Just as economists track leading indicators – such as the Purchasing Managers Index, durable goods orders and consumer sentiment – industrial companies should also have a leading indicator to better understand which direction their businesses are heading.
At the start of each year, do you sit down and establish sales goals with your team? It’s a common ritual. But sales goals are not leading indicators. They generally look backward – typically based on past sales trends, not expected future trends – and are usually no more sophisticated than a set percentage over the previous year’s numbers.
This isn’t a bad approach, but there is a better one – one that’s more proactive.
As I explained in this article, your load input goal number is a better window into your future. A load input goal number is a proactive figure. It’s forward-looking. It describes the very top of your sales funnel, telling you whether your sales pipeline is adequately filled so that you can reach your sales goals.
So what does it give you that a sales goal can’t? A way to take action early in the process – rather than waiting until the end of the quarter or even the year to find out your sales goals weren’t met.