8 Examples of Strategic Sales Plans

8 Examples of Strategic Sales Plans

Casey O'Connor

What Is a Strategic Sales Plan?

When you should implement a strategic sales plan, what to include in your sales plan, 8 examples of plans to implement your sales strategy, how yesware can help your team put your sales plan into action.

A strategic sales plan is a must-have for any business that’s looking to increase their sales, amp up their revenue, bring a new product to market, or branch into a new territory.

In this article, we’ll go over everything you need to know about strategic sales plans: what they are, when to create one, and exactly what it needs to include. We’ll also show you a handful of real-life, tangible examples of really effective sales plan components.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

A strategic sales plan is designed to guide a sales organization through their overarching sales strategy. It provides them with access to the resources needed to prospect, pitch to, and close new accounts.

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: action plan

Strategic sales plans can include any combination of the following:

  • Ideas: If you utilize a certain sales methodology — consultative selling or target account selling , for example — you might outline its key principles and a few tactical examples of it in action in your strategic sales plan. Your strategic sales plan should also include an overview of your target customer.
  • Processes: In order for your sales team to reach maximum productivity, it’s important that your sales processes are clearly defined and standardized. Your sales team — both new hires and seasoned vets alike — should be able to refer to your sales plan for a repeatable, scalable process that’s backed by solid metrics. The processes should provide direction to sales reps that allow them to contribute to the company’s goals.
  • Tools & Tactics: The best strategic sales plans are more than just high-level strategy and goals. They also include specific, step-by-step strategies that sales reps can implement in sales conversations, as well as the specific tools and content that reps need to close more deals.

Sales plans also typically spell out the organization’s revenue and overall business goals, as well as the KPIs and benchmarks that sales managers and other stakeholders will monitor to determine whether or not those goals are being met.

They should also outline management’s strategic territory design and quota expectations, with specific indicators and data to back those decisions. 

Finally, these sales plans should take into account your current team’s sales capacity, and should specifically address the acquisition plan for any resources that are not yet available but that may be necessary for future growth.

If your sales team doesn’t already have a strategic sales plan in place — that is, one that’s referenced and updated regularly, and is the product of careful data analysis and inter-team collaboration — you may want to consider creating one. 

Research shows that the majority of the highest-performing sales teams operate under a formalized, closely monitored sales structure. 

On the other hand, most underperforming sales teams lack this structure. 

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: sales structure

It’s clear that a well-defined sales plan is one of the prerequisites to optimized sales productivity and success; every salesforce should strive to create and adopt one if they want to meet their sales goals more efficiently.

That being said, there are a few key indicators that signal a need for more urgency in putting a strategic sales plan in place. 

You’re Trying to Increase Sales

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: sales pipeline

A strategic sales plan will help your sales and marketing teams align their processes so that your outreach efforts are tailored to your target audience.

You’re Looking to Amp up Your Revenue

For startups and small businesses, attaining as many new customers as possible is usually the name of the game.

For larger or more established businesses, however, the business plan may instead emphasize revenue goals. In other words, the deal size starts to matter much more than deal volume. 

A sales strategy plan can help salespeople target and nurture higher-value accounts. Sales planning can also boost your revenue by illuminating untapped potentials for revenue growth within your existing customer base through cross-selling, upselling , and referrals.

You’re Gearing Up to Launch a New Product

A sales strategy plan is crucial for businesses that are preparing to bring a new product to market.

Thoughtful sales planning will ensure your go-to-market strategy is optimized and designed for short-term and long-term success by clearly defining and speaking to the pain points of your ideal customer profile. 

Strategic Sales Plan Example: Go-To-Market Strategy

One last note: for businesses that already use strategic business planning (or for those on their way after reading this article), be sure to update your plan at least yearly. Many businesses at least review their plan, if not update it more formally, on a quarterly basis.

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: The Buyer's Journey

Consider including the following components in your strategic business plan.

Mission Statement

A company’s mission statement speaks to its purpose and values, as well as the strategy, scope, and standards of its business doings.

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: mission statement

Consider a company’s mission statement like its North Star; it can act as a guiding force for decision-making that’s consistently aligned with the ethics and values of the company.

Industry & Market Conditions

Great sales planning cannot be performed in isolation. It’s important that your plan also takes into account the current market conditions, including any challenges, recent disruptions, or upcoming notable events.

Organization Chart

A sales org chart can range in scope from very simple, like the one above, to more complicated. Some go as far as naming individual employees and outlining their specific responsibilities. 

A detailed org chart is especially helpful for efficiently onboarding new hires.

Product Info & Pricing

No sales plan would be complete without a one-sheet that outlines the features, benefits, and value proposition of your product or service.

It’s also helpful to include information about pricing tiers, as well as any discounts or promotions available for leverage at a sales rep’s discretion.

Compensation Plan

While we have no doubt that you’ve hired only the most intrinsically motivated salespeople, remember the bottom line: cash is king.

Money is the primary motivator for most salespeople, regardless of how truly loyal and hard-working they may be.

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: golden rules of sales compensation

With that in mind, it’s a good idea to include your company’s compensation plan and commission structure in your sales plan. This is a surefire way to motivate your team to continuously improve their sales performance. 

Target Market & Customer

One of the single most important components of your strategic sales plan will be your ideal customer profile and/or your buyer persona .

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: Ideal Customer Profile and Buyer Personas

Sales Enablement

With the tremendous rise in content marketing, it can be challenging for salespeople to keep track of the various materials available for generating new business.

Your strategic sales plan should direct your sales team to the many resources available to them to leverage throughout the sales cycle. It should also highlight the tools, software, CRM, and training — collectively known as sales enablement tools — available to and expected of them.

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: sales enablement

Branding & Positioning

The strategic sales plan should offer at least a high-level overview of your brand and messaging specifics, including social media presence. Take the time to optimize your company’s LinkedIn presence — it’s a goldmine of new business opportunities.

Marketing Strategy

In today’s day and age, it’s unlikely that your sales and marketing team are working in isolation from one another. At a certain point, sales and marketing strategies start to flow together until they (ideally) perform in harmony.

Still, it’s important to outline the perspective of the marketing team within your strategic sales plan. This will help your salespeople fine-tune their sales pitch and speak more meaningfully to the needs of the customer. 

Prospecting Strategy

Most salespeople report that their number one challenge in lead generation is attracting qualified leads. 

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: B2B lead generation challenges

Prospecting can certainly be daunting, but it’s worth the effort to get it right. Tweak and fine-tune the process until you’re sure it’s as efficient as possible. Make sure it’s repeatable and scalable, and map it out within your sales plan.

Action Plan

Any good strategic sales plan will also include a step-by-step section, much like a playbook. Here, you’ll outline the specific tactics and processes — including scripts, demos, and email templates — that have been proven to move prospects through the sales funnel . 

Be as specific as possible here. This will act as a blueprint for the day-to-day sales activities for your team.

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: SMART Goals

It can be tempting to leave the numbers with the finance department, but financial transparency can go a long way in creating a culture of trust among your sales team.

You don’t need to go through every line item in the spreadsheet, but it’s not a bad idea to include a high-level look at where the dollars are flowing. 

KPIs, Metrics, and Benchmarks

Be sure to give your team a snapshot of how they’re currently performing, with real numbers to back it up. This will help them self-initiate regular SWOT analysis of their own sales actions and processes. This will give them an opportunity to right the course if things aren’t going according to plan. 

Remember that your company’s strategic sales plan will be highly unique. It may take some time and tweaking to find the components and format that best meet the needs of your business.

Below are a few components that you might consider including in your sales plan.

Buyer’s Guide

A buyer’s guide is a short, simple information sheet that describes your product or service, its features and benefits, and its use. Below is an example of a buyer’s guide from Wayfair .

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: buyers guide

In many cases, this document is as useful internally as it is for the customer. 

Customer Profile

One way to avoid wasting time on unproductive leads is to include an ideal customer profile (ICP) in your sales plan.

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: ideal customer profile

30-60-90 Day Plan

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: 30-60-90 day sales plan

Microsoft Word Sales Plan Template

Here’s a great example of a sales plan goals template , easily accessible through Microsoft Word.

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: sales plan template

Battle Cards

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: Battle Cards

Territory Design

Well-designed sales territories see a 10% – 20% increase in sales productivity. Pictured below is a basic example of a territory design map.

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: territory map

When designing your territories, keep in mind the following best practices .

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: territory plan

Your compensation plan (including a specific commission structure) is one way to motivate your sales reps.

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: compensation plan

While it may seem controversial or sensitive, the compensation plan is an important component of a strategic sale plan.

Marketing Plan

Your salespeople should be extremely familiar with the marketing strategies your company is using to attract new leads. Here’s a great example of a template you can use in your sales plan that outlines the different campaigns at work.

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: marketing plan

This kind of resource will help your reps know who to contact, when, and with what kind of content throughout the sales cycle .

Yesware is the all-in-one sales toolkit that helps you win more business. It can be an invaluable resource for putting your sales plan into action in a way that’s streamlined, productive, and intuitive.

Communication

Yesware’s meeting scheduler tool helps you skip the back-and-forth when scheduling meetings.

Meeting Scheduler integrates with your Outlook or Gmail calendar and helps your clients automatically schedule meetings with you during times of availability. New events are automatically synced to your calendar. 

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: meeting scheduler

​ It can also create meeting types for common calls, like a 30-minute intro call or a 60-minute demo call. These templates can be automatically saved and generated with custom descriptions and agendas, so everyone can come prepared. 

Prospecting

One of Yesware’s most popular features is its prospecting campaigns.

These features enable salespeople to create automated, personalized campaigns with multi-channel touches. The tool tracks communication and engagement throughout the process and helps move prospects through the pipeline with little administrative effort from the sales team.

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: prospecting campaigns

Yesware’s attachment tracking feature helps you find your winning content by tracking which attachments are most often opened and read by your prospects. You can use these insights to sharpen your content and increase your engagement.

Strategic Sales Plans Examples: presentation report

The reporting and analytics tools are also extremely valuable in optimizing your sales plan.  These reports enable salespeople to use data to win more business. The feature generates daily activity, engagement data, and outcomes to show you what is/isn’t working across the board.

Try Yesware for free for 14 days to see how it can help your sales team carry out your sales plan today.

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The Sales Manager's Guide to Strategic Planning

Lestraundra Alfred

Updated: February 18, 2021

Published: December 30, 2020

Have you ever felt like your sales team is doing an okay job, but you know they could be doing better? Or, alternatively, perhaps you're second-guessing some of your hiring decisions — could you have found a rep who would've sold more?

sales team collaborates on strategic planning

Fortunately (it's a good thing, we promise), this may be due less to the people you've hired and more to the guidance you've provided.

For instance, if you've previously handed your salespeople a list of potential customers and sent them on their way with "You've got this!" ringing in their ears, you might actually be inhibiting your team's growth potential.

On the other hand, if you provide them with a strategic sales plan that clearly outlines the company's goals — and a thoughtfully laid out system to get there — you can expect your salespeople to impress.

Here, let's dive into what a strategic sales plan is, plus how to make one for your own team.

Download Now: Free Growth Strategy Template

What is a strategic plan?

If sales is a journey, your strategic plan is the roadmap you'll provide your team to help them reach their destination. It is one of the most important activities you will ever do as a sales manager because, without it, your sales team will have no direction and no instruction manual to follow in order to achieve their targets.

This roadmap allows the company to focus on long-term revenue through both the retention of existing customers and the acquisition of new customers. They are often created with investors and shareholders in mind.

