Plan to Make the Plan — Ascender Community https://forcemanagement.vanillacommunities.com/ Fri, 05 Jun 2026 22:15:33 +0000 en Plan to Make the Plan — Ascender Community Customer Dragging Out a Deal? https://forcemanagement.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/387/customer-dragging-out-a-deal Tue, 07 May 2024 21:02:16 +0000 Content & Resources James Reach 387@/discussions If you've been in sales long enough, you’ll encounter situations where a customer drags their feet on making a decision.

Once follow-up messages start to go unanswered, it's probably time to take a step back and think critically about where the deal may be stuck and how to get it moving forward.

This article will help you ask the right questions to figure out where you need to go back and reassess an opportunity. When I really map out these areas, it's often painfully obvious where I may have skipped steps in the process. Hope it may do the same for you all!

]]> Follow up to questions from our January Webinar! https://forcemanagement.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/361/follow-up-to-questions-from-our-january-webinar Mon, 18 Mar 2024 17:01:33 +0000 Content & Resources John Kaplan 361@/discussions Hey Ascenders! I’ve gone through each and every question that was asked during our January Ascender Insights webinar (replay linked here), and wow! There were some great ones in here! I’ve listed the questions with my answers below and hope you take the time to read them and process them. It’s really powerful stuff you asked and I’d love to help put you on the right track.

Thank you again for your time on the webinar and for checking us out. Let’s go be elite!

]]> Plan to Make the Plan - Ascender Resources https://forcemanagement.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/268/plan-to-make-the-plan-ascender-resources Mon, 29 Jan 2024 18:01:25 +0000 Ascender Announcements Joe Huber 268@/discussions Attached is our resource from the Plan to Make the Plan webinar.

This document links to an Excel file that you can download and offers tips on how to use it.

Please let us know if you have any questions about how to set this up!

Links to related recordings:

Link to the Ascender Insights webinar with John Kaplan.

Link to the Ascender Live Workshop with Jim "Pouli" Pouliopoulos.

]]> January 26, 2024 - Ascender Live - Plan to Make the Plan w/ Jim "Pouli" Pouliopoulos [Event Recap] https://forcemanagement.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/267/january-26-2024-ascender-live-plan-to-make-the-plan-w-jim-pouli-pouliopoulos-event-recap Mon, 29 Jan 2024 18:00:07 +0000 Ascender Announcements Joe Huber 267@/discussions Pouli joined us last Friday to talk about "The Plan to Make the Plan" and shared why it's so important to understand your own motivation, how to leverage other tools to help with planning, and answered some questions during this Ascender Live Workshop.

Check out the discussion and resources we covered in the replay below:

Links that Dawn shared in the chat:

Meet Highperformr AI Tools

Discover the best AI tools with Supertools.

Links referenced from Ascender Resources:

Plan to Make the Plan - Ascender Resources

Generative AI Prompts

Link to John Kaplan's "Plan to Make the Plan" Ascender Insights webinar.

]]> January 19, 2024 - Ascender Insights Plan to Make the Plan w/ John Kaplan [Event Recap] https://forcemanagement.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/265/january-19-2024-ascender-insights-plan-to-make-the-plan-w-john-kaplan-event-recap Mon, 22 Jan 2024 15:35:14 +0000 Ascender Announcements Joe Huber 265@/discussions John Kaplan joined us to talk about the Plan to Make the Plan, including how you can take the reigns of your success and own your career.

Some of the biggest themes from John's talk are about the Franchise Mentality, Account Planning, and your Operating Rhythm. By being realistic and honest about what lies ahead, you're able to not just take stock and inventory, but actually lay out concrete steps to rise to the challenge of an elite-level quota.

John shared his story about why he began the theory of "the Plan to Make the Plan" as a result of feeling initially like he might become a victim of his own success. But once he and his manager sat down to discuss how he could overcome this new quota, John was able to rise to that challenge and break his own record!

Some key points from the talk:

  • The basic components
    • Gather & analyze
    • Plan & strategize
    • Organize & execute
  • Remember that your plan is a process, not an event
  • You own your plan
  • What is involved in your Account Planning stage?
    • Economic landscape
    • Political landscape
    • Operational landscape
  • What is your cadence?
  • Always, always have success measures in place

This was an incredible call and conversation with lots and lots of questions asked and answered. We hope to see you around here and at the next event!

Catch the full recording here:

Attached please find the deck from the session.

Here's a link to the Ascender Live companion workshop's recording!

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