How SMEs Win at Sales Planning

Hello, and welcome to The Sales Playbook by SPENCON

If you run a business in East Africa long enough, you eventually learn a painful truth: revenue doesn’t grow because you worked hard, prayed hard, or delivered a fiery pep talk.

And if you’ve ever gone into a new year hoping sales will “just work out,” you already know hope isn’t a strategy.

Because every business that consistently hits targets is built on structure, not luck.

It’s why the Sales Planning and Execution Conference (SPENCON) and this newsletter exist.

Our goal is to give business owners and sales leaders the systems, thinking, and tools to build sales teams that hit targets consistently.

In this first edition, we’re: 

Let’s get into it.

Here’s a quick truth: SMEs don’t struggle because they can’t sell.

They struggle because they can’t scale how they sell.

The Sales Planning and Execution Conference (SPENCON) was built to break this cycle with practical frameworks from operators who’ve built and led sales teams across manufacturing, FMCG, distribution, construction, ICT, and consulting.

Over the first two editions, more than 125 sales leaders, COOs, CFOs, and business owners across East Africa gathered to pressure-test one big question:

“How do we build sales teams that deliver predictable, repeatable revenue?”

Across both editions, five themes emerged.

And they now form the backbone of SPENCON.

One of the clearest insights from past participants was this: Targets dreamed up in a boardroom never survive the year.

Targets backed by data do.

The teams that win don’t guess their targets. They tie revenue goals to real capacity, translate them into weekly actions, and track leading indicators

Most companies start the year with numbers. Few start with clarity.

The companies that hit their numbers used market data, historical performance, seasonality, and territory potential.

Once they did the math right, their realistic targets turned out to be more ambitious than the wishful ones.

No one can sell into a market they don’t understand.

Some teams didn’t actually know which customer segments were growing, which ones were quietly shrinking, how competitors had adjusted their pricing, or even how broader economic shifts were influencing buying cycles.

But once SPENCON introduced simple research loops (customer calls, sector signals, competitor sweeps), teams suddenly saw the market clearly.

And once you see the market clearly, your strategy finally makes sense.

The teams that consistently hit quota understand:

In a region where markets move fast, companies that refresh their customer intelligence win the fastest.

Growth starts long before a rep makes a call. It starts with the strategic choices leadership makes.

At SPENCON 3, our Founder Edward will break down the core drivers of sales strategy and the decisions that guide where revenue truly comes from.

He will show how to choose the right customer segments, which markets to prioritize, which products should lead, and how pricing communicates value.

We will expand on distributor acceleration as a strategic growth lever and how a focused distributor program can multiply results.

When strategy is unclear, teams chase everything.

When strategy is clear, teams focus on the opportunities that actually move revenue.

For most SMEs, the real revenue fight isn’t in the field.

It’s in the strategy room.

How you choose to go to market ends up determining how your team performs once they’re in the market.

Across SPENCON 1 & 2, one pattern kept repeating: the biggest revenue leaks had nothing to do with effort.

They came from unclear positioning, weak channel discipline, and sales reps chasing anyone with a pulse because no one had defined the right buying groups.

The companies that turned things around approached it very differently.

They redesigned their channels, pricing, territories, and customer segments with intention.

And a few simple execution disciplines became non-negotiable.

Because every successful GTM strategy is built on decisive choices: who you serve, who you don’t, and how you plan to win.

A great salesperson with no structure is a motivational speaker.

A decent salesperson inside a strong system becomes a revenue machine.

Without structure, even your best salesperson can feel like a sprinter running blindfolded. They’re fast, energetic, but going nowhere.

Add a clear plan, and that same salesperson becomes a precision machine, hitting targets with predictable rhythm.

At SPENCON, teams discovered that high performance isn’t about hiring stars.

It’s about building the system around them: territory planning that actually reflects opportunity, resource allocation that prevents burnout, disciplined pipeline reviews, weekly cadences that keep momentum, forecasting that catches problems early, and clear ownership of every territory.

Over time, ordinary teams that used to scramble and miss targets transform into predictable, high-performing revenue engines.

Incentives shape behavior, and sometimes they shape it in the wrong direction.

SPENCON showed that teams hit targets when reward structures align with the outcomes you actually want.

More than tools, commissions, reporting, dashboards, and review rhythms are behavior levers.

Poor performance is usually a system problem, not a people problem.

Many SMEs tend to accidentally reward the wrong things.

But if you want consistency, you need to reward consistent actions.

If you want teamwork, reward team metrics.

And if you want loyal clients, do not pay for one-off deals.

Get incentives right and behaviors change.

On 21 January 2026, SPENCON is running a 3-hour, small-room Masterclass where business owners and sales managers get a hands-on experience of what it means to be a Sales Multiplier.

As a multiplier you are focused on unlocking your team’s mindset to drive productivity across the entire organisation.

You are keen on understanding key mindset concepts, how they influence team performance, and developing programs that activate and unleash your team’s full potential.

Only 15 seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

And here’s the kicker: if you buy your SPENCON 3 ticket before 15 December 2025, you get Masterclass access at no extra cost.

Seats are limited, so this is the best moment to lock yours in.

On February 4^th 2026, SPENCON returns for its third edition.

SPENCON 3 is built for SMEs entering one of the most unpredictable business climates in years.

This year’s focus is sharp: Think Big, Act Granular.

Why this focus? Across SPENCON 1 and 2, one pattern was undeniable: most businesses start the year optimistic but are firefighting by March.

Participants will get practical sector-specific case studies, tools to align targets with capacity, strategies to kickstart Q1 momentum, and a clear execution blueprint for the year ahead.

Expect keynotes from seasoned sales leaders and networking with peers from manufacturing, FMCG, distribution, ICT, construction, and services.

If you want 2026 to be the year your pipeline stops swinging like Nairobi weather, SPENCON is your annual reset.

Hear what attendees from SPENCON 2025 are saying here.

If you’re reading this, you’re likely a business owner or sales leader under constant pressure to grow revenue. 

Each SPENCON edition will break down a core sales concept, show a real-world example, share a practical framework, and offer a useful template or checklist when needed.

You will also get short stories from operators in the field.

Each issue helps you sharpen strategy, structure your team, improve execution, and build predictable revenue.

Think of it as your monthly dose of clarity.

And we can’t wait to take you along for the ride.

Do you think most SMEs fail at sales planning because of bad targets or bad execution?

Hit reply and tell us what you’re seeing on the ground.

If you have thoughts, questions or a story from the field, we’d love to hear it. You can:
📌 Follow us on LinkedIn
📚 Explore our programs
🎤 Learn more about SPENCON
🔔 Subscribe so you never miss the monthly SPENCON drop

See you in the next edition!