What are the benefits of creating a strategic plan?

A strategic plan is essential because if none exists, your sales reps are left to their own devices, making uneducated decisions based on the information they have in the moment. Without knowledge of the company's long-term goals, you can't blame your reps for falling short — they're just working with what they have.

By creating (and following) a strategic plan, you:

  • Create a "North star" for your business by establishing a sense of direction
  • Allow your organization to be proactive instead of reactive
  • Make your team more efficient and productive
  • Increase profitability
  • Provide baseline expectations your team needs to meet when/if your team hits unexpected challenges

The Elements of a Strategic Plan

This document is sometimes created quarterly, but more often yearly, and it includes several different elements. By answering these questions, you'll be able to create a robust strategic sales plan for your business. You don't have to do this alone. Instead, I'd urge you to collaborate with some of your top salespeople, who likely have unique insights to offer.

What did your business look like last year?

Before you can decide where you're going, you need to know where you've been. A few things to look at (though not all!):

  • How much was sold?
  • Who on your team closed sales?
  • Who were the customers that purchased?
  • Will they be back for repeat business?
  • How long is your sales cycle?
  • Which clients took up the most time vs who had the highest revenue?

What does the market look like?

This includes information about your specific industry and the other companies playing in the same arena. Has anything changed from past years?

What is your value proposition?

What makes your product the right solution for prospects' problems? What makes your company different than all the others who offer similar products or services? Now is a great time to do a SWOT Analysis to determine your:

  • Opportunities

Be honest. Sugar-coating this exercise won't help you grow.

Who are you selling to?

This includes your target market as well as your buyer personas. Your answers from the prior year question will come in handy here. Knowing who buys your product is important. Knowing who takes up 80% of your time and only brings in 20% of your revenue is gold. Your buyer persona will tell you who your ideal client is, and who you should stay away from.

How much do you need to make?

What are your target revenue goals for the year? For the quarter?

How are you reaching them?

These are the strategies and tactics you will use to connect with your customers. They include:

  • Marketing tactics to attract new customers
  • Ways to grow existing accounts or bring back old customers
  • Methods for leveraging existing customers for referrals

Your sales process should be noted here, as well as the prices you charge and any planned promotions.

Who is on your team?

Outline the structure of your team and clearly communicate who is responsible for what — and by when.

What resources exist?

What tools will your team have access to in order to reach their revenue goals. What type of support will they receive from you, other departments, and outside sources?

Keep in mind that even after the company's strategic plan is created, you will need to work with your individual salespeople to determine how they will meet their individual goals and create a clear plan for them to follow with check-ins and key performance indicators along the way. This will include:

  • Their individual revenue goals
  • How many sales that represents
  • How many calls it typically takes to close those sales
  • How much time they should spend on sales calls
  • How to work with existing clients and past clients to increase their purchases and give referrals

Strategic Sales Templates and Examples

Like most things in business, there's no need to reinvent the wheel or start from scratch when there are wonderful examples to model your strategic plans after. Once you find one that fits your industry and your company's structure, you can tweak it to meet all of your needs.

Here are a few examples to review:

  • A one page strategic plan
  • SWOT Exercise
  • Sales Strategy Blueprint

If you want your sales team and your business to thrive, creating an annual strategic sales plan is the best action you can take. With a specific destination and a clear path to get there, your salespeople will have the tools they need to succeed.

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How To Build a Strategic Sales Plan + 10 Examples

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  • May 28, 2023

LinkedIn

Every sales team has some sort of plan, even if it’s just “sell more of the product/service that you’re employed to sell.”

A sales plan is a portfolio that includes a layout of your processes, target audience, objectives and tactics. It’s used to guide your sales strategy and predict cost and returns. 

Yet without a codified sales plan, it can be difficult to give a sales team the motivation and purpose they need to successfully engage customers and continue to generate revenue.

Not having a sales plan that’s written down and signed off on by stakeholders can lead to confusion around what sales reps should and shouldn’t be doing , which can be demotivating.

It might seem daunting or time-consuming to put together an entire sales plan, but it doesn’t need to be. Here’s how to create a thorough sales plan in 10 simple steps. 

What Is a Sales Plan? 

A successful sales plan defines your target customers, business objectives, tactics, obstacles and processes. An effective plan will also include resources and strategies that are used to achieve target goals. It works similarly to a business plan in the way it’s presented, but only focuses on your sales strategy. 

A sales plan should include the following three components: 

  • Ideas: If you use specific business methodologies, you may choose to outline key principles and examples of them in action within your sales plan. An example could be conversation tactics when pitching your product to your target customer. 
  • Processes: In order to streamline productivity and business strategy, you’ll want to make sure your processes are defined within your sales plan. Your sales team should be able to refer to the sales plan when they’re in need of direction. 
  • Tools and tactics: The most effective sales plans include not only high-level business strategies, but also step-by-step approaches for your sales team to utilize. These tools can include key conversation pieces for your sales reps to use when pitching a product or content to close out a deal. 

Solidifying a sales plan is crucial for a strong business model. Taking the time to narrow in on the components above will set you and your business up for success down the road. 

Sales Planning Process

Sales Planning Process

It’s important to keep in mind that sales planning isn’t just about creating a sales plan document. A sales plan should be a go-to item that’s used every day by your team, rather than sitting on your desk collecting dust. Creating an effective sales plan requires high-level strategy.

You should: 

  • Decide on a timeline for your goals and tactics
  • Outline the context
  • Write out the company mission and values
  • Describe the target audience and product service positioning
  • Include sales resources
  • Draw out an overview of concurrent activities
  • Write an overview of your business road map
  • Outline your goals and KPIs
  • Outline an action plan
  • Create a budget 

 Below we dive into each of these steps to create your ideal sales plan. 

1. Decide on Your Timeline

Setting goals and outlining tactics is not going to be productive if you’re not working toward a date by which you’ll measure your efforts.

Determining the timeline of your sales plan should therefore be your number one consideration. When will you be ready to kick-start your plan, and when is a reasonable time to measure the outcomes of your plan against your SMART goals?

Remember that you need to give the plan a chance to make an impact, so this timeline shouldn’t be too restrictive. However, you also want to make sure that you’re flexible enough to adjust your plan if it’s not producing the desired results.

Most sales plan timelines cover about a year, which may be segmented into four quarters and/or two halves to make it a little more manageable.

2. Outline the Context

Use the first page of your sales plan to outline the context in which the plan was created.

What is the current state of the organization? What are your challenges and pain points? What recent wins have you experienced?

Do you have tighter restrictions on cash flow, or does revenue appear to be growing exponentially? How is your sales team currently performing?

While you’ll discuss your business plan and road map later in the document, you can also outline the long-term vision for your business in this section. For example, where do you want to see the business in five years?

Tip: Comparing the current situation with your vision will emphasize the gap between where you are now and where you need to be. 

3. Company Mission and Values

It’s essential that you put your mission and values at the heart of your business. You need to incorporate them into every function – and this includes your sales plan.

Outlining your mission and values in your sales plan ensures that you remember what the company is striving for, and in turn helps ensure that your approach and tactics will support these objectives.

Remember: A strong brand mission and authentic values will help boost customer loyalty, brand reputation and, ultimately, sales.

4. Target Market and Product/Service Positioning

Next, you’ll need to describe the market or markets that you’re operating in.

What is your target market or industry? What research led you to conclude that this was the optimal market for you?

Who within this industry is your ideal customer? What are their characteristics? This could be a job title, geographical location or company size, for example. This information makes up your ideal customer profile .

If you’ve delved further into audience research and developed personas around your target market, then include them in here, too.

5. Sales Team and Resources

This step is simple: Make a list of your sales resources, beginning with a short description of each member of your sales team.

Include their name, job title, length of time at the company and, where appropriate, their salary. What are their strengths? How can they be utilized to help you hit your goals?

You should also include notes around the gaps in your sales team and whether you intend to recruit any new team members into these (or other) roles.

Tip: Communicate the time zones your team members work in to be mindful of designated work hours for scheduling meetings and deadlines. 

Then, list your other resources. These could be tools, software or access to other departments such as the marketing team – anything that you intend to use in the execution of your sales plan. This is a quick way to eliminate any tools or resources that you don’t need.

6. Concurrent Activities

The next step in creating your sales plan involves providing an overview of non-sales activities that will be taking place during the implementation of your sales plan.

Any public marketing plans, upcoming product launches, or deals or discounts should be included, as should any relevant events. This will help you plan sales tactics around these activities and ensure that you’re getting the most out of them.

7. Business Road Map

For this step, write up an overview of your business’s overall road map, as well as the areas where sales activities can assist with or accelerate this plan. You’ll need to collaborate with the CEO, managing director or board of directors in order to do this.

In most cases, the business will already have a road map that has been signed off on by stakeholders. It’s the sales manager’s job to develop a sales plan that not only complements this road map, but facilitates its goals. 

Tip: Highlight areas of the road map that should be touchpoints for the sales team. 

Ask yourself what your department will need to do at each point in the road map to hit these overarching company goals.

8. Sales Goals and KPIs

Another important part of the sales plan involves your sales goals and KPIs.

Outline each goal alongside the KPIs you’ll use to measure it. Include a list of metrics you’ll use to track these KPIs, as well as a deadline for when you project the goal will be achieved.

It’s vital to make these goals tangible and measurable.

A bad example of a goal is as follows:

Goal 1: Increase sales across company’s range of products and services.

A better goal would look something like:

Goal 1: Generate $500,000+ in revenue from new clients through purchases of X product by X date.

9. Action Plan

Now that you’ve laid out your goals, you need to explain how you will hit them.

Your action plan can be set out week by week, month by month, or quarter by quarter. Within each segment, you must list out all of the sales activities and tactics that you will deploy – and the deadlines and touchpoints along the way.

Tip: Organize your action plan by department – sales, business development and finance. 

While this is arguably the most complex part of the sales plan, this is where sales leaders are strongest. They know which approach will work best for their team, their company and their market.

Budgets vary from team to team and company to company, but whatever your situation, it’s important to include your budget in your sales plan.

How are you going to account for the money spent on new hires, salaries, tech, tools and travel? Where the budget is tight, what are your priorities going to be, and what needs to be axed?

The budget section should make references back to your action plan and the sales team and resources page in order to explain the expenditures.

6 Strategic Sales Plan Examples 

You can create different types of strategic sales plans for your company, depending on how you want to structure your sales plan. Here are a few examples.   

Customer Profile 

A customer profile outlines your ideal customer for your service or product. It will usually include industry, background, attributes and decision-making factors.  

Creating a customer profile helps narrow in on the target customer your sales team should focus on while eliminating unproductive leads.  

Buyer’s Guide

A buyer’s guide is an informational sheet that describes your company’s services or products, including benefits and features. This document is useful both for your sales team but also for a potential customer who requires more information on the product before purchasing. 

30-60-90-Day Plan

This plan is organized based on time periods. It includes outlines of goals, strategy and actionable steps in 30-day periods. This is a useful sales plan model for a new sales representative tracking progress during their first 90 days in the position or meeting quotas in a 90-day period. 

This type of sales plan is also ideal for businesses in periods of expansion or growth. It’s helpful to minimize extra effort in onboarding processes. 

Market Expansion Plan

A market expansion plan clarifies target metrics and list of actions when moving into a new territory or market. This sales plan model is typically used with a target market that resides in a new geographical region. 

