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How to Create a Sales Plan

What is a sales plan?

A sales plan lays out your objectives, high-level tactics, target audience, and potential obstacles. It's like a traditional business plan but focuses specifically on your sales strategy. A business plan lays out your goals — a sales plan describes exactly how you'll make those happen.

Sales Planning Process

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that sales planning doesn't just encompass the creation of a sales plan document. In order for that document to be more than something that gathers dust on the bookshelf, a high-level strategy is required.

You should:

Gather sales data from the previous year and search for trends.
Define your objective and create sales targets that meet your revenue goals.
Determine the metrics that will be used to gauge success.
Assess your current situation, including weaknesses that will act as roadblocks and strengths that will help.
Start sales forecasting based on demand trends and historical data.
Identify any gaps that need to be filled to achieve your targets.
Ideate new initiatives based on opportunities you may have passed on in previous years.
Involve stakeholders from departments that affect your outcomes such as Marketing and Product.
Outline action items based on capacity and quota numbers.
One thing to keep in mind is that sales planning shouldn't end with the creation of the document.
You'll want to reiterate this process every year to maintain your organization's sales excellence.
Now that you're committed to the sales planning process, let's dive into the written execution component of sales planning.

Give An Inch, Take A Mile

One day, the importer called the customer service representative and said that he could not arrive at the office to surrender the bill of lading that day. Instead he would fax (yes that long ago) the front and back of the bill to get the release, and subsequently be in the office the very next day to deliver the original bill of lading as required. The carrier acted in accordance and the importer was in the office the next day to deliver the bill of lading as promised.

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