The first thing you should do is go back and check what this year sales from January through July have been like in comparison to last year's sales. What is the percentage increase and do you like what you see? We can always achieve more but we need a plan to make that happen. So plan from now until Christmas right now, to make sure you beat your targets.

Here are some guidelines on how to achieve this:

Pin down your daily targets
Look at the macro picture then take it down to micro management bite-sized pieces to makes sure you deliver your expectations. This means taking the months sales targets and dividing them into weeks and then days. Then look at how the daily target breaks down per person, and who is on shift that day that can help you to achieve the targets – and communicate that with them!

 
Avoid the Christmas rush
Annual planning for the future is vital. The best time to plan to forecast your annual sales for the next year is October this year. This should be your annual budget formulation time. It's before the busy run up to Christmas and you will be sure to be ready to hit the ground running the next year on January 1st. Too many business wait until half way through February to think about planning the next year's revenue, but by then you have lots almost the first quarter.

Cross-reference marketing with financial forecast
In conjunction with this, plan your marketing strategy at the same time. Make sure you analyse what worked and what didn't in terms of promotions and marketing in this past year. Most importantly, cross-reference it with your financial forecast and ask yourself "How can I get the marketing plan to guarantee to deliver the increased sales plan forecast?"

Be transparent
Communicate and be transparent with your team about the financial goals and the marketing strategy. Do this every quarter. Trust that your staff will understand what you are trying to achieve if you explain it to them fully. Keep them in the dark and they won't be able to help you.

Say thank you
Involvement, reward and recognition are significant motivators for staff – and as business owners we think we thank people and appreciate them often, but in actual fact we probably don't do this as much as we think. So why not plan in regular short one to one update meetings with your team to let them know privately how much you appreciate them and give them an opportunity to tell you how they are doing and feeling. This coupled with giving them praise in public, so that their peers can hear and see that their performance is appreciated; this makes for a happy team

Smile
Remember to smile be happy and lighten up, have fun yourself – everyone wants to be with someone who makes them feel good!