You’ll want to include a profile of target customers, account distribution costs and even time zone differences between your sales representatives. 

Marketing-alignment Plan

Creating a marketing-alignment sales plan is useful if your organization has yet to align both your sales and marketing departments. The goal of the sales plan is finalizing your target customer personas and aligning them with your sales pitches and marketing messages. 

New Product/Service Plan 

If your organization is launching a new service or product, it’s best to create a sales plan to track revenue and other growth metrics from the launch. You’ll want to include sales strategy, competitive analyses and service or product sales positioning. 

Sales Plan Template

4 additional sales plan templates.

Here are some additional templates you can use to create your own unique sales plan. 

  • Template Lab 
  • ProjectManager

5 Tips for Creating a Sales Plan 

Now that you’ve seen and read through a few examples and a sales plan template, we’ll cover some easy but useful tips to create a foolproof sales plan. 

  • Create a competitive analysis: Research what sales strategies and tactics your close competitors are using. What are they doing well? What are they not doing well? Knowing what they are doing well will help you create a plan that will lead to eventual success. 
  • Vary your sales plans: First create a base sales plan that includes high-level goals, strategies and tactics. Then go more in depth on KPIs and metrics for each department, whether it’s outbound sales or business development . 
  • Analyze industry trends: Industry trends and data can easily help strengthen your sales approach. For example, if you’re pitching your sales plan to a stakeholder, use current market trends and statistics to support why you believe your sales strategies will be effective in use. 
  • Utilize your marketing team: When creating your sales plan, you’ll want to get the marketing department’s input to align your efforts and goals. You should weave marketing messages throughout both your sales plan and pitches. 
  • Discuss with your sales team: Remember to check in with your sales representatives to understand challenges they may be dealing with and what’s working and not working. You should update the sales plan quarterly based on feedback received from your sales team. 

When Should You Implement a Strategic Sales Plan? 

Does your organization currently not have a sales plan in place that is used regularly? Are you noticing your organization is in need of structure and lacking productivity across departments? These are definite signs you should create and implement a sales plan. 

According to a LinkedIn sales statistic , the top sales tech sellers are using customer relationship management (CRM) tools (50%), sales intelligence (45%) and sales planning (42%) .

Below are a few more indicators that you need an effective sales plan. 

To Launch a New Product or Campaign 

If you’re planning to launch a new service or product in six months, you should have a concrete marketing and sales strategy plan to guarantee you’ll see both short- and long-term success. 

The sales plan process shouldn’t be hasty and rushed. Take the time to go over data and competitor analysis. Work with your team to create objectives and goals that everyone believes in. Your sales plan should be updated formally on a quarterly basis to be in line with industry trends and business efforts. 

To Increase Sales

If your team is looking to increase revenue and the number of closed sales, you may need to widen and define your target audience. A sales plan will help outline this target audience, along with planning out both sales and marketing strategies to reach more qualified prospects and increase your sales conversion rate. 

Now that you’ve seen sales plan examples and tips and tricks, the next step after creating your sales plan is to reach those ideal sales targets with Mailshake . Connect with leads and generate more sales with our simple but effective sales engagement platform.

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How to develop a strategic sales plan for your business

sales rep strategic plan

With the rise of remote work, evolving workforce demographics, and consumer behavior changing by the minute, there’s no doubt that any business’s sales tactics need to be adaptable — that means changing your sales tactics to meet buyers where they are (and your sales team where they are, as well).

To do that effectively, you need a strategic sales plan. A sales plan tells you and your entire sales team how to approach sales to maximize revenue, improve customer retention, and meet other sales goals.

In this article, we’re diving deep into strategic sales plans. We’ll cover what they are, why you need one, and how to build one in just 5 steps.

What is a strategic sales plan?

A strategic sales plan is a collection of documents, processes, and other information that defines how your business approaches sales. Your strategic sales plan can include guidelines for prospecting, lead generation, marketing, and more. Essentially, a strategic sales plan provides a roadmap to help you meet your goals. It also provides a framework for adapting to new industry trends.

For instance, 44%  of millennials say they don’t want to interact with a sales rep during the B2B buying process:

a graph of generational skepticism of sales rep claims

( Image Source )

As a result, your strategic sales plan should identify ways to minimize sales rep interactions — while still maintaining or increasing revenue.

Why does your company need a strategic sales plan?

Think about all the components of your company’s sales process. From outreach management to lead scoring to relationship management, there are tons of moving parts.

Here are a few other things your strategic sales plan should include:

  • Sales goals and KPIs
  • Buyer personas for your target market
  • Lead scoring criteria
  • Primary sales channels
  • Marketing strategy
  • Prospecting criteria
  • Relationship management strategy
  • Inbound sales vs outbound sales strategy
  • Sales presentations, contracts, and other documents

In 2022, it’s also important to consider your virtual selling strategy. Fifty percent  of buyers say working remotely made purchasing easier, which means it’s critical your business maintains that level of ease.

Try monday sales CRM

Find the right CRM system for your sales strategy plan

Before we get into the steps for creating a strategic sales plan, let’s talk about CRMs. CRM software is an invaluable tool to help you manage your entire sales process, from sales planning to lead scoring to the sale.

As we go through the strategic sales planning steps in the next section, a CRM tool will help you stay organized and share your process with your entire team.

Some CRMs, like monday.com, even have a Supporting sales materials template  to help you get started.

monday.com supporting sales materials template

Your CRM is essential to every part of your sales process. LinkedIn reports that most salespeople only spend 37%  of their time actively selling, with the majority of their time taken up by digital paperwork —  manual or unnecessary tasks.

A CRM with workflow automation — like one built on the monday.com platform — increases the amount of time your sales reps can spend actually selling, which will drive increased revenue for your business.

Your CRM should support your strategic sales plan. Here’s what to look for:

  • Contact and lead management
  • Sales pipeline tracking
  • Prospecting and outreach management
  • Contact and customer relationship history
  • Integrations with old CRMs or other tools
  • Workflow automation

monday.com real estate crm template

monday.com’s Work OS platform allows you to build exactly the CRM you need. You can customize any template or board to fit your sales strategy.

Here’s how it works:

5 steps to build a strategic sales plan

To help you build your strategic sales plan, we’ll look at the main steps to creating one for your sales team. Along the way, we’ll also look at how to use the monday.com CRM as you develop your sales plan.

Set the right sales goals

To create a roadmap, you need a destination. That’s why the first step in any strategic sales planning is to determine your sales goal for the upcoming month, quarter, or year.

Your sales goal should follow the SMART  method. Record these goals and be sure to share them with your sales team.  You can track your sales goal progress in a sales dashboard in your CRM. You’ll get up-to-date information on your sales performance , while anyone in the company who needs sales data can always access a single source of truth.

monday.com campaign dashboard template

Tracking your sales data is really important for strategic sales planning. Sales data helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses and optimize every part of your sales process to return the best results.

Strengthen your customer personas

Understanding your audience is the key to an effective sales strategy. When you know what they want and need, where they spend time online, and how they prefer to buy, you can craft a sales strategy based on personalizing your approach to your customers’ needs.

For example, 77%  of B2B buyers state that their latest purchase was very difficult or complex. If you’re a B2B seller, you can focus on ways to make your sales process simpler than your competitors to attract new buyers.

Data is your friend when it comes to sales personalization. In fact, 56% of sales professionals use data to target customer accounts. Take your findings and craft buyer personas to help your sales team understand your key audience segments. As you create these and other sales documents, you can track your progress in a monday.com project management board .

monday.com document storage template

Don’t rely solely on personas, though — continuously building unique relationships with your customers to deliver an even higher level of personalization is more important than ever.

Outline your sales pipeline

This is possibly the most critical step of your strategic sales plan: list every stage a prospect will go through before they become a sale. Outlining your sales pipeline is important for a few reasons. First, knowing the customer journey makes it easier to identify problems early and pivot to meet sales goals.

But it’s also key to creating efficient processes for your sales team. As you list your sales pipeline stages, make note of the following key points for your internal sales team:

  • When does a prospect become a lead?
  • What counts as a conversion?
  • Are some touchpoints more valuable than others e.g. an email open vs. a social media ad view?
  • When do sales development reps (SDRs) hand off leads to sales executives?
  • When does the marketing team hand off leads to the sales department?

When you build your sales pipeline in a monday.com CRM template, you can create custom labels and columns to note exactly where each lead stands.

monday.com CRM template

You can even automate lead handoffs based on certain actions, such as a certain number of touchpoints or email opens, by integrating your other data tools with monday.com.

Choose your sales tactics

Next, you need to decide what methods you’ll use to sell your product or service. To do this, think about what will work best based on your audience. You’ll likely come up with a list of tactics that work best based on different audience segments or other factors.

Your strategic sales plan can include guidance for when it’s appropriate to use each type of sales tactic and how to choose the right one.

Here are just a few sales tactics you might choose at different stages of the sales funnel :

  • Find targeted leads
  • Leverage retargeting with online marketing
  • Display social proof
  • Ask for referrals
  • Follow up consistently

You might also adopt some consistent sales tactics or values, such as positioning sales reps as knowledgeable consultants. Consider that 88%  of today’s buyers think of sales reps as trusted advisors in their industry, and figure out how to meet that expectation for your customers.

Your strategic sales plan should also include tactics for customer retention . 70%  of sales professionals say they are prioritizing retaining existing customers, making it worth spending time and energy on following up with leads.

It’s important to continue honing your customer relationships even after closing the sale.

monday.com’s contact management template helps you track your entire communication history in each customer profile , so you can find the right time to follow up or offer new deals based on your prior interactions.

monday.com contact management database

When combined with automation and sales and marketing tools like MailChimp, your monday.com CRM can take care of a lot of your customer relationship management for you by sending follow-ups, scoring leads, and more.

Implement and refine your strategic sales plan with your CRM

Once you’ve finalized each component of your strategic sales plan, it’s time to share it with your team and hit the ground running.

Make sure your sales team can access your sales planning documents and the right boards and views in your CRM. Provide any necessary sales training on the CRM or new sales tactics.

In the early stages of your new sales plan, ask for lots of employee and customer feedback. Use this information to refine and update your sales goals, tactics, and plans to align with what’s best for your business, your team, and your customers.

As your business and customer base grows and evolves, your strategic sales plan will too. Consistently track the impact of your plan so you can stay effective.

To help you do this, invest in a CRM that grows and changes with you. monday.com adapts right along with your business and makes it easy for everyone to get up to speed.

Build your strategic sales plan today

When you look at the facts, it’s simple. Building a strategic sales plan can help your business close more sales and earn more profits. By understanding your customer journey and creating clear guidelines around your sales strategy plan, your team can become more effective and profitable than ever.

Start using a platform like monday.com to build all the tools you need to execute your strategic sales plan perfectly. Try out the monday.com CRM today.

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Sales | How To

How to Create a Sales Plan in 10 Steps (+ Free Template)

Published March 9, 2023

Published Mar 9, 2023

Jess Pingrey

REVIEWED BY: Jess Pingrey

Jillian Ilao

WRITTEN BY: Jillian Ilao

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This article is part of a larger series on Sales Management .

