A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Sales Plan

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Sales Plan

Congratulations on developing a highly effective sales and marketing strategy!

Now, the crucial next step is to craft an exceptional sales plan that will turn those ambitious goals and targets into measurable achievements. Not only will it drive tangible results, but it will also provide valuable insights into your sales team’s overall performance.

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Undoubtedly, having a killer sales plan is a must for any successful business. That’s precisely why we have you covered with comprehensive guidance on creating an impactful sales plan. Additionally, we’ll provide you with strategic sales plan examples and sales plan templates to kick-start your journey.

So, let’s dive right in and take your sales endeavours to new heights.

Understanding the Sales Plan

A sales plan plays a crucial role in defining your sales team’s objectives, targets, and the essential steps, budgets, and tools required to attain success.

This comprehensive strategy includes specific revenue goals, vital information about your ideal customer profile (ICP), carefully chosen sales tactics, identification of potential obstacles and threats, and a clear outline of necessary resources.

A well-crafted sales plan proves invaluable for anyone working in sales, as it provides a holistic view of the bigger picture, aligns everyone with common goals, and clarifies everyone’s role in achieving them.

By investing time in developing a sales business plan, you will:

• Establish a clear and accessible reference for comprehending both company-wide and sales-specific objectives.
• Provide your team with strategic direction throughout every stage of the sales funnel.
• Offer guidance not only to the sales department but also to sales leadership and other stakeholders.
• Build a strong foundation for monitoring progress and evaluating performance.

Having a robust sales plan in place, alongside effective Marketing Strategies and a well-designed Marketing Strategy Plan, can set your business on the path to achieving remarkable results. Utilising Business Sales Plan Templates can also streamline the process, ensuring you are fully equipped to drive sales success.

Learn More: What is the “Funnel” in Digital Marketing?

Crafting an Effective Sales Plan

A comprehensive sales plan comprises 13 essential components that are crucial for achieving success:

• Company Mission: Clearly define your company’s mission and how it aligns with your sales objectives.
• Goals and Revenue Targets: Set specific and measurable goals along with revenue targets that you aim to achieve.
• Review of Past Performance: Analyse your past sales performance to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.
• Market and Industry Analysis: Conduct a thorough analysis of your market and industry to understand trends, competition, and opportunities.
• Positioning: Determine how your products or services will be positioned in the market to stand out from competitors.
• Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): Define your ideal customer profile to target the right audience effectively.
• Team: Assemble a skilled and motivated sales team that can execute the sales plan successfully.
• Budget: Allocate the necessary budget and resources to support your sales activities.
• Prospecting Strategy: Develop a strategy to identify and approach potential customers to generate leads.
• Inbound Marketing Strategy: Implement an inbound marketing approach to attract and engage prospects.
• Sales Tactics: Outline the specific tactics and techniques your sales team will use to close deals effectively.
• Tech Stack: Utilise appropriate sales technology and tools to enhance efficiency and productivity.
• Performance Metrics: Establish key performance metrics to measure the success and impact of your sales efforts.

By diving deeper into each of these components, you’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of how to create an effective sales plan process that drives your business towards success.

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1) Defining the Company’s Mission

Understanding the purpose of our presence here is crucial for the success of our sales team. Without a clear answer to this question, progress may be limited. Before engaging in any sales activities, it is imperative for each team member to fully grasp the company’s mission, purpose, and vision.

Key questions to address include:

• Why did the founders establish the company?
• What precisely does our product or service offer?
• What value does it bring to our customers?
• How does our company make a positive impact on the industry, society, or the world?

Answering these questions is vital as it enables our sales leadership, representatives, and account managers to grasp the broader picture. This understanding is fundamental for breathing life into our sales strategy and ensuring its successful implementation.

2) Analysing the Market and Industry

This is the phase where diligent research is conducted on the prevailing major trends, challenges, pain points, and opportunities within our market. In case our company caters to diverse industries, this research must be undertaken for each of them individually.

