Risk & Business Magazine McFarlan Rowlands Magazine Winter 2018 | Page 29

CREATING YOUR SALES PLAN 6 Steps To Creating Your Sales Plan T he biggest problem most companies face when it comes to a sales plan is that they don’t have one to begin with. They only look to build a sales plan when they need to search for investment capital or talk to their banker. Building your sales budget is not the same as building your sales plan. If you want to achieve your business goals, it is very important to have a sales plan with the right tactics and strategies that can help you achieve it. Here are six steps to building a flawless sales plan for your busi- ness: 1 2 ESTABLISH A SALES PLANNING TEAM Establish a sales team. There should be many stakeholders to help you achieve your sales goals. Get them involved. Your sales team may consist of the individuals from mar- keting, sales, operations, accounting, and service. USE THE OLD DATA AS THE BASE OF YOUR PLAN Your sales plan is the methodology you will use to achieve your goals and reach your target number. The best indica- tor you can use as the baseline to get you to your desired result is to look at the past. By looking at what you have done in the past, you can set goals for the future. 3 4 5 6 KNOW YOUR POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS This is known as customer profiling. Profiling poten- tial customers is based on your market research, or best guesses if you own a new business. Where do potential customers live? Who are they? What do they do for work? All of this information is vital. MARKET SUPPORT Make sure you will have enough support from your target market to succeed. MARKETING STRATEGY Use a proper marketing strategy to determine how many prospects you actually need to achieve your sales goal. Your salespeople, referrals, Internet advertising, direct mails, and trade shows can all be a part of your resources for marketing. EVALUATE THE SALES TEAM Look at the skills of your sales team. If you feel they are lacking certain skills, arrange a training session to get them up to speed. 29