A well-thought out sales plan is a strategy that can be used to acquire new business, grow existing business and reach sales quota goals. The sales plan can be used for both long and short term sales goals – detailing strategies and tactics that can be utilized to maintain and increase sales. A sales plan needs to be short, detailed and realistic; with attainable goals that are measurable. Decide on a sales target, and then develop a plan to engage new customers as well as increase interaction with existing customers to reach that goal. Evaluate the sales plan periodically to determine success or changes that need to be made.
The sales plan has two components that will help to ensure its success: tactics and strategies. The sales plan is focused on two types of customers: existing and new ones. Once the customer has been identified, the salesperson can engage with the company to develop the specific tactics that the company is going to use to reach their sales goals. The strategy is the overall ideas for the product – letting people know about the company and the product they carry.
After the strategy has been developed, specific tactics are outlined. Tactics may include putting ads in the paper, putting flyers on doors or other specific action steps.
A good sales plan can drive the sales of items up with careful evaluation of some products. By putting company time and initiative into planning for sales, the company is more likely to be successful.
A sales plan can be as detailed or as general as the user wants, however, the more detailed information included the better the sales. By establishing a variety of tactics, the user is ensuring that at least one of the methods used will be successful, and the resulting sales numbers will increase.
