The CEO of a client recently asked if we could offer some ideas on how to maximize his chances of making his number for the year. It’s his first year and, to date, it hasn’t been as much fun as it looked when he joined in January.
This request brought back memories of all those quarter and year ends during the 90’s when making the number was sort of a macho thing, and was a real swing factor in comp plans for the next year.
Here’s a precise of the advice we gave him:
“Hi David
My approach, nearing the end of the 3rd. quarter, would be a forensic review of the pipeline with a risk analysis and contingency plan for each opportunity. This should give a realistic picture of the probable out-turn with plans for achieving upside. The theory being if a deal isn’t in the pipe as of September 30th, it isn’t going to close before December 31st.
I’d follow this with a trawl through the user base, checking for:
- Anybody exceeding the terms of their license
- Opportunities for upselling – e.g. wider scope or new functionality
- Renewal and up-sell of support contracts
Then I would translate the whole picture into some step targets – minimum, probable, and possible – for the out-turn and create some sort of incentive plan to focus everybody
Finally I would lay out detailed plan with assigned actions for a) securing the minimum and b) maximising the upside. This plan would be reviewed every week to minimise slippage and keep everybody focused.
Admittedly, this approach never got me very far in the popularity stakes, but it works 
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