This article on Monthly Sales Assessment is the last in my series on the AI-Enabled Sales Process. The Monthly Sales Assessment is a joint manager-salesperson meeting that reviews 10 key metrics across Outcomes and Territory Management. I consider it to be the foundation of sales success.
This critical monthly discipline ensures that everyone has a clear understanding of sales expectations. It ensures accountability, uncovers real issues beneath surface problems, and integrates all AI-enabled sales tools into one cohesive system. Consistent execution of monthly assessments directly correlates to sustained revenue and margin growth.
The Purpose
The purpose of the Monthly Assessment is to uncover root problems. As Gino Wickman writes in Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business, the goal of an assessment is to “clearly identify the real issue, because the stated problem is rarely the real one.” An assessment cuts through surface-level reporting to uncover the real drivers—or obstacles—to sales success. By reviewing specific metrics monthly, patterns emerge that reveal whether problems stem from activity levels, conversion rates, or strategic focus.
Two Critical Components
As shown in the illustration of a typical industrial gas distributor above, the Monthly Assessment has two critical components — Outcomes and Territory Management.
- Outcomes measure results that directly impact revenue (these values are only illustrations, not observed implications). New Business ($4,000/month target) and Penetration ($1,000/month) track your ability to grow the business. Cylinders placed (20/month), Contracts (2/month), and Customer 360 Files (1/month) measure execution of key sales activities that protect and expand your customer base.
- Territory Management tracks the activities that feed your pipeline. Prospective calls (20/month), Funnel Prospects ($340,000 total value), Top 5 Calls (6/month), and Key Accounts (50/month) ensure consistent prospecting and relationship maintenance. Sales (8% growth) and Margin (10% improvement) provide the ultimate scorecard.
Integration of AI-enabled tools
Notice how this assessment integrates all the AI-enabled tools covered in this series. These tools include call reporting, calendar planning, Customer 360 meetings, dashboards, and the Reflect & Direct framework. Also, making an assessment by integrating all these elements creates a system of analysis where each component reinforces the others.
The Cost of Inconsistency
I have found that clients who get distracted and fail to demonstrate consistent monthly meetings are less successful. Moreover, these companies often find that until they get back on track with assessments, their revenue and margin growth are inconsistent. The Monthly Sales Assessment is the discipline that separates high-performing sales organizations from those that plateau.
Build your Foundation
To build a strong foundation for sales success, schedule Monthly Assessments at the same time each month. Be sure that management and the sales team complete the form together, and that both parties sign off on it. Lastly, this simple discipline, maintained consistently, creates the traction your sales organization needs to achieve predictable, sustainable growth.
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