Manage Sales With CRM

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  • 1 Establish Your Mission Statement
  • 2 Set Sales Goals & Objectives
  • 3 Determine Your Ideal Customer
  • 4 Set Your Sales Budget
  • 5 Develop Sales Strategies & Tactics
  • 6 Implement Sales Tools
  • 7 Develop Your Sales Funnel
  • 8 Create Your Sales Pipeline
  • 9 Assign Roles & Responsibilities
  • 10 Monitor Progress & Adjust Accordingly
  • 11 Examples of Other Free Small Business Sales Plan Templates
  • 12 Sales Planning Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
  • 13 Bottom Line

Sales plans enable businesses to set measurable goals, identify resources, budget for sales activities, forecast sales, and monitor business progress. These all contribute to guiding the sales team toward the company’s overall strategy and goals. In this article, we explore how to create a sales plan, including details on creating an action plan for sales, understanding the purpose of your business, and identifying your ideal customers.

What Is a Sales Plan? A sales plan outlines the strategies, objectives, tools, processes, and metrics to hit your business’ sales goals. It entails establishing your mission statement, setting goals and objectives, determining your ideal customer, and developing your sales strategy and sales funnel. To effectively execute your sales plan, assign roles and responsibilities within your sales team and have metrics to measure your outcomes versus your goals and objectives.

Ten steps to creating an effective sales plan

Download and customize our free sales planning template and follow our steps to learn how to create a sales plan to reach your company’s revenue goals.

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Free Sales Plan Template

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Thank you for downloading!

💡 Quick Tip:

Once you’ve created a sales plan, give your sales team the tools to execute it effectively with robust customer relationship management (CRM) software.

Use a CRM like HubSpot CRM to help your sales team collaborate on deals, develop sales reports, track deals, and create custom sales dashboards

1. Establish Your Mission Statement

A mission statement summarizing why you’re in business should be part of your action plan for sales. It should include a broad overview of your business’ products or services and your brand’s unique selling proposition. For example, you wouldn’t say, “We provide customers with insurance policies.” Instead, you might frame it as “We provide customers with cost-effective financial risk management solutions.”

It’s essential to fully understand your unique selling proposition before creating a mission statement. This allows you to learn why you’re different from competitors in your industry. It also helps you determine how your unique proposition suits a niche market better.

Steps on how to create a unique selling proposition

For instance, using the same insurance example above, you may realize specific markets are easier to sell based on that selling proposition. Therefore, it’s a good idea to narrow in on your mission statement by saying, “We provide startup businesses with cost-effective risk management solutions.”

2. Set Sales Goals & Objectives

Once you have summarized why you’re in business in a mission statement, begin setting sales goals . Typically, business goals will include one year, but may also include three- or five-year projections.

Steps on how to set sales goals

Here are a few options for how to set sales revenue goals for your business:

  • Set sales amount: You may have a specific amount in mind for a sales goal. For instance, you may determine that $200,000 is a reasonable sales goal based on prior sales and your company’s ability to generate new business.
  • Desired profitability: First, calculate the total anticipated expenses for the set time period to find the break-even point. From there, you can calculate how much revenue your team needs to bring in to make a certain profit margin. For example, if annual operating costs are expected to be $100,000, and you want to make a 30% profit, your sales goal is $130,000.
  • Projected sales forecast: Based on an industry-standard or estimates you attained by running a sales forecast, you may find it’s better to use a projected sales forecast as your sales goal.

Pro tip: Projecting sales can be challenging without a suitable sales forecasting model. Our free sales forecast templates help you create simple, long-term, budget-based, multi-product, subscription-based, and month-to-month business sales forecasts. Some customer relationship managers (CRMs) like Freshsales have sales goal-tracking functionalities that allow you to set and assign sales goals for your team.

Five-year sales forecast template example.

Five-year sales forecast template example (Source: Fit Small Business )

Freshsales sales goal tracking filter options.

Sales goal tracking in Freshsales (Source: Freshsales )

Sales goals must reflect new business revenue and sales from existing or recurring customers. Then, you must add specific sales objectives that identify and prioritize the sales activities your team needs to complete to meet sales goals. This creates an objective way to measure success in hitting goals at all levels: organizational, sales department, team, and individual sales rep, which is an essential part of sales management .

For example, imagine your total revenue goal is $200,000 in year two and $300,000 in year three. You then add an objective, such as stating you want your business’ revenue from existing customers to grow 15% in year three. This can be measured by evaluating your percentage of revenue from existing customers in year three compared to year two.

3. Determine Your Ideal Customer

Determining the ideal customer or target market is the next step of your business plan for sales reps. It may have been accomplished when you developed your mission statement, but also when you set your sales goals and discovered how broad your market needs to be to reach them. Describing your ideal customer helps dictate who you’re selling to and your selling approach.

One way to establish your ideal customer is by creating a series of unique customer profiles . Each profile specifies key demographics, behaviors, interests, job positions, and geographic information about one of your ideal buyer types. Based on your customer profiles, you can then develop more targeted marketing strategies for lead generation and nurturing to move leads through the sales process more efficiently and close more deals.

Pro tip: Making a customer persona can be challenging, especially if it is based on the wrong data or if you just focus on the demographics. Check out our article on creating a customer persona to help you define your company’s ideal buyer types and guide your lead generation and marketing activities.

4. Set Your Sales Budget

After establishing your objectives and identifying your ideal customer personas—and before developing your actual strategies and tactics—you must identify a sales budget to work with. It should include estimated expenses for salaries, travel expenses, and the cost of any software tools or service providers used to help with sales and marketing. While these are meant to be estimates, research and due diligence should be done to avoid financial errors.

One way to set your sales budget, particularly for software tools and services you may be interested in, is to create and issue a request for proposal (RFP). Issuing an RFP allows you to post a summary of your needs to solicit proposals on potential solutions. In addition to providing accurate budget estimates from various qualified vendors and contractors, it may also help you discover cost-effective or high-performing options you were previously unaware of.

5. Develop Sales Strategies & Tactics

A sales strategy explains how you plan to outsell your competitors and accomplish your sales goals. It defines specific, detailed tactics your team will use to pursue your sales goals. These may involve using Google Ads, cold calling, and drip email marketing campaigns as part of a lead generation strategy. Available strategies differ depending on your company’s resources, skill sets, sales operation, and product or service offerings.

Strategies and tactics should be personalized for your ideal customers based on their unique interests, behaviors, and the best ways to connect with them. For example, some customer profiles show your ideal buyer generally only makes purchases based on trusted referrals. In this case, you could implement a referral strategy that provides incentives to generate more customer referrals .

Plus, different sales strategies will be needed to acquire new business vs keeping existing customers. When selling to existing customers, for example, your strategy could include cross-selling tactics where additional products are recommended based on prior purchases. The short-term cross-selling tactics could require customer service reps to send 30 emails per week recommending a complementary product to existing customers.

For a new business strategy, sales reps might rely on emotional selling methods when using cold calling as a tactic. Instead of product features, cold calling scripts would be geared to evoke feelings that lead to buying decisions. Tactics could reflect the objective of having reps make 15 cold calls each week. They could use a script that opens with a story about how a purchase made a customer feel or how someone felt because they didn’t purchase the product.

Pro tip: Ensuring your strategies are properly executed requires excellent sales leadership and a healthy environment for sales reps to operate in. Our how-to guide for building a positive sales culture shows you how to create an environment that promotes high job satisfaction, low employee turnover, and profitability.

6. Implement Sales Tools

Your sales strategy template should reference the software, hardware, and materials you use to manage the sales operation and make each team member more efficient. One of the most notable tools to include is the customer relationship management (CRM) system . It allows your team to organize contact information, streamline sales tasks, and facilitate communication with customers and leads.

HubSpot CRM , for instance, makes it easy to organize information about leads, contacts, and deal opportunities. Additionally, from a HubSpot CRM lead profile, you can initiate a conversation with that contact by calling, emailing, or scheduling an appointment.

HubSpot CRM sample lead profile.

HubSpot CRM contact profile (Source: HubSpot )

CRMs are also used to monitor and report sales progress. For example, many have dashboards and functionality, such as alerts, which make it easy to identify where your team may be underperforming. These could also tell you which leads are most likely to convert and should be focused on. Sales information such as deals closed, revenue generated, and leads created can be presented in a detailed report .

These types of insights can also be shown on the CRM’s system dashboard . Pipedrive is an example of a CRM that has a customizable dashboard that displays both activity information and performance-based data. Activity data include emails sent, received, and outstanding tasks to be completed. Performance-based data, on the other hand, have deals lost or the average value of won deals.

Pipedrive’s customizable dashboard (Source: Pipedrive )

Other sales enablement tools can make your sales team more effective. These include voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) phone systems , lead generation platforms, email campaign tools, content creation platforms, and task automation software. These tools can be found within CRM software or through CRM integrations and standalone applications.

In addition to technology tools, sales and marketing templates should be used to streamline outreach initiatives. Scenario-based, premade sales email templates , for instance, allow salespeople to have an email already crafted for their specific situation.

Creating and storing business proposal templates in your CRM also streamlines the contact procurement and business proposal generation process . This way, whenever a prospect says they’d like to receive a quote or you’re responding to a request for a proposal, you already have a customizable template ready to go.

Pro tip: Effective cold calling scripts sales reps can use as a guide when placing calls to new leads is a tremendous sales tool to include in your action plan for sales. Get started using our guide for writing a cold calling script , which includes examples and free templates.

7. Develop Your Sales Funnel

Setting up a sales funnel within your sales strategy template lets you visualize the stages of the customer journey, from becoming aware of your business to buying from it. By creating and understanding the different statuses of your leads, you can track progress and determine how effective you are at converting leads to the next stages in the funnel.

Using a sales funnel with conversion rates also makes it easier for you to adjust your sales strategies and tactics based on how effectively you’re getting leads through the funnel. For instance, let’s say you have 100 leads in the awareness stage of the funnel. You decide to cold call 50 of them and write a sales email to the other 50 to qualify leads by setting up a product demonstration.

After each campaign, you find you were able to qualify seven of the leads that were cold-called and only two of the leads you had emailed. Based on these funnel conversion rates of 14% (7/50) from cold calling and 4% (2/50) from emailing, you would likely adjust your tactics to focus more on calling instead of emailing.

Do you need help creating a sales funnel for your business? Our guide to creating a sales funnel explains the step-by-step sales funnel creation process and provides free templates and specific examples.

8. Create Your Sales Pipeline

Once your sales process’ sales funnel stages are identified, develop the sales pipeline stages . These stages include your team’s sales activities to move leads through the funnel. For example, you need to get a lead from the sales funnel stage of brand awareness to show interest in learning more about one of your services. To do this, you could add a sales pipeline activity like setting up a demo or presentation appointment through a cold call.

Adding your sales pipeline to your sales strategy is essential because it describes all the activities your sales reps need to do to close a sales deal. CRM systems like Freshsales allow you to create and track the pipeline stages for each lead or deal within the lead record.

Funnel view of Freshsales’ deal pipeline (Source: Freshsales )

Listing each pipeline stage also helps you identify tools and resources needed to perform the activities for each stage. For example, if you use phone calls to initiate contact with or introduce a product to a lead, you could develop outbound sales call scripts for your team.

After the initial contact by phone, you may use email to follow up after a call and then nurture leads throughout the sales process. As part of your follow-up, create and automate a sales follow-up email template to get them to the next pipeline stage.

The sales funnel shows where a lead is in the sales process. The sales pipeline, on the other hand, lists activities needed to drive leads to the next stage in the sales funnel. Both should be used in your sales strategy when defining the repeatable steps required to generate leads and close deals. Check out our article to learn how to create a winning sales process with insights on both creating a sales process and measuring its success.

