Lexi Fiegener, a Texas-based account executive at Top 40 distributor HALO Branded Solutions (asi/356000), offers these suggestions for monitoring sales numbers to meet yearly objectives.

Q: What’s the first indicator you look at when planning out your yearly goals?
A: I’m naturally a numbers and sales goals person, so I start by doing annual goal forecasting. I look at what clients spent the previous year and figure out if they might be up or down. For example, we’re expecting events and sales meetings to come back in Q3 and Q4 this year, so I’ll figure that in. Or maybe a client had a huge event in summer 2019 that’s still not happening in 2021. My main industries are travel and restaurants, and they were hit hard this year. So, this is all a moving target. I figure out what I expect to sell, and even though it might seem silly, I find that it’s usually accurate. People say, “How could you know?” But I’ve found that setting goals helps make them happen.

Q: How often do you look at your sales numbers?
A: I look at the end of each month, each quarter and each year and compare them to the previous month, quarter or year. Weekly is too granular for me personally, though I do look at my percent-of-goal progress both weekly and monthly. I make sure I’m on track overall with key customers. At the end of the month and end of each quarter, I look at what I have to do. If I’m on track, I know I can finesse orders that are in progress or send a thank-you self-promo. Then I share that achievement with my team and bosses. If I’m not on track, I have some work to do.

Lexi Fiegener, of Top 40 distributor HALO Branded Solutions

Q: Why is it important to analyze your progress?
A: We’re all guilty of putting planning off. We say we’ll track emails sent, phone calls made and lunches with prospects and clients and then we don’t. But it’s important to fix it before you have to. You don’t want to have nothing in your pipeline with your sales down and then you have to start from zero, when you’re way behind your competition.

Q: How do you keep track of your numbers?
A: I’m a big fan of Excel and I live by the calendar in my phone. I also have a big whiteboard in my office with my sales and profit goals during the year, and I keep my four to five big yearly goals framed and on my desk so I’m always looking at it. I also make a vision board each year with my professional and personal goals.

Q: Where did you learn your methods?
A: My dad was in outside sales, and I would help him on Saturdays. I learned from him. Mentorship is important. There are so many people in the industry who are hungry to offer it. It could be your boss, or maybe it’s someone you met at a trade show. The most important thing is that, even when sales are good, I’m always on LinkedIn and I’m always prospecting. I never rest fully. The wheels are always turning.