Acquiring an in-depth understanding of our market’s current landscape and its future trajectory is paramount. This knowledge empowers us to engage in meaningful conversations with prospects, enabling us to offer genuine value and address their specific needs effectively.

3) Evaluating Past Performance

Evaluating your sales team’s past performance holds immense value in the process of building a sales plan.

Through this assessment, you gain a clearer understanding of the factors that led to positive outcomes and those that contributed to less favourable results. By identifying what works and what doesn’t, you can incorporate these valuable insights into your future sales strategy.

Analysing past performance may reveal specific techniques that significantly boosted revenue during a particular quarter or shed light on the impact of a sales manager’s departure, particularly if they were crucial to the onboarding process.

These discoveries carry substantial significance and should strongly influence your planning to ensure that the upcoming quarter performs exceptionally well.

4) Setting Sales Goals

Sales goals encompass revenue and volume targets that drive your team’s performance.

For instance, you might aim for an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $15 million as your total target.

To maximise effectiveness, it’s essential to break down targets based on various factors, such as:

• Product: Analysing the performance of specific products or services to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
• Region: Understanding regional variations in sales performance to optimise strategies accordingly.
• Quarter: Recognising seasonal trends and optimising sales efforts during peak periods.
• Individual Reps: Tailoring goals based on the experience and capabilities of each sales representative.

By considering these factors, you can set ambitious yet attainable goals for your team.

Additionally, volume goals play a critical role. Rather than focusing solely on the number of new customers, consider the size and significance of opportunities. For example, signing 30 Fortune 500 logos may be more impactful than signing a larger number of smaller clients.

Remember, it is vital to set realistic goals aligned with your available resources, budget, and marketing capabilities. Avoid setting unattainable targets, as this can lead to failure and frustration.

Learn More: Strategies to Generate Your First E-Commerce Sale on a Budget

5) Creating Ideal Customer Profiles (ICP)

Now, let’s delve into reviewing your ideal customer profile (ICP), a crucial component of your sales strategy. Your ICP focuses on identifying the best long-term customers for your business.

To construct this profile, analyse your existing customer base to pinpoint the characteristics that define your top-performing and most loyal customers. Typically, ICPs encompass demographic attributes such as:

• Industry
• Company size
• Region

By precisely defining your ICP, you’ll be better equipped to target and attract the most suitable customers for sustained business growth.

6) Developing a Strategic Positioning

Positioning your company involves strategically situating it within the current market context, akin to market mapping. Key questions to address include:

• Who are your competitors in the market?
• How does your product or service compare to the competition?
• What are your relative strengths and weaknesses compared to other players?
• How does your pricing strategy compare to that of your competitors?

Furthermore, it is crucial to consider the impact of technology trends and regulatory changes on the market as a whole. Factors such as the growing popularity of specific technologies or the emergence of new data privacy laws can significantly affect your business and its competitors.

By thoroughly examining these aspects, you can effectively position your company for success and capitalise on the opportunities available in the market.

7) Building and Equipping the Sales Team

While often overlooked, evaluating your sales team is a critical aspect of the sales planning process.

Consider the following questions to assess your team dynamics:

• What is the desired headcount for your sales team?
• Which positions need to be filled or removed?
• What are the responsibilities of each sales representative, sales manager, or account executive?
• Do you have an effective onboarding process for new hires?
• Are there experienced sales mentors available to guide new team members?
• How can you ensure everyone stays aligned and cohesive?

Despite sales involving individual efforts, it ultimately functions as a team sport. Success hinges on effective training, sharing best practices, strong leadership, coaching, and fostering accountability. Embrace the team spirit and pursue sales triumph together.

8) Allocating the Budget

Your budget plays a crucial role in achieving your sales goals and must encompass various costs, including:

• Human capital expenses, such as salaries and commissions.
• Investments in sales training programs.
• Costs for essential sales technologies and tools.
• Allocation for contest prizes and incentives.
• Provision for travel expenses.
• Budget for conference exhibition costs.