9. Assign Roles & Responsibilities

Regardless of the size of your business or sales operation, your business plan for sales reps should include the role and responsibility of each person in the sales team. Each role should have a name, such as someone being a sales development representative (SDR). There should also be a summary of their responsibilities, such as “the SDR is responsible for setting up sales appointments using the activities listed in the sales pipeline.”

Measuring the performance of any sales position is simple through key performance indicators (KPIs). Specific KPIs should be used to measure performance for each role and should be included in your plan. Below are some examples of KPIs that can be used by the members of the sales team and their respective responsibility:

  • Sales development representative: Responsible for introducing products and services, qualifying leads, and setting up appointments for the account executive. Performance is measured by calls placed, emails sent, and appointments generated.
  • Account executive: Responsible for nurturing qualified leads, delivering the sales pitch , sending quotes, and closing deals. Performance is measured by business proposals sent, the average time in the proposal consideration stage, deals closed, and deal closing rate.
  • Customer service representative: Responsible for managing customer needs, handling billing, and managing service tickets by assisting customers. Performance is measured by customer satisfaction, retention rates, and total tickets resolved.
  • Sales manager: Responsible for the entire sales operation or team for a specific region or product/service line. Performance is measured by job satisfaction rates of sales reps, pipeline and funnel conversion rates, team sales deals closed, and team revenue growth.

While assigning roles in your plan, a sales rep’s territory could be based on geography, industry, potential deal size, or product/service line, creating more specialization for better results. Our six-step process on proper sales territory management is an excellent resource for segmenting, creating, and assigning sales territories.

This section of the business plan is also a prime spot for individually setting sales quotas for each rep or team needed to hit your organizational sales goals. Sales quotas should be a specific KPI for that sales role and be set based on the experience, skill level, and resources of that individual or team. These quotas should also be based on your organizational, department, and team goals and objectives.

10. Monitor Progress & Adjust Accordingly

Once the strategic business plan is in motion, monitor its progress to make any required adjustments. For instance, while your sales operation is running, you may find certain sales tactics are working better than expected, and vice versa. Your sales goal template should account for using that tactic more, as well as any new sales tools, budgetary changes, new roles, and possibly even a new sales goal.

As in the earlier example, if you found that cold calling was significantly more effective than emailing, reduce or abandon the email method in favor of cold calling. You could also invest in sales tools especially useful for cold calling, such as power dialing using a voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) phone system, or hire additional staff to place calls. All of these will be part of your updated business plan.

Pro tip: Focusing on the big picture by creating, executing, and adjusting a strategic business plan is one of the most critical traits of an effective sales leader. For more insights on what it means to be a sales leader and how to become one, check out our ultimate guide to sales leadership .

Examples of Other Free Small Business Sales Plan Templates

Apart from our free downloadable sales strategy template, other providers have shared their version of a free strategic sales plan examples. Click on our picks below to see if these templates fit your business process better:

HubSpot’s free sales planning template helps users outline their company’s sales strategy. It contains sections found in most sales plans, as well as prompts for you to fill out your company’s tactics and information. These include company history and mission, team structure, target market, tools and software used, positioning, market strategy, action plan, goals, and budget.

HubSpot sales plan template

HubSpot sales strategy template (Source: HubSpot )

HubSpot’s sales plan template with the mission, vision, and story of the company

HubSpot’s sales goals template with the mission, vision, and story of the company (Source: HubSpot )

Visit HubSpot

Asana’s free sales plan template helps organizations analyze their current sales process, establish their sales objectives, identify success metrics, and plan actionable steps. The sales business plan template is embedded within Asana’s platform, automatically integrating aspects such as goals and measuring them against results or sales performance.

Asana sales plan template

Asana sales plan example (Source: Asana )

Visit Asana

Sales Planning Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is sales planning.

Sales planning is creating a document that outlines your sales strategy, objectives, target audience, potential obstacles, and tools to achieve goals within a specified period. This may include your daily, monthly, quarterly, yearly, and long-term revenue objectives.

What is included in a sales plan?

A sales strategy plan template typically includes the following key elements:

  • Target customers, accounts, or verticals
  • Stock-keeping units (SKUs)
  • Revenue targets or forecasts
  • Strategies and tactics
  • Pricing and promotions
  • Deadlines and directly responsible individuals (DRIs)
  • Team structure and coordination
  • Market conditions

What are the different types of strategic sales planning?

The type of strategic planning for sales that you choose for your team ultimately depends on different factors. These include your revenue goals, available resources, the ability and bandwidth of your sales team, and your personal commitment to your plans. Once you have determined the details of these factors, you can choose from these types of strategic sales planning:

  • Revenue-based sales action plan template: This is ideal for teams aiming for a specific revenue goal. It focuses on in-depth sales forecasting, improvement of conversion rates, and closing more deals.
  • Sales business plan based on the target market: This plan is best for businesses that cater to several markets that are different from each other. In this situation, you must create separate sales goal templates for enterprise companies and small businesses.
  • Sales goals plan: This focuses on other goals such as hiring, onboarding, sales training plans, or sales activity implementation.
  • New product sales business plan: This plan is developed for the launch and continued promotion of a new product.

Bottom Line

While any business can set bold sales goals, creating a sales plan outlines how your team will achieve them. By following the best practices and 10-step process laid out above, your sales goal template defines what your sales process will look like. It will help establish baselines for accountability and identify optimal strategies, tactics, and the tools needed to make your team as efficient as possible.

About the Author

Jillian Ilao

Jillian Ilao

Jill is a sales and customer service expert at Fit Small Business. Prior to joining the company, she has worked and produced marketing content for various small businesses and entrepreneurs from different markets, including Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Singapore. She has extensive writing experience and has covered topics on business, lifestyle, finance, education, and technology.

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How to Create a Sales Plan: Tips, Examples & Free Sales Plan Template

Tactics and strategies are great. But when you create a sales plan, you set a clear path to success, with each step mapped out ahead of you.

The Internet is full of people who will tell you all about the success they’ve found from their strategies, whether it's personalizing a newsletter subject line or changing the color of the 'Buy Now' button.

But, news flash—these tips and tricks aren’t actual sales strategies .

To create real, lasting growth for you and your company, you need to create your own grand strategy. And that starts with a solid sales plan .

So, what’s your plan? How do you build it (and stick to it)?

We’re about to take a deep dive into sales plans. By the end of this guide, you’ll be completely equipped to win the fight for business growth. And we can't recommend it enough—grab our free sales plan template here in the Sales Success Kit today:

GET THE SALES SUCCESS KIT →

What is a Sales Plan? (And What Makes for Successful Sales Planning?)

Armed with the information you'll compile within your sales plan, you can quickly identify any upcoming problems, sales droughts, or opportunities—and then do something about them.

If done correctly, the right sales plan template empowers you to spend even more time growing and developing your business, rather than responding reactively to the day-to-day developments in sales.

Sound exciting? Let’s jump right in.

Download Your Free Sales Plan Templates Today

Want to build your own sales plan template that'll clarify your business plan and accelerate your growth? Grab the Sales Success Kit , including...

...and more to help you set up strategic sales planning and quotas for your team.

Want to stand out in the competitive market? Explore the insights of challenger selling .

What’s in a Sales Plan? 6 Elements Every Sales Plan Needs

In basic terms, a sales plan template includes:

  • Sales forecasting and goal-setting
  • Market and customer research
  • Prospecting and partnerships

Each part of the sales plan naturally works itself into the next, starting with your high-level goals, then considering market factors, and finally looking at who you know, and how to find more prospects to help hit your sales goals .

Here are the key elements to include in your plan:

1. Mission Statement

What gets your sales reps out of bed in the morning? What’s the clear mission that pushes your team to keep fighting for that win?

Your mission statement is a concise statement of the ‘big picture’—the main idea and goal you want to achieve. Think about your company mission and how the sales team forms part of that overarching goal.

2. Sales Goals and Revenue Targets

A sales plan must include achievable sales goals and the targets your sales reps will be working to reach. Use previous years' results to tell you what's reasonably possible for your team to do. Include specific metrics and KPIs , how these are performing currently, and what you plan to do to improve them.

This may also include information about your product’s pricing , planned discounts, and how your team can focus on the right customers to get the most revenue possible. Link these sales goals to the business goals your company is working to achieve.

3. Analysis of the Target Market

Your plan should clearly identify your ideal customer profile and information about the target market and demographic you plan to sell to. Are you breaking into a new market? Are you targeting small business or enterprise customers ? Give a concise description of your target audience and the stakeholders you’ll need to sell to.

4. Sales Strategy Overview and Methods to Reach Target Customers

This should include a brief overview of the customer journey , pain points , and how your salespeople will engage and follow up with new prospects throughout their journey to purchase. You'll likely outline specific sales activities you'll focus on, such as improving referral numbers, testing new cold-calling email strategies, or dipping your toe in social selling.

You may also include information about the marketing strategy and lead generation methods used to gather new leads and how sales managers will support the team.

5. Use of Resources and Sales Tools

How much does it cost your team to close a new deal? What is your budget for the sales team, or for sales tools ?

Inside your plan, list the resources you have available to you, and how you plan to use them during the year. This includes monetary resources, as well as human resources.

Next, show how your resources will be used. For example, how much will you spend on sales tools? Which CRM software is your team depending on? Briefly explain how you plan to use each tool and why you’ve allocated resources in that way.

6. Sales Team Structure

The structure of your sales team includes which reps are available during what times of the year, their specialties and skills, and where they focus in the sales process .

How to Develop a Sales Team Structure (in Your Sales Plan) Group Session Image

Also, include information about the sales managers, their teams, and the incentives you offer your reps.

The Benefits of Sales Planning: Why You Need a Sales Plan

Creating a sales plan from scratch can be daunting, even with the right sales planning template. So, why should you have your sales strategy written down and ready to act on?

Let’s talk about the benefits of sales planning to attract new business and grow your market share.

Clear, Time-Bound Goals Help You Reach Revenue Targets

There’s a reason they say, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

If you want your sales team to execute on and accomplish your sales goals, you need to have a plan in place. When targets are linked to specific timeframes and actions, your whole team will see how their individual work is involved in reaching your sales goals.

Prioritize Time and Resources

Without a specific action plan in place , your team won’t be able to prioritize their time with the right sales tactics and strategies to hit their targets.

With a clear outline of the tactics that bring the most significant ROI for your team, each rep can get the best results for the time they spend selling.

Clear Action Plan to Reach Your Goals

With an action plan in place, each team member knows what they’re supposed to be doing, and why they’re doing it. This keeps them motivated and helps them see how their individual efforts make a difference.

4 Types of Sales Plans (How to Choose Which Planning Style is Right for Your Sales Team)

It’s difficult to templatize a good sales plan since every plan is unique to the business and team it applies to. So, what are some examples of the types of sales plans you might create, and how can you choose between them?

  • Revenue-based sales plan: If you’re aiming for a specific revenue goal, this type of sales plan will be focused on in-depth sales forecasting and specific actions to improve conversion rates and close more deals.
  • Sales plan based on the target market: If you’re selling to vastly different markets, you may want to create a different sales plan based on the market you’re targeting. For example, your sales plan for enterprise companies would differ from your sales plan for selling to SMBs.
  • Sales goals plan: A plan that’s focused on goals (other than revenue) may include hiring and onboarding, sales training plans, or plans to implement a new type of sales activity into your process.
  • New product sales plan: When launching a new product, it’s a good idea to develop a specific business plan around its launch and continued promotion. This plan may include finding and contacting strategic partners, building a unique value prop in the market, and creating new sales enablement content for the team to use when selling this product. This type of sales plan can also apply to launching new features in your SaaS product.

