Get Ahead of the Game: Your Q4 Checklist for Success

Here's our checklist to get ahead now and make year-end a breeze:

1. Forecast the cash and resources you'll need for the rest of the year

WHY IT MATTERS

The next few months will be busy. Not just at the office but in our personal lives as well given the holidays. The more you get ahead of, the less you'll have to worry about as things inevitably pop up.

Q4 can have different demand than the rest of the year for a lot of us. Whether you experience seasonal spikes or lulls, take time to refresh on the past so you're prepared.

HOW TO TACKLE

Look at prior year Q4s over other quarters. If Q4 has historically been 20% higher than Q3, what does a 20% increase look like this year? Do you have enough cash and resources to accommodate?

Use forecasting features within your tools. Tools like Quickbooks, Hubspot, and Pipedrive have forecasting depending on your subscription level.

2. Evaluate your performance as of the end of Q3

Take each goal and measure the progress made for the first three quarters.

WHY IT MATTERS

Make last minute adjustments or pushes while you still have time. It's easy for the daily grind to get in the way of checking in on our goals. Take a moment to get out of the weeds and really evaluate how things are going.

A word of caution here: Be careful about 'moving the goal posts' on your team. Adding at the last minute is bad for morale. Make sure you're prioritizing and making reasonable trade offs.

Plan and pay incentives in a timely fashion. The more promptly you pay incentives, the better for morale and the more you prove you value tangible performance. Make sure you have the cash you'll need to do so.

3. Catch up on any outstanding audits and inventories

WHY IT MATTERS

Minimize losses by finding issues early and acting before the year is over.

You're more likely to identify root causes and drivers of success when there's less time between data points. Not only will you have fewer variables to evaluate but you're more likely to remember the context if it was more recent.

4. Start budgeting and planning for next year

Rather than spend your first months in the new year planning, use your forecasts (#1) and progress thus far (#2) to start now, before the year has finished.

WHY IT MATTERS

You start the year with clarity on day one* when you get your goals done beforehand.

This is especially valuable if the last month of the year is quieter for you and you can take advantage of that down time.

Your mind is still fresh about what's going on. Setting a goal is only half the battle. You also need to plan how you will achieve it. You'll be more likely to remember details and connect activities to results now.

* Well, really day two. We hope you're sleeping in a bit on January 1!

HOW TO TACKLE

Create targets and objectives for next year using a framework like SMART.

Quantify the resources you'll need to accomplish those goals. If you want to decrease customer support response time by 30%, how many more agents would that take?

Iterate to find a balance between aspirational and realistic. We all have limitations on what time and money we have. Think about both the direct ROI and strategic potential of each objective.

5. Plan for the holidays

Managing holidays effectively can have a significant impact on both sales and personal relationships, so it's crucial they don't accidentally get delayed or overlooked.

WHY IT MATTERS

Engaging holiday shoppers early can help you stand out before the crowd forms, increases the time you have for multiple touchpoints and extends your holiday sales season. Starting earlier also gives you time to A/B test and adjust messaging if needed.

There are more scheduling complexities to accommodate this time of the year. This can range from team time off requests to vendor fulfillment timelines to workplace closures.

Celebrate and show appreciation for your team. The holidays are a natural time to celebrate victories and show your appreciation. Make sure your team knows they're important to you by prioritizing their time off, giving gifts of appreciation, or hosting celebrations.

HOW TO TACKLE

Make decisions now so you give plenty of notice. You probably have team members that need to travel and make purchases for the most expensive time of the year. Make sure you're not making that more difficult if it's avoidable.

Get your team involved if you want to purchase gifts, plan an event or send holiday cards. Set the budget, come up with some guidance and give your team room to run. Just make sure: 1) you're not piling onto an already overworked crew and 2) you are still involved and aren't just outsourcing appreciation.