In 1912, a Canadian man named Howard Irwin missed his boat voyage departure because he was so drunk from the night before that he walked onto the wrong ship. He passed out somewhere on board, and woke up later to realize he was on his way to Egypt instead of New York. Now imagine how he felt for a few days there, steaming in the exact opposite direction of his stated goal, knowing that he was missing out on the opulent luxury of his unused actual booked ticket. All his plans messed up. All his progress seemingly destroyed. He was also supposed to reunite with his best friend for the England to US cross Atlantic journey.
Now imagine how he felt a few days after that, when the ship he was originally booked on, named the Titanic, hit an iceberg and sank, with hundreds of lives lost.
The story of Howard Irwin is compelling, because the very thing that seemed to set him back, actually saved his life.
Every year, my team and I set goals, make plans, and also look back on the previous year and reflect. Every year, a few things inevitably hold true, with stunning consistency.
– About half the outstanding proposals we were convinced were “sure things” in January, never closed.
– About a third of the outstanding proposals we thought were DOA, ended up closing some time during the year.
– Around 40% of our business during the year came from clients that we had no idea existed on January 1.
– About half the clients we thought would stay on retainer ended up cancelling.
– Right around half the clients we thought would not renew, actually kept or even increased their spend with us.
Now a lot of people would use this data as an excuse to not plan. What is the point of laying down plans for the year, if you are wrong about your expectations half the time or even more? Your plan is not coming to life as you expected, hence is it worthless, right? Wrong. Very wrong.
When it comes to plans, I know two things to be true:
– Failure doesn’t come from planning to fail, it comes from failing to plan.
– If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.
It would be easy to assume that these truths are mutually exclusive, but in fact they align perfectly. You cannot plan for everything, but you also cannot plan for nothing. Like everything else in life, planning is about finding a balance.
Make your sales plan for 2025! It won’t shake out like you planned it, but the very act of planning open doors that you didn’t even know existed, and planning also helps you clarify your goals, and prioritize your activity. If you don’t know where you are going, you are certain to end up somewhere else.
I actually just recently listened to a podcast episode, from a past colleague who I think really nails the essential elements of planning. It’s a really worthwhile listen you can find HERE.