The Different Types of Sales Plans (and Examples of Each in Practice with a Template)

How to Choose the Right Sales Planning Style

Ultimately, this will depend on factors such as:

  • Your revenue goals
  • The resources at your disposal
  • Your sales team’s abilities and bandwidth
  • Your personal commitment to seeing this plan through

When you’ve determined who is involved in sales planning, how committed they are, and the resources you can use to make this plan happen, you can start building your own sales plan.

9 Steps to Create a Sales Plan to 10x Your Sales Team’s Results

It may seem like a lot of work to develop a sales plan at this point. But once you do, you’ll be in a place to take your sales (and brand) to the next level.

Let’s break down this process, step-by-step, so you can start achieving greater results.

1. Define Your Sales Goals and Milestones

With a sales plan, we begin at the end: an end goal.

Start by choosing the sales metrics that matter most to your overall business. This could be:

  • Annual or monthly recurring revenue (ARR or MRR)
  • Retention or churn rates
  • Average conversion time
  • Average conversion rate
  • Customer lifetime value (CLV)

It doesn’t matter so much which metric you choose —the important point is that it can tell you whether your work has succeeded.

Next, look at last year’s forecast and results . Were you being realistic? How did sales revenue increase annually? How does that compare your company to the industry standards? Use this information to determine what realistically you can bring in based on the size of the market, your company goals, and the experience and resources available to your sales team .

After setting clear sales goals, it’s time to set milestones . This involves breaking that big number down into smaller expectations with strict deadlines. These should challenge and motivate your sales team , without being so difficult they kill morale.

set milestones in sales plan

Lean on your sales team during this process. After all, they’re in the trenches with you and probably have the best knowledge about your customers. Learn about what they do during the workweek to close deals. Ask how much they’re currently doing, and how much bandwidth they have to do more. This will give you a real, frontline take on what goals and milestones to set in your sales plan template.

Finally, create specific targets with clear deadlines . For example, to achieve a sales goal of increasing revenue by 15% YOY, you might set the milestone of increasing your customer base by 20%, or increasing sales by 50% for a specific product.

Brought together, these milestones inform and support your overall sales plan, giving you a clear, actionable workflow to hit your overall goals for the year.

2. Clearly Define Your Target Market or Niche

You need to know the market you’re in and the niche you’re going to occupy so you can properly position your business for growth.

What’s a business niche? It’s more than just what your business specializes in—a niche is the space your business occupies, with your products, content, company culture, branding, and message. It’s how people identify with you and search you out over the competition.

As serial entrepreneur Jason Zook explains: “ When you try to create something for everyone, you end up creating something for no one. ”

Don’t do that.

Instead, start by looking at a niche and asking yourself these questions:

  • How big is the market?
  • Is there a built-in demand for what you're selling?
  • What’s your current market position?
  • Who are your competitors? What are their strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats?

If you’re stuck, start by going back to your own strengths . List out your strongest interests and passions. Pick a field where the odds are already in your favor—where you have a proven track record, more expertise to offer, an extensive contact base, and people who can provide you with intros.

These kinds of strategic advantages will help you clarify your buyer persona and amplify the results of your planning.

Start with one product in one niche—you can always branch out to a complementary niche later. Sell beautiful, handcrafted tea cups? How about a booming doily business? Or customizable teaspoons?

A niche doesn’t limit you. It focuses you.

3. Understand Your Target Customers

Chasing the wrong customers will only waste your time and money, so don't allow them to sneak into your sales plan.

Your best customers are the ones that are successful with your product and see the ROI of it. Talk to them, and find out what they have in common.

While defining ideal customers depends on your company and market, here are some basic characteristics you’ll want to identify:

  • Company size (number of employees, number of customers, yearly revenue)
  • Size of the relevant department
  • Geographical information
  • Job title of your POC
  • Buying process
  • The goal they’re trying to achieve with your product or service

Also, don’t forget to think about whether they will be a good ‘fit’. If this is a long-term relationship you’re developing rather than a one-night stand, you want to ensure you speak the same language and share a similar culture and vision.

Use this information to build out an ideal customer profile . This fictitious organization gets significant value from using your product/service and provides significant value to your company. A customer profile helps you qualify leads and disqualify bad-fit customers before you waste time trying to sell to them.

Sales Team Building an Ideal Customer Profile for a Sales Plan

Once you know the type of company you want to target with your sales team, it’s time to get inside their head. Start by hanging out where they hang out:

  • Are they on social media? What’s their network of choice?
  • Are they members of any Facebook or LinkedIn groups?
  • Can you answer industry questions for them on Quora or Reddit?
  • What podcasts do they listen to or what resources do they read?

Get in your customers’ heads and you’ll be in a much better position to sell to them.

GET THE IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILE KIT →

4. Map Out Your Customer’s Journey

The next part of an effective sales plan must address how that ideal customer becomes your customer. Do this by mapping out their journey, including actions and events during the different stages of the sales funnel :

  • Consideration

Conduct a customer survey , or chat directly with your current, happy customers to gather valuable sales planning insights. Ask them:

  • When you became a customer, what did you want our product to do for you?
  • What features were important to you? Why?
  • What was your budget?
  • How were you solving this problem before using our product?

To fully understand their journey as a customer, you can also ask about past buying experiences:

  • When was the last time you bought something similar?
  • Was that a good or bad experience? Why?
  • What was the decision-making process like?
  • How did you evaluate different offers?
  • Which factors made you choose that particular solution?

Once you’ve identified the awareness, interest, and consideration stages, let your prospects and new customers build the rest of their roadmap by asking them: ‘what’s next?’

"What needs to happen to make you a customer?"

If, for example, they say they’ll have to get approval from the VP of Finance. Ask:

"Ok, and let's say he agrees that we're the right fit, what's next?"

We call this the virtual close , a way to put your prospect in a future-thinking state of mind that makes them imagine buying from you. Asking this question to several high-quality prospects will tell you those final few steps in the customer journey until they’ve signed on the dotted line.

Finally, piece together the post-sale journey. Once a prospect becomes a customer, what’s next? How do you enable them to use your product and be successful with it? What happened to create your most loyal customers? Understanding this piece of the sales process is essential to managing and increasing customer retention .

5. Define Your Value Propositions

You know your customers. You know their journey. Now, define where you fit in by looking at your competitive advantage . Fully articulating what sets you apart from the competition is a crucial element of your sales plan template.

Start by asking a few simple questions:

  • Why do customers buy from us?
  • Why do customers buy from our competitors and not us?
  • Why do some potential customers not buy at all?
  • What do we need to do to be successful in the future?

Remember that customers buy benefits, not features. When describing your value proposition , it’s easy to get caught up in talking about you. What you’ve made. What you do. Instead, flip the script and talk about what your product will do for your customers . A strong competitive advantage:

  • Reflects the competitive strength of your business
  • Is preferably, but not necessarily, unique
  • Is clear and simple
  • May change over time as competitors try to steal your idea
  • Must be supported by ongoing market research

For example, the competitive advantage of help desk software has nothing to do with its social media integrations and real-time ticket tracking. It’s the fact that it allows its customers to focus on creating a great customer experience.

Here’s the point: Focus on value, not features in your sales plan template.

Create Value Propositions to Create a Successful Sales Plan (Image of Planning)

Your competitive advantage will inform everything your company does moving forward, from marketing to product development. It’s a great example of where sales can influence the development of a product and the direction of a business.

6. Organize Your Sales Team

The way your sales team is organized can enable them to better serve their customers and bring new revenue into your business faster.

Here are three basic structures for your sales team :

  • The island: Individual reps work alone.
  • Assembly line: Each sales rep is assigned a specialized role such as lead generation, SDR (qualifier), Account Executive (closer), or Customer Success (farmer).
  • Pods: Each sales rep is assigned a specialized role in a pod, or group, that’s responsible for the entire journey of specific customers.

Think about the strengths and weaknesses of your sales team members, and how they will truly thrive as part of the team.

7. Outline the Use of Sales Tools

Now it’s time to think about the tools you’re using. Building out your sales stack takes time and effort, but listing out that stack in your sales plan will help you avoid getting caught up with new tech that may or may not help your sales team.

Basically, you’ll need tools for these areas to cover all aspects of the sales process:

  • CRM software (like Close )
  • Lead generation and prospecting tools
  • Internal communication software
  • Engagement and outreach tools
  • Documentation software
  • Sales enablement stack

Think about how all of your sales tools work together through integrations and where automation comes into play to save your team time, and how you'll drive CRM adoption across your team members.

8. Build a Prospecting List

A prospect list is where we take all the theory and research of the last few sections of our sales plan template and put them into action.

At its core, a prospect list is a directory of real people you can contact who would benefit from your product or service. This can be time-consuming, but it's essential for driving your sales plan and company growth.

First, use your ideal customer profile to start finding target companies:

  • Search LinkedIn
  • Check out relevant local business networks
  • Attend networking events and meetups
  • Do simple Google searches
  • Check out the member list of relevant online groups

Target up to 5 people at each organization. Targeting more than one individual will give you better odds of connecting by cold email outreach as well as a better chance that someone in your network can connect you personally.

Remember, this isn’t just a massive list of people you could sell to. This is a targeted list based on the research you’ve done previously in your sales plan.

Once you have your list, keep track of your leads and how you found them using a sales CRM. This will keep historical context intact and make sure you don’t overlap on outreach if you’re working with teammates.

9. Track, Measure, and Adjust As Needed

Just because you’ve made a solid sales plan template to follow, doesn’t mean you get to sit back and watch the cash roll in.

Remember what Basecamp founder Jason Fried said about plans:

“A plan is simply a guess you wrote down.”

You’re using everything you know about the market, your unique value, target customers, and partners to define the ideal situation for your company. But yes, try as we might, very few of us actually see anything when we gaze deep into the crystal ball.

Instead, remember that your sales plan is a living, breathing document that needs to account for and adapt to new features, marketing campaigns, or even new team members who join.

Set regular meetings (at least monthly) to review progress on your sales plan, identify and solve issues, and align your activities across teams to optimize your plan around real-world events and feedback. Learn from your mistakes and victories, and evolve your sales plan as needed.

Track and Analyze the Data in Your Sales Plan Template (to Improve Results)

Create a Strategic Sales Plan to Grow Your Business

You’ve just discovered the basics—but I’ll bet you’re ready to go beyond that. Here are some final ideas to take your sales plan from a simple foundation to a strategic, actionable one.

Avoid Moving the Goalpost

Avoid making adjustments to the goals outlined in your sales plan—even if you discover you’ve been overly optimistic or pessimistic in your sales planning. When you're developing your very first sales plan template, it's natural to be wrong in some of your assumptions—especially around goals and forecasting .

Instead of letting it get you down, remember your plan serves as a benchmark to judge your success or failure. As you see places where your assumptions were wrong, carefully document what needs updating when it's time to revise your sales plan.

Invite Your Others to Challenge Your Sales Plan

Never finalize a plan without another set of eyes (or a few sets.) Get an experienced colleague—an accountant, senior salesperson, or qualified friend—to review the document before solidifying your sales plan.

Your sales team is another strong resource for reviewing your sales plan. Ask their opinions, give them time to think about how it relates to their daily work, and agree on the key points that go into your sales plan.

