Now that you know that you have both a marketing workflow and a sales workflow, it’s time to consider your sales strategy and what you need to support that strategy. The many great sales trainers in the industry can help you with methods and process, but let’s talk about what you need to evaluate your strategy and support it with collateral.

Start with your strategy. Can you articulate it? Do you have the 10-second version that encapsulates your strategic plan? Do you have the supporting story that you share with everyone in the business? Many companies believe they have a strategy, but when it comes to articulating it quickly and succinctly, they falter. The supporting stories are missing. It takes more than a slogan on a wall or a one team meeting a year to get a strategy from the minds of management to integration into the business.

A quick assessment can help you discover your current state. The goal is to identify the strategy that informs your decisions, and then discover if everyone in sales is using that guidance. Start with the strategy as you understand it today. The market has changed significantly in the last six months and it’s likely to change several times more in the next six to 18 months. Even your business may have changed through merger, acquisition, or ceasing a segment of work. Ask these questions during your discovery: