90 Day Plan for New Job
July 9, 2013 9:12 PM Subscribe
I will be interviewing for a sales position with a company that makes an assessment and training tool to help at-risk middle and high school students be more successful in school. I need to be prepared to present a 90-day plan.
Some ideas I have off the top of my head include exploring who their current customers are, what's currently in the pipeline that needs immediate attention, who's using their program successfully and planning to visit to find out what's working well/what they like about the product, exploring new markets that they aren't currently selling into, learning who the go-to people in the company are, gaining an understanding of the company culture, learning any data management systems.
Not sure which of these should be included in the plan, what NEEDS to be included, what format would work best (templates), any other thoughts you may have to help me nail this interview, and help me be successful should I get the job.
I am not a total newbie to selling into this market, though the product is brand new to me. I will be doing as much research into their product via the website and other internet searches prior to the interview.
Some ideas I have off the top of my head include exploring who their current customers are, what's currently in the pipeline that needs immediate attention, who's using their program successfully and planning to visit to find out what's working well/what they like about the product, exploring new markets that they aren't currently selling into, learning who the go-to people in the company are, gaining an understanding of the company culture, learning any data management systems.
Not sure which of these should be included in the plan, what NEEDS to be included, what format would work best (templates), any other thoughts you may have to help me nail this interview, and help me be successful should I get the job.
I am not a total newbie to selling into this market, though the product is brand new to me. I will be doing as much research into their product via the website and other internet searches prior to the interview.
Best answer: I've been in sales for 20 years. IMO, they don't give a damn about you learning who the "go-to" people are in the company. They want to know how you are going to start closing deals in first 90 days. It's a sales job. Revenue is the only thing anybody really cares about.
I put together a Powerpoint presentation for an interview that got me my current job earlier this year. It's software development - so not completely unrelated. MeMail me your email and I can send you the presentation.
posted by COD at 5:29 AM on July 10, 2013
I put together a Powerpoint presentation for an interview that got me my current job earlier this year. It's software development - so not completely unrelated. MeMail me your email and I can send you the presentation.
posted by COD at 5:29 AM on July 10, 2013
It sounds like you're focused a lot on lead generation -- is it certain that this will be a big part of your job, or is it possible that leads will be handed to you and they want to see how well you understand the sales cycle in this particular business?
posted by nosila at 7:08 AM on July 10, 2013
posted by nosila at 7:08 AM on July 10, 2013
Best answer: I used to always do these for prospective sales jobs:
30-Days
Complete on-boarding process and initial training
Introduce myself to all current prospects
Understand current pipeline
Create strategies to fill any gaps in pipeline
60-Days
Meet with all existing prospects (or top 10, or whatever makes sense) to understand where in the sales process they are and to advance to next stage.
Prospect to add X% more customers to existing pipeline, building it so that there are $X in pipeline (they should have a standard but 2 times quota is a decent idea for a pipeline.)
Close existing deals-in-flight
90-Days
Continue meeting with prospects, moving each one closer to a closed deal.
Continue adding to the pipeline
Close deals
Implement deals
This has always worked for me.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:24 AM on July 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
30-Days
Complete on-boarding process and initial training
Introduce myself to all current prospects
Understand current pipeline
Create strategies to fill any gaps in pipeline
60-Days
Meet with all existing prospects (or top 10, or whatever makes sense) to understand where in the sales process they are and to advance to next stage.
Prospect to add X% more customers to existing pipeline, building it so that there are $X in pipeline (they should have a standard but 2 times quota is a decent idea for a pipeline.)
Close existing deals-in-flight
90-Days
Continue meeting with prospects, moving each one closer to a closed deal.
Continue adding to the pipeline
Close deals
Implement deals
This has always worked for me.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:24 AM on July 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
- Shadowing a top salesperson on a series of sales calls.
- Establishing sales targets.
- Check-ins with your manager to make sure you're heading in the right direction.
I don't have a template for you, but a simple timeline would work with the tasks in groups by Week 1, Week 2.
posted by 26.2 at 9:46 PM on July 9, 2013 [1 favorite]