A detailed and well-structured budget will strengthen your case, making it easier to secure the necessary funds for your department’s needs. Precision in budgeting is essential to ensure your sales efforts are adequately supported and successful.

9) Devising an Effective Prospecting Strategy

Sales prospecting involves identifying potential customers who align with your ICP, aiming to include them in your sales funnel. Once you’ve compiled a list of relevant prospects and integrated them into your CRM, the subsequent step is to establish a relationship and nurture them until they convert into paying customers.

Effective sales planning incorporates prospecting as it ensures sales representatives target the right customers, avoiding wastage of time and company resources on the wrong prospects.

Manual prospecting can be time-consuming and isn’t a preferred task. However, utilising a robust prospecting tool can significantly simplify the process, streamlining and enhancing efficiency in this vital sales activity.

10) Implementing an Inbound Marketing Strategy

In this aspect of the sales plan, collaboration with the marketing team is vital to ensure alignment on core objectives, business strategy, and target audience.

Being on the same page with marketing prevents conflicting efforts and expenditures, where each department focuses on different target audiences. Close collaboration between sales and marketing plans is essential for generating high-quality leads and achieving shared goals effectively.

11) Employing Result-Oriented Sales Tactics

Sales tactics are the actionable steps that breathe life into your sales strategy. When creating your sales plan, it’s essential to invest time in identifying the most effective tactics to achieve your goals.

Here are some recommended sales tactics:

• Practice active listening and prioritise problem-solving.
• Maintain integrity and follow through on commitments.
• Utilise data-driven prospecting and enhance outreach efforts.
• Analyse conversations with prospects for continuous improvement.

12) Utilising the Right Tech Stack

Now that you have defined your goals and requirements, it’s time to assess the essential tools your sales team needs to excel.

Your sales tool or tech stack should encompass:

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.
• Sales intelligence tools.
• Prospecting and lead enrichment solutions.
• Analytics and reporting platforms.
• Process and training resources.
• Meeting scheduling and recording capabilities.

By carefully selecting and implementing these tools, your sales team will be equipped to perform at its best and achieve outstanding results.

13) Monitoring Key Performance Metrics

The final component involves tracking and measuring your success to determine if you have achieved your goals.

Sales metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) may vary depending on the company, but we have compiled a list of the 8 essential sales metrics you need to monitor.

Once you have identified the metrics to assess, it is essential to establish a systematic approach to tracking them. This includes determining the platforms used for analysis, the frequency of measurements, and the reporting method for presenting the outcomes.

By implementing a robust monitoring system, you can effectively evaluate your sales performance and make data-driven decisions to drive continued success.

Examples of Strategic Sales Plans

If crafting a sales plan from scratch seems overwhelming, don’t worry. Take a deep breath and relax. Numerous existing sales plan examples are available, which you can utilise and tailor to suit your requirements.

Here are four strategic sales plan examples that you can customise effortlessly to bring your sales strategy to life. These examples encompass the essence of a sales and marketing plan example, a sales plan, and a sales strategy plan. By adopting these templates, you can streamline the process and confidently execute your sales endeavours without feeling overwhelmed.

1) The 30-60-90-Day Sales Plan

This sales plan example is designed to keep sales organisations focused on achieving their objectives. It involves setting milestones at the 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day intervals, enabling effective monitoring of progress within specific timeframes.

This type of plan is particularly effective for revenue-related goals, increasing sales volume, and reducing customer churn. Moreover, new sales representatives find the 30-60-90-day sales plan beneficial for tracking their progress during the onboarding process.

2) Market Expansion Sales Plan

A market expansion sales plan serves as a guiding framework when a business ventures into a new industry or territory. It encompasses a task list and relevant metrics to ensure a successful expansion.

For instance, when expanding into new territory, essential tasks may involve:

• Increasing headcount.
• Preparing training programs for new representatives.
• Researching regional markets and competition.
• Establishing accurate revenue and volume goals.

