Your Sales Plan

Do you have a sales plan?

Not a Business Plan. A Sales Plan?

There’s a quote that says ‘If you don’t know where you’re going, you will probably end up somewhere else’ (Lawrence J. Peter). You already know where this is heading!

Having some kind of sales plan is a crucial part of your overall company strategy. If you’re a new or young company then strike now whilst the canvass is clear. For established businesses it allows you to take stock and check the direction you’re going. It really is good to take time out from the everyday pressures to check in with where you’re heading, and more crucially where you want your sales to be.

Keep it simple
We are not talking about a 200 page document here that a government department would be proud of. It’s more about going through a few specific questions — and taking a little time over the answers.

Here are those questions…work through them and you’ll be well on your way to increasing your

sales success.

Who are your customers?
Where are your niches? Who are your customers? What are their problems? How do you solve these problems? How can you solve them better than your competitors? How do you stand out?

What are your sales and marketing options?
What COULD you do to increase sales? Emails? Telephone sales? Direct Mail? Referrals? Testimonials and case studies? Pay per click? Networking? Advertising? PR? Social Media? And so on. Knowing your industry and knowing your customers, what sales and marketing tools do you need to incorporate?

What will your KPI’s be?
Which Key Sales Performance Indicators are appropriate for YOU? What do you need to do really well to succeed overall in your sales – and your business generally? A good KPI’s list will probably number no more than 10 of your most important business metrics. For example…turnover, units sold, profit, number of emails sent, number of responses, number of telephone calls made, conversion rates.

What should you do first?
What do you need to do first – before you set up regular sales and marketing activity? What are those initial activities you need to carry out? Set up a database? Set up your social media platforms? Review your marketing materials? What else?

What should you be doing DAILY?
What should you be doing daily NOW to get success later? How are you managing your prospects, contacts, follow ups? What’s your daily target? Update social media? Call existing clients? Respond to sales enquiries? What else?

Weekly?
What’s in your weekly check list of activities? Be sure to schedule these in. An email marketing campaign? Follow up quotes and proposals?

Monthly?
What are those things you need to do monthly? Newsletter to your customer and prospect database? Review your KPI’s? Networking? Next month’s plan? What else?

Your plan
If you take time on each of the above you’ll have a valuable document at the end of it. Don’t keep this to yourself. Share it — with your colleagues, with your team – It’s very motivational to be part of a shared objective.

Until next time.

Leigh