How to Schedule Your Team for Revenue Increases

When you are slated with the task of finding ways to increase revenue for you and your team — think “schedule.” How do you schedule your team for revenue increases?

To build great revenue increases — the whole team has to rise together.

What you are building is a team that can consistently regenerate itself and build upon what it has already done in the past. What each of this team have learned in the past and what they are bringing to the table.

To do this scheduling for revenue increases — you’ll look at killing the mediocre in yourselves and your team.

You’ll start scheduling these goals into your bonuses structure — team cooperation and not merely the individual income. You calendar this by adding in a different definition of failure and success.

Each member of each team is responsible for the revenue increases to your company. Usually, as soon as a team meets their revenue goals — it’s “great,” here’s your new goal. You don’t even stop for a refresher — or “good job.”

All you have been saying is — “sell sell sell.”

What if the company or team revenue goal isn’t met? Catastrophe! Bad bad bad — and the whole team feels like shit. Watch your rate of illness the week or couple of weeks after the sales or marketing goal isn’t met.

In one company, the boss showed up at the home of the team members after the “failed” sales quota. (This is a true story — but it’s another story for later). No one had called in sick — they were just sick. Schedule that (stop over) and you’ll soon get the idea what is really happening with your teams.

You think your team is out following-up on the new leads. That’s what you think.

No – they got up and got ready — maybe even started into work — but turned around. They are home sick whether you know or believe it or not.

What you have scheduled here is a decrease in revenue — not an increase.

If you don’t hit your sales target — understand that there has not been a failure in your team. Admit that there has not been a failure — unless one of two things has occurred. Your team members have participated in either a:

1. Failure to teach someone.
2. Failure to ask for help.

As you schedule your team for revenue increases — you will schedule how and where these two actions can take place.

Changing how you schedule in your calendar for revenue increases.

Focus on your team — and how they can be the making of a strong team. In order for this “team revenue” to occur  — you have to have your team grow together and keep each other up to date.

1. You won’t have as many star-studded lone cowboys.

   They will have to teach others on your team their ways and secrets. Your team members will have to be strong enough to teach someone else the ins and outs of your business process or products.

2. You will begin to schedule less meetings about product — and give more training to each other.

   This scheduling is about how to build relationships with your customers and clients. Most especially each team member needs to know how they fit in with the company progress. They need to know what they themselves do to bring their company revenue increases.

3. Some call this “the company social selling program.”This is actually scheduling in ways that will make the difference in the bottom line for you — revenue increase.

What you are doing is scheduling (in your calendar) how you will increase revenue.

Nothing is ever simple — but we don’t need to move into a new house today — with our scheduling — just because the dishwasher is leaking under the sink.

Keep in mind that sometimes small adjustments present considerable  consequences and outcomes when you are scheduling your team for revenue increases.

Start with team building exercises, training and events.

Yes, I know your pushback on this seemingly easy tagline. Cost, cost and cost and yes — you did mention time, time and also time.

Team building exercises:

1. Do some major training on emotional intelligence. Have your team study and come up with the part of emotional intelligence that they are going to work and report on. Also have them define which EI for which they are going to help someone else on the team. Schedule this event in your calendar. The size of the team will determine whether this event will be several hours or a day.
2. Everyone may get sick of Silicon Valley stories. On any day — at any time in Silicon Valley — you can look online. There are ideas that you would likely ever need to build your teams through events. One place lists 100 events that you can schedule every single day. Rent a bus and go. They will fit in your large group, as well.

Train — Evaluate — Plan

If you build it they will come.

1. Your sales, dev and marketing teams need to be looking for qualified leads and get them into meetings. How have each of your team accomplished this in other teams. Use collective knowledge for a fast uptake in what you’ll want to do to schedule your revenue forecasts.
2. Consider hiring more sales development reps (SDR’s). Some companies call these inside sales. The SDR’s have a way of looking for leads less expensively. Again — how have your teams seen this done in other companies to great effect? Schedule what your plan is — what you expect from this plan and how you will measure this.
3. Remembering the qualified opps are the foundational component for revenue growth. Every member of your team needs to understand and be able to regurgitate (to you and to each other) the structure, process and the tool box your company used for each team. They need to be able to map-out how this system works in their department and what their specific part is. Each team member should be able to shoe you their schedule — what their plan is — and what revenue they can expect from their actions.
4. Have a clear method of how you hire, train, evaluate and mentor your new hires from the very first day. For the first few weeks — it can be “all hands on deck” for the new hire. Depending on your hiring schedule — after training — you can use the new hire as a clear need for a team building exercise dates. Don’t leave your new hire scrambling for information or feeling like they don’t fit in with their team.
5. Assign your teams to prepare predictable schedules for revenue increases as they see them — and as they have seen and used before. This will impart a vast amount of knowledge to your team in a short period of time. This will occur each time you hire a new team member.

Look at Salesforce — Mapping, Execution and Analysis.

Follow how they use the concept of scheduling your team for revenue increases.

Mapping: operations and process, scripts, and what solutions you will be using.

Execution: The things I need to do, and the things I need my team to do.

Analysis: What are we doing right? What are we doing wrong? Add — expected revenue and gain to this part of the equation.

What you will gain by scheduling your team for revenue increases is a way to distinguish yourself and your team.

You’ll have a better team. Think you can have better targets and campaigns – yes you can. Continually be up-to-date with your team and relevant data.

Each team member will know what their schedule is. They will know what revenue increases they are going after. Your individual team members will know the direction they should be going. They will clearly know what direction and path they are on — it’s scheduled on their individual calendars. Most of all your team will be free to fly because they are supported from within their company. Your team knows that their success is also that of the team and knows where all the revenue increases are going to come from. If a team member sees a company that can benefit another team or team member and that they’ll receive a revenue source from that information when it’s passed along — the motivation is higher.

If you as a startup founder feel that these slow sales days will be wasted time — don’t. Your sales, marketing and devs can still improve themselves and your company on their days off. They will be building themselves and their (your) team. Even on the team building days — your teams will be training, evaluating and planning.

Understand that this recharging of yourself and your team will be the reason you and your team will get better and better. Watch as your scheduling brings you and your  teams increased revenue. You’ll see increases — not just in money — but in better individuals.

You will be known — not just by what you are offering — but by who you are. Your team will also know that they are embarking on a great journey of self-discovery.