The Interval is about to finish

So this is for those of us in sales leadership and have financial year ends at the calendar year; this marks the point in the year where the final 24 hours represent the 'Interval in the performance'.

Q4 is all but done with the final pushes and activity to scoop up the pieces and draw a close on the full year figures. Most of the budgeting and planning for 2023 has been done along with SKO, hiring, account mapping and organisational plans fairly well advanced.

This chasm of time for sales leaders between the end of a financial year and the stereotypical 'reset button' being pushed for the next year is what I like to call the Interval because the performance and show never really ends, it just has intervals every year to a never ending journey and progression to the larger strategic goals.

Now is the time when you are personally looking at your objectives performance; did we get the right talent on time, create the right pipeline, get 85% of the team above 85% of quotas, ASPs, Logo capture, cost management, execute on the strategic initiatives that we set out at the start of the year, enable enough of our partners and customers to be successful, was the operating rhythm of sales in line, pipe yields, rev rotations etc etc .... The list is long (ps. I'll save that for a future book of Sales Art to Sales Science) and all are important measures but the key simple boxes to check is the following 3.

1. Did we do what we said we would do and if not did we try extremely hard to.
2. Did we improve the key measures from the year before and if not we didn't blame but learnt
3. Did we have fun on 1 & 2

If you can check these boxes and have a pretty good scorecard on performance and numbers then you can enjoy the new year celebrations rather than use those hours as an excuse to drown your sorrows and click the reset button, (or end the performance mentally!), and think of the next year as a new show you've just bought tickets to.

It's important not to think about it as an end of the show for a couple of reasons; if you click 'reset' in your head then you will bury some of the learnings from this year which you need to change or adopt to which will lead to a Jan 1 with the same way you start every year, (if this is what you have been doing) and repeating similar mistakes is almost a forgone conclusion I can guarantee.

Which is why you must think of it as an interval ... a Q4 to Q5 mentality so you can use the data to make the changes you need to make or double down in the areas that gave you the best outcome.

Maintaining energy and harmony equally is critical as energy creates movement and movement creates a momentum but maintaining a momentum requires harmony; this is how you repeat success quarter on quarter.

Its also what will burn you up and chew you over and spit you out unless you are having fun doing it. Wanting to do something creates the Dopamine which helps with memory, movement, motivation, mood, attention and more and then the success and harmony part provides your Endorphins which keeps you relaxed and stress free (except for qtr end large deals!!) allowing you to continue Wanting to do more, thus creating a consistency and a never ending performance of the show.

So my advice is enjoy the interval whilst it is here, take some ice cream and reflect on the next part of the show and which part you will pay attention to ...and don't hit 'reset' otherwise you will be starting the year telling yourself 'I've seen this show before and I'll just watch the parts that I watched before..'

You know what I mean. Hope you had a smile reading.