personnel as surely that will be the easiest and most cost effective approach.

Any one of that sound familiar?  Just one or a selection?

How did this approach work for you last time?

• Made your number easily?
• Forecasts were incredibly accurate?
• No surprises anywhere?
• No key staff left you?
• Opposition just played dead for the year?
• Everyone used every bit of every piece of training you gave them?
• Every hire was successful?
• Profit targets exceeded?
• Completely stress free?

If you answered “yes” to any one of those questions, then you are truly unique. Congratulations! Good for you! The question is, will 2016 be just as kind? Can you afford to wait and see, or should you take the lead now instead?

The reality that most companies face in 2016 is that it will be an increasingly competitive market place.  You can anticipate that the challenges ahead of your business in 2016, will not only reflect those that you have had to contend with in the past, they will also delight you with some new and unexpected ones.

The sales engine is key to the business survival.  No sales, no business.  Simple rule.  So how do you get your results?  Same as every other year?  Do you really want to do in 2016 what you have done every other year?  Will it really deliver the growth you need?  What happens to you and the business if it doesn’t?

There is a better way.  It starts now with a conversation with the people at Validity Group.  As you start your 2016, ensure that you have the support of a team that is ideally placed to support your success. The “how” is easy – with just an email info@validitygroup.com or call our local office for more information.

Let’s set 2016 as we mean to continue – successfully.