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August 18, 2015
Want to Beat Your 2016 Sales Target? Start with This Strategy
By: Mike Drapeau
You’re feeling proud of your strategy, but you’re not sure it’s completely foolproof. And you know the risk of missing your number next year is enormous.
In other words, it’s not a risk you can afford to take.
Thankfully, there is a way to ensure your 2016 plan gets off on the right foot. And it starts with conducting Market Research. Market Research sets the tone for the entire Strategic Alignment process.
Why Market Research Kicks Off Strategic Alignment:
As we found in this year’s research report, the top 10 percent of companies reporting outstanding performance rely on a specific six-step process for revenue growth.
This process is called Strategic Alignment. Download the report here to be sure your strategies are effectively aligned.What’s the first crucial step to achieving Strategic Alignment? Nailing your Market Research.
Market Research sets the tone for the entire Strategic Alignment process. Market Research helps you differentiate your strategy from your competition, prioritize your accounts, align your strategy with buyer needs, and address user problems with your products. As a result, you can bring your strategy into alignment with the external market.
What Market Research Provides Other Strategies:
Most importantly, with a solid understanding of your external market, you’ll able to effectively proceed with the following five strategies:
After all, Product can’t develop new offerings until they have a strong understanding of what the market demands. Marketing can’t develop a new distribution strategy until they know what the external market is and isn’t responding to. And Sales can’t adjust their initiatives until they have a better idea of how competitors are going after target audiences.
5 Market Research Questions To Help You Make Your Number:
Given this hierarchy of strategies, what’s the best way to tell if you’ve properly executed your Market Research? If your team use their findings to clearly answer these five questions:
Once you have these comprehensive insights, you’ll be well positioned to support your organization in making the number in 2016.
Evidently, the Market Research team has no small burden to bear. Strategic Alignment is the only proven way to meet next year’s estimates. And the only way to kick off Strategic Alignment is with solid Market Research.
So, if you’re feeling overwhelmed or unsure of your 2016 strategy, set your Market Research in motion. And know that once you have that drum beating steadily, the other teams will be able to follow in step.
To understand more about this proven 6-Step Revenue Growth Process, download our annual report here.
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