When the Jewish people were forced out of Egypt several thousand years ago, they did not have time to prepare for their exodus. They packed what they could and left town. As fast-food had not yet been invented, they carried their food for the journey. With the short travel notice, their bread did not have time to rise and they were stuck with flat crackerlike sheets that crumble and have little taste. Properly called “matzoh,” we also refer to it as the “bread of affliction.”

In my travels, I’ve seen sales reps and account teams handle account or call planning much the same way — leaving little or no time for the preparation that ensures good results. A senior exec at one enterprise software company half-jokingly stated that the best call planning at his company takes place in New York. Why? The elevator rides are longer in New York, giving teams more time for their planning.

So we’ll keep this Passover message short and sweet. If you want to avoid flat, crumbly revenue opportunities, take time in advance to conduct your account and call planning.

And if you’d like to explore best practices in planning, including how to engage your customer in the planning process, drop me a note. Relatively small improvements in planning, such as customer participation and ensuring that planning is a process rather than a document, will drive significant uplift in revenue, share of wallet, deal profitability, customer satisfaction, NPS and more.

Thanks!

Lee