Developing a solid sales plan is neglected in many organizations. We are busy maintaining customer contacts, visiting leads and making quotations, because we obviously want to achieve our targets and unfortunately our time is scarce. In the short term, such a policy can be absolutely successful, but in the long term, the lack of a good sales plan can cause a lot of uncertainty and worsen your competitive position. In this blog we list a number of crucial components for your sales plan. Are we missing one in your opinion? Then let us know.
Team composition
As a sales manager, you are largely dependent on your team. You are responsible for inspiring and leading your team, but also for bringing out the talent present within your team. Describing your team is therefore perhaps the most crucial part of your sales plan. Additionally, ideally, you should even include personality profiles or sales assessments in this chapter.
Customer persona
Moreover, in addition to your own team members, you also deal with individuals on the client side. People do business with people. It is therefore logical that your (desired) client also plays an important role in the sales plan. Furthermore, develop one (or more) personas of your ideal customer profile together with your team.
Business model
Although the human factors in your plan are of great importance, there is of course also an important numerical component to it. Your sales plan should contain a short and concise business model, in which you describe which financial parameters a customer must meet to be profitable within your organization. A minimum potential turnover, for example? Or a minimum required margin?
Tooling
Furthermore, when leading a small, compact sales organization, you may not yet be making extensive use of tooling. However, think ambitiously! Salespeople are not known for working in a highly structured manner or for readily documenting their activities. The right tooling can greatly assist you in structuring your department and archiving all work and results. Therefore, describe the tooling you intend to use in your sales plan so that it is immediately clear to everyone.
Offer & price
In order to optimally distinguish yourself from your competitor, it is important to think about your positioning, your exact offer and the associated price in your sales plan. It is precisely in this area that many companies fail. They simply sell what is available within the organization for the price imposed from above. However, by thinking carefully about your distinctive capabilities (positioning) and the combination of offer and price, you can create major competitive advantages.
Goals
Furthermore, what are your goals for the coming year? Make them concrete and state them at an early stage so that your entire team is aware of the ambitions. Naturally, financial targets are part of that set of objectives, but there is more. For example, also set a target for retaining your existing customers and expanding your 'share of wallet' within your current client portfolio. In short, expanding existing customers is ultimately cheaper than acquiring new ones.
Budget
Last but not least, outline a clear budget that you believe you will need to execute your plan. Ensure that your budget is approved by management before you start implementing your sales plan. Without commitment (after all, a sales organization costs money, beyond personnel costs), there is a high chance that your plan will fizzle out. Consider costs for tooling, training , but also costs for marketing and sales materials, so that your salespeople enter a conversation fully armed.