Set Individual Goals and Milestones for Your Sales Team

We talked about creating milestones for your business, but you can take your sales plan to the next level by setting individual milestones for your sales team as well.

Set Individual Milestones for Your Sales Team to Succeed (Planning Image)

These individual goals need to consider the differences in strengths, weaknesses, and skills among your salespeople.

For example, if someone on your team is making a ton of calls but not closing, give them a milestone of upping their close rate . If someone’s great at closing but doesn’t do much outreach, give them a milestone of contacting 10 new prospects a month.

Doing this will help your individual reps build their skills and contribute to their company and career growth.

Ready to Hit Your Sales Goals?

In most sales situations, the biggest challenge is inertia. But with a solid, detailed sales plan and a dedicated team with clear milestones, you’ll have everything you need to push through any friction and keep on track to hit your goals!

All jazzed up and ready to put together your own sales plan? Download our free Sales Success Kit and access 11 templates, checklists, worksheets, and guides.

They're action-focused and easy to use, so you can have your best sales year yet.

How to Create a Strategic Sales Plan: A Step-by-Step Guide

By eamonn faherty, posted in sales tips, sales process.

Salespeople know full well how proper planning can benefit their performance.

It can help them focus on priorities, align with other departments, accomplish their objectives, and give them a clear advantage over their competitors.

In this blog, we'll go beyond the same, dated techniques that you’ll find elsewhere and put the spotlight on the most up-to-date field sales techniques that will elevate your team's performance. 

With a well-crafted strategic sales plan in place, you will be able to ignite your team's success and help drive your business to reach new heights. 

strategic sales plan

What Is a Strategic Sales Plan?

The importance of a strategic sales plan, adapting to your business environment, setting clear objectives and goals, revenue growth, market share expansion, customer retention.

  • Efficiency & Productivity

Cross-functional Goals

How to build a strategic sales plan, crafting an impactful mission statement, conducting market analysis, applying effective sales strategies, measuring your performance, training for effective sales planning, motivating your sales team, start building your strategic sales plan today.

A strategic sales plan is a comprehensive document that clearly outlines a company's approach to achieving its sales objectives , ensuring the sales team stays on track and focused as they look to attain them. 

With this type of document at hand and easily accessible for everyone in the organization to read, everyone involved can align toward common targets , fostering a cohesive team effort and sense of purpose.

Without a solid plan in place, your field sales team will end up wandering aimlessly, missing out on crucial opportunities that are passing them by due to a lack of planning. 

Embracing a well-crafted strategic sales plan will set the foundation for revenue growth and market share expansion, all of which will help you surpass your sales targets.

This type of sales planning will be reassuring for salespeople as they will be able to follow a clearly defined process as they work towards achieving common goals and objectives.

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The business landscape is in a constant state of flux and always evolving. That means your sales strategy should be also. 

Companies typically only update their strategic sales plan on a yearly basis, meaning they could be a year behind in making important changes to their processes.

That’s why it’s vital you stay ahead of the curve and continuously tweak your sales plan as you see fit. 

Keeping an eye on what’s working and what’s not will ensure you are covering all of your bases, helping you pull clear of your competitors who are still working on last year's strategies. Checking out other companies' sales strategy examples will also offer you an insight into their successes and failures.

However, the old saying if it’s not broke don’t fix it rings somewhat true here. You don’t need to be chopping and changing your strategies at random. A measured, analytical approach works well in sales planning as you want to be making data-driven decisions , not decisions based on your emotional response to a situation.

Defining your goals and objectives is a key tenet of a strategic sales plan. With specific and targeted goals laid out in front of you, everyone can work together strategically to accomplish them.

But what are some of the most important objectives and goals you should be focusing on?

sales rep strategic plan

Increasing revenue is a primary goal for most sales reps. But it’s not always plain sailing and there will inevitably be some bumps along the way. That’s why it’s crucial to set your revenue growth goals as soon as possible to ensure everyone is working towards a common objective. 

Revenue growth is a great way of measuring performance as the arrows will either be trending upwards, downwards, or flatlining. 

Upwards gives you the chance to see what you’re doing well, giving you some breathing space where maybe you can  check out some better-performing competitors , try out new ideas, or hone in on your current strategies that are proving to be successful. 

If the arrow is trending downwards, you now have a clear indication that what you’re doing isn’t working and provides you with the opportunity to rectify your sinking ship. It may be a case of getting some fresh faces on board. Or you may need to change up your strategy completely and start afresh. Whatever it is, if you start to notice a downward trend in revenue, it’s time to put your thinking cap on!

Leveraging the opportunities you are given is key to being successful in sales during a recession. Check out this blog with strategies that will help you prosper even in uncertain economic times.

If you are experiencing neither an upward nor a downward trend in your revenue growth, stay calm! You are in a sweet spot where if you think positively, the only way is up! So take your time, and formulate some plans that will get you trending north, not south! 

One sales tool that can help field salespeople drive revenue is Badger Maps .  

Badger Maps is a route optimization tool that allows reps to automatically plan, route, and maximize their time in the field by cutting down driving time by 20%.

badger-quote

"After getting Badger Maps, weekly meetings per rep jumped from 12 to 20. This led to a 22% increase in annual revenue."

Brad Moxley

Business Development Manager, Cutter & Buck

Badger Maps was specifically designed with field salespeople's needs in mind and that's what sets this route planner apart from the rest. 

With Badger Maps, the average sales team of 10 reps saves $11k per year in gas . They also sell $936k more the year , using that extra time they saved on driving to meet with more customers. 

BADGER MAPS PAYS FOR ITSELF WITH GAS SAVINGS

Sales reps using badger maps sell at least 22% more and drive 20% fewer miles..

See the potential return on investment you can get by using Badger Maps with your field sales team.

2 1 Save Gas

Having the option to create a route with multiple stops gives reps the opportunity to easily plan for the week ahead. Less time spent behind the wheel will mean more time spent in front of customers, providing reps with ample opportunity to drive revenue growth .   

Badger Maps can help field sales teams optimize the time they spend on the road. Sign up for a free trial today!

Growing your presence in your market is crucial if you wish to stay ahead of your competitors. The market is always brimming with competition and every few months a new kid on the block will come along to disrupt things. 

That’s why it’s vital for you not to stand still and always be on the lookout for new ways to increase your market share. With technology developing at a groundbreaking speed, being wise to any innovative changes you can implement can be a game changer.  You will need to really be privy to the inner workings of your current market. See what’s working for others, and what’s not.  

Position yourself as a unique solution that no one else can offer. Maybe your product is very similar to the competition. But you can’t position yourself that way. You need to let people know that your product is the best on the market because it can do XYZ that no one else can.

Increasing your sales is difficult enough in its own right that retaining your current customers can often be forgotten about. Your current customers have needs and desires that they rely on you to fulfill and if they see that you are not fulfilling them, they will take their business elsewhere.

Studies have shown that the probability of making a sale to an existing customer is around 60 – 70%. While the probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20% . So the benefits of customer retention are obvious.

sales rep strategic plan

Block time in your calendar to focus on these existing customers as a reminder to perform regular check-ins on their satisfaction levels . 

Customers want to feel as if they are valued and appreciate you taking the time to check in on them every now and again. Keeping track of them will give you an inside view of the untapped potential that already exists in your accounts.

Work diligently on maintaining healthy relationships with your customers as this will show them that you truly care about them.  

One sales tool that can help you with this is Badger Maps . Keeping track of your customer interactions so you always have the right information at hand is crucial if you want to improve both your connections and your retention rates with your customers .

The Badger Maps Check-in feature can do this by logging customer interactions as soon as they take place , helping keep both reps and managers on the same page as they work their territories. 

Badger Maps can also help you keep track of who you need to reach out to by setting up follow-up reminders . You can easily prioritize your accounts based on the last time you’ve contacted them. This ensures you’ll never miss an opportunity because you forgot to contact a prospect on time.

sales rep strategic plan

Check out this Outside Sales Talk podcast episode with Alice Heiman to discover actionable customer retention tactics to drive repeat sales!

Efficiency & Productivity

To really make the most out of your strategic sales plan, you need to ensure your efficiency and productivity levels are high. There’s no room for error here as if you start to let standards slip, eventually you will start to watch your numbers take a nosedive.

Having well-laid-out plans and strategies will help you here as when people have the opportunity to follow the guidelines, it will make it easier to accomplish their goals.

Making use of sales tools can also lead to increases in both efficiency and productivity as they can oftentimes provide that extra push that simply isn’t possible alone.

But remember that you are not alone in your company and that your sales team's objectives need to integrate with your overall company strategy. Make sure to communicate between departments so that the whole company can work in unison. 

After drawing up your list of goals and objectives, it’s wise to remember that in business, resources are always limited. It's best to select your list of goals and objectives while keeping the Triple Constraints Triangle in mind.

This concept revolves around three key factors that are interrelated but often at war with each other.  

sales rep strategic plan

Scope centers around the tasks needed to be completed in your project. This will define your goals and objectives.

Time refers to the timeline or schedule for your project to reach completion. This can include various deadlines you have set. 

Budget represents the financial resources you have at your disposal. This can factor everything from employee wages to petty cash.

You must learn to carefully balance these three factors in order to reap the benefits of your strategic sales plan. Don’t forget that changes to one can have a significant impact on the other two.

Not all strategic sales plans are alike and you will need to adapt your sales strategy to fit with your company's unique goals. 

There are a few key elements you need to ensure you have a robust plan in place.

strategic sales planning

The first step in building an effective strategic sales plan is to create your mission statement. 

Your mission statement will clearly define your company's purpose, the types of markets it serves, and the objectives it aims to achieve.

This needs to succinctly answer the question of why you are in business. What is your purpose? Your mission statement will serve as the benchmark for what you set out to achieve. With a clear idea in place for what you want to accomplish, things will start becoming more clear to you as you move forward into putting your plan together.

With your purpose taken care of, you will then be able to lay out company-wide standards that need to be adhered to. This will create consistency across your sales team and ensure everyone is aligned. With that being said, salespeople are human, and sometimes standards will slip. That’s why you need these standards in place as a reference point. So if something happens, you can always refer back to your plan to re-establish working standards.

Your mission statement also needs to explain your company's vision. What does it hope to achieve in the future and what is it putting in place to achieve it? Having a clearly defined vision for your sales team to look towards can help motivate them as goal setting is a sure-fire way to help sales teams hit their targets. Over 1000 studies , yes 1000 studies, have shown that goal setting is linked to increased task performance, persistence, and motivation. 

sales rep strategic plan

All the strategic sales planning in the world will ultimately lead you nowhere unless you understand the marketplace you are entering into.

A good market analysis will inform you of who your customers are and their most important needs. Maybe you believe you have a great product and that it can be beneficial to a lot of people, but if your research is telling you that your product may be lacking a certain feature of functionality, you will be able to readjust and implement changes that will appeal to your target audience. 

This analysis will also provide you with insights into market trends, helping you spot what people are looking for when it comes to a product in your niche. If you have a keen eye for detail, you will be able to predict customer behaviors and capitalize on them. 

With a customer-centric approach, you will create an environment where planning isn’t done just once a year and that’s that. Tweaking and adjusting your sales plan as you go will form a part of your strategy, allowing you to consistently stay ahead of the rest of the market who are blindly sticking to outdated plans. 

Now you know both your goals and your customers' needs, it’s time to join the two with a well-rounded strategy. An effective strategy will provide you with the tactics you need to successfully implement your sales plan. 