Metrics within the plan will vary; some will assess task completion (e.g., creating additional training material for the new territory), while others will focus on quantitative benchmarks, such as revenue-related goals. The market expansion sales plan sets the business up for success during this growth phase.

3) New Product Sales Plan

This sales plan example is ideal for launching a new product or service line. The primary objective of the new product sales plan is to generate revenue from the fresh offering. The plan outlines the necessary steps and guidance to seamlessly integrate the new product into your sales processes and pitch.

To ensure a successful launch, focus on:

• Conducting a competitive analysis.
• Assessing how the new product impacts your brand and market position.
• Collaborating with product marketing to craft an effective pitch.
• Identifying the relevant prospects and customers who will benefit from the new product.

By following these steps, you can maximise the potential of the new product and drive revenue growth.

4) Business Development Sales Plan

A business development sales plan emphasises leveraging connections and building relationships to attract potential customers. The plan includes activities such as networking, sponsoring events, attending industry conferences, and conducting cold outreach.

To ensure effective execution, it is crucial to determine the most relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). For instance, if you are an exhibitor at a large industry conference, KPIs may focus on the number of badges scanned, meetings set, and follow-up meetings requested.

Similarly, for outreach efforts, tracking the number of prospect responses, scheduled meetings, and qualified prospects will serve as metrics for measuring success. By aligning the plan with appropriate KPIs, you can gauge performance and optimise your business development strategies for optimal results.

Top Sales Plan Templates

Optimising the process of creating a sales plan is achievable by utilising sales plan templates.

A “fill-in-the-blank” framework simplifies the complexity, making it more manageable. However, customisation is crucial to ensure the template aligns precisely with your sales team’s needs.

Explore these *customisable* templates tailored to suit your requirements:

– Marketing and Sales Plan Template
– Sales and Marketing Plan Template
– Sales Plan Template Excel
– Sales Business Plan Template

By tailoring these templates to the last detail, you can effectively leverage them to create a sales plan that precisely fits your sales team’s objectives and strategies.

1) Hubspot’s Sales Plan Template

HubSpot’s complimentary template encompasses comprehensive sections with guiding questions and steps, facilitating the creation of a well-structured sales plan. The template covers the following crucial areas:

1. Company History & Mission
2. Team Structure
3. Target Market
4. Tools and Software
5. Positioning
6. Marketing Strategy
7. Prospecting Strategy
8. Action Plan
9. Goals
10. Budget

By utilising this template, you can easily and effectively articulate all the essential information required for your sales plan. It streamlines the process, ensuring your sales plan is comprehensive and well-crafted to meet your objectives.

2) Leadfeeder’s B2B Sales Plan Template

Leadfeeder offers a highly practical sales plan template tailored for B2B companies. It enables businesses to swiftly implement an actionable sales plan without delay.

The template features:

• A designated section to input objectives and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in a visually structured manner.
• Sales projections for the quarter, complete with all essential calculations to achieve revenue goals.
• A pipeline dashboard showcasing deal sizes.

Leadfeeder recommends their sales plan template for B2B companies that offer products requiring demos, meetings and involve multiple decision-makers in the sales process. It is an excellent resource to streamline and optimise sales efforts in such scenarios.

3) Asana’s Sales Plan Template

Asana’s sales plan template adopts a project management approach, presenting all sales plan tasks in the form of a checklist. This visualisation enables task assignment to specific individuals and setting deadlines.

An advantage of Asana’s template is its consideration of task dependencies, ensuring no crucial task goes unnoticed inadvertently.

For instance, your colleague cannot check off the “draft buyer personas” task until you have completed and ticked “perform market research.” This feature ensures a streamlined and efficient sales planning process, promoting collaboration and accountability within the team.

Simplifying the Process of Creating a Sales Plan

A sales plan is valuable, but an efficient sales plan is crucial for achieving success.

While it may seem overwhelming, many skilled salespeople have paved the way before you. Today, you have access to numerous strategic sales plan examples, sales plan templates, and sales tools that can aid your journey and propel you forward. Embrace these resources to get your sales plan up and running efficiently.