Growth Dynamics Get Down

Monday Morning Manager

Symptoms:

Roy and his boss were going through the usual year end gyrations that required them to get out the crystal ball and "forecast" what sales would look like for next year. Despite the fact that a large portion of Roy's sales came from repeat (evergreen) clients, he still had to figure out where the growth would come from. Worse yet, he's scared to death that something unforeseen might cause the loss of a key account that would completely derail his plans. Management has given him some target accounts, and also asked him to focus on certain offerings, but he was still nervous about how he could make all this happen. He knew he had to get out to a fast start but just wasn't sure on how to go about it.

If you are near my age 60+ that line might remind you of the classic television show “Dragnet.” Sgt. Joe Friday, the lead detective, was constantly reminding the people (suspects, witnesses, victims) that he interviewed to just give him the facts, nothing but the facts while he interviewed them. Friday didn’t want any of the emotional debris these people would try to add to their account of what happened. “Just the facts” was all Friday could work with, and none of the emotions could change those facts.