But remember, not all sales strategies will be the same. Maybe you're a salesperson who works in B2B sales. In this case, you will need to create a strategy that focuses on building solid relationships with your customers , and one that offers value for them going forward. B2B sales can often be long, drawn-out procedures. So taking the time to nurture your customers is key here. 

B2C sales, or D2D, on the other hand, will involve different strategies . These types of sales usually tend to have a shorter sales cycle as consumers are normally driven by immediate needs and desires, meaning they can make decisions a lot faster than a business would. 

Here you can also play into the emotional behaviors of your customer. People love a good story and by crafting a compelling sales pitch for your product, you can engage with them on a deeper level. 

There are dozens of different strategies out there ranging from consultative selling to social selling , so make sure you do your research and find the best sales strategy plan that fits your needs!

Check out this Outside Sales Talk podcast episode with John Chapin to discover the secrets to building relationships in outside sales!

Once you’ve put your strategy into practice, you will now need to start measuring your performance . Gathering metrics, although easily disregarded, is a vital component of your sales plan. Why? Without it, you will never learn both why your strategies have been successful, and also why you have failed to pull them off. 

These metrics will provide you with key data points such as the sales performance of your team, customer insights, product feedback, and a multitude of other information that you may have missed otherwise. They will help you make more informed decisions, enabling you to quickly adapt to different situations as they arise.

Remember that in the sales world standing still can often be a death knell. The very best sales teams know that an environment of continuous learning is a key element of success. Without it, they will be quickly left behind and forgotten about.

Success Starts by Taking Action

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Before you get started training team members on what’s involved in your sales plan, you first need to explain to everyone what’s involved. You must ensure that the team is not only aware of the sales plan but willing to change their way of doing business to maximize the potential of all of your strategic sales planning. 

After you draw up your plan, create a sales presentation to pitch to your reps. Include all the sales techniques they could use, from the slides to the final sales pitch , making sure that every message is tailored to your sales reps’ specific targets.

You must be able to convince the team why this new plan or strategy is better than the pre-existing one.

You also can’t assume that every employee is at the same level , so it’s important to either meet with your employees one-on-one or have an audit-type session to assess what training they need.

Listen to this Outside Sales Talk podcast episode with Joel Stevenson to learn how you can lead with productivity as a sales manager!

Now that the team is aware of why this new strategy is better, it is time to motivate them and get them supportive of the vision. Just like approaching a prospect, you must approach your team with the benefits involved such as increased commissions and higher monthly revenue.

The reward system is fantastic to not only ensure your sales team reaches their quota, but that they also are more receptive to following the new strategies and techniques that are involved in your strategic sales plan. 

For instance, rewarding each member of your sales team with something like a gift card for achieving an objective is an excellent way of assuring they are following the plan. Verbal praise also has positive results. Even a simple email created using email template creator  or letter with a nice “congratulations” can change your rep’s attitude.

90% of top-performing companies reward their sales reps using incentive programs, providing them with added motivation to hit their sales targets.

Remember - motivated sales teams are more likely to be open to new ideas and eager to deliver exceptional results. 

sales rep strategic plan

There you have it! A comprehensive guide to creating a strategic sales plan that will help you fuel your success. 

Remember, this is not just any sales plan; it's your personalized roadmap to conquering the sales landscape.

With the right amount of sales planning and determination, nothing can stop you from achieving your sales goals! 

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What is a strategic sales plan.

As a sales manager, you’re like a general marshaling your troops (or sales reps) into battle. It’s your job to lead your team through the trenches and give them direction so they’ll know which markets or territories to target and how best to attack.

That’s why having a strategic sales plan is vital. 

It sets out everything your sales team needs to know about your sales process, including what they need to do at every stage of the B2B sales funnel to convert high-value leads.

In other words, a strategic sales plan helps your sales reps avoid firing aimlessly into the market and missing more often than they hit. 

In this article, we’ll look at what a strategic sales plan entails, why your sales team will have a hard time selling well without one, and how to build a successful strategic sales plan.

What is a strategic sales plan?

A strategic sales plan is a detailed strategy that outlines how you’ll target and sell to high-value prospective clients. It outlines a clear path to reaching your sales goals.

Strategic sales focus on relationship selling or using a  consultative approach . That means taking time to understand a prospect’s pain point and personalizing your pitch to highlight how your product can solve it. 

A strategic sales plan is a lot of work. But it shouldn’t just cover who you’ll target or what outreach tactics your reps will use — it should cover every  stage of the sales process . 

Why is a strategic sales plan essential?

A strategic sales plan is essential for targeting high-value  enterprise clients  for several reasons.

Improves rep performance and increase revenue

Your sales team is crying out for clarity.  70%  of reps say their company’s sales process has become more challenging over the past 12–18 months. 

Sales processes have become more challenging

( Image Source )

A strategic sales plan helps make everything much more straightforward. It shows reps exactly who they should be targeting and the actions they need to take at every stage of their pipeline. 

Creates strong buyer relationships

When your reps are crystal clear on their sales strategy, they have more time to spend with potential buyers. This does wonders for the buyer-seller relationship. 

A strategic sales plan also helps give buyers the sales experience they want. While  88%  of buyers do business with trusted advisors, just 40% of decision-makers describe the sales profession as trustworthy. 

Targets and closes high-value clients

You can’t close enterprise accounts with transactional sales tactics. As you can see from the diagram below,  enterprise deals  are high-value and highly complex.

Enterprise Sales are higher value and more complex

These deals require a well-defined and executed sales strategy — one that helps reps focus by defining exactly who they should target, arms them with a sales methodology suitable for winning enterprise accounts, and outlines the exact steps they should take. 

How to create a killer strategic sales plan

Make sure your strategic sales plan covers everything it needs to by following the six steps below. 

1. Set goals

The very first thing you need to do when creating a strategic sales plan is set at least one realistic and achievable goal. Otherwise, your reps will be left to their own devices. Everything else you do going forward will relate to these goals, so spend time getting them right.

In some cases, your goals will be set by executives. Such goals might include a revenue target or the acquisition of a market share. 

Try to choose a sales goal that aligns with your company’s wider objectives. Perhaps you’re trying to enter a new market, for instance, or you want to launch a new product. Both of these would make excellent goals for your strategic sales plan. 

Whatever your goals, make sure they follow the SMART framework. That means they should be:

Once you’ve set a goal or two, use both historical and future data to see if they really are achievable. 

For instance, look back over previous quarters in your CRM to analyze whether you could have achieved your goal in the past, and then forecast sales in the future to see if it’s still likely you can achieve your goal given the current market climate. 

You should also  set quotas  for your reps while setting sales goals. When setting these quotas, bear in mind that not all of your reps are going to achieve their targets.

How to set sales quotas

40%  of reps fail to hit their targets. As you can see from the image above, that means the bulk of your sales reps will fall somewhere in the middle, just about hitting their targets. 

With this in mind, try to strike a careful balance between pushing your sales team and making their quotas achievable. If, after six months, your reps’ success looks like the graph above, you’re on the right track. 

2. Outline your ideal buyer

The second part of a strategic sales plan is knowing who you should target. The better you define your  ideal customer profiles  (ICP) and buyer personas, the more your reps will be able to target and personalize their approach.

An ICP is a detailed description of your best accounts’ firmographic, behavioral, and environmental qualities. It includes information like their industry, location, revenue, and employee account. When finished, it should look something like the image below. 

An example of a sales ICP

A buyer persona is a description of the decision-makers at your target companies. It describes who they are and what they do but also includes qualitative data, like their pain points, goals, and challenges. 

If you want to supercharge a strategic sales strategy, then focus on accounts that share the same characteristics as your best buyers. How? By making your ICPs and personas data-backed by pulling data from your CRM and other sales tools. If you do this, you’ll be using the same strategy  56%  of reps are using data to target accounts. 

Once you’ve identified your ideal buyer, make sure your team is only targeting accounts that match your criteria. A strategic sales plan takes a long-term approach to relationship-building and converting deals, so you don’t want your reps wasting time on companies that were never a good fit in the first place. 

3. Choose a relevant sales methodology

Your sales methodology is the framework your sales team will use to close accounts. Every sales strategy needs a relevant  sales methodology  to guide the selling process.

When building out a strategic sales plan, you’ll want to choose a methodology that sees your sales reps act as consultants when talking to target buyers and encourages them to challenge the buyer’s point of view. 

Because  89%  of buyers are more likely to consider brands that challenge their way of thinking. 

Several methodologies worth considering are:

  • Challenger sales
  • Sandler selling
  • SPIN selling

Any of these will provide the consultative approach you need to win high-value accounts.

4. Define your sales process

A  sales process  is a set of repeatable actions your sales reps need to complete during each sales cycle. As part of your strategic sales plan, you’ll want to map out exactly what these steps are.

There are a couple of reasons you should do this. First, it’ll ensure your reps are following a repeatable process every time they speak to a buyer. Second, it’ll help you analyze and optimize your sales processes by identifying bottlenecks.

If you haven’t created a pipeline yet, you can use your  sales funnel  as a jumping-off point.

A comparison of a sales funnel vs a sales pipeline

A typical pipeline will have the following stages:

  • Prospecting
  • Qualification
  • Negotiation

As you can see from the image above, these match reasonably well with each stage of your funnel. Prospecting matches the awareness stage, closing matches the evaluation stage, and so on. 

A sales process also gives you much-needed visibility into your pipeline, allowing you to better track metrics at every stage. Not only will this keep your sales reps focused throughout the buying process, it’ll also help you measure and optimize your strategic sales plan.

If applicable, you should designate roles for your sales reps at this stage. For instance, some sales managers prefer to divide labor by having a set of (usually junior) reps responsible for prospecting and booking meetings and a set of (usually more experienced) reps responsible for negotiating and closing deals. 

5. Equip your team with sales enablement collateral

Your strategic sales plan should include all of the sales collateral and resources sales reps have available to them. These resources could include:

  • Battle cards
  • Proposal slides
  • Case studies
  • Sales pitches
  • Product demos

Don’t just compile them in a folder and forget about them. 

Make sure they form a core part of your  onboarding process  for new reps. Additionally, ensure that best practice demonstrations are available should reps ever need advice on how to use battle cards or present a case study. 

At this point, you should also draw up a  training process  so that any new reps you hire can quickly get up to speed on your sales methodology and processes.

Make sure your team understands your product or service like the back of their hand.  Two of the three  biggest deal-killing sales behaviors are the seller delivering misinformation about a product and the seller not understanding their own product or service. 

Tools are also essential. 

A CRM is a given so that your reps can automate many of their non-selling activities, but consider using another sales intelligence tool, like  Gong . With Gong Assist, for instance, sales reps can receive AI-powered advice on the next best steps. Gong Assist can even automate some of those processes on behalf of your reps. 

6. Measure your success

Even the best-made strategic sales plans will need to be optimized and improved. That’s why the final part of a sales strategy should cover how to track and measure your team’s success. 

Tracking the right  sales KPIs  is crucial. If you don’t already have tracking set up, start by measuring some or all of the KPIs in the image below. 

The most critical sales KPIs to measure

Then, turn those metrics into an informative sales report you can share with your team and bosses. A  sales report  can also help you improve your strategic sales plan (by improving ICPs, for example) and set more attainable goals (by improving forecasting accuracy). 

But this is only possible if you analyze your reports and take action. Schedule regular meetings with your team and senior stakeholders. Review your progress and look for ways to optimize your sales process and overarching strategy. 

Make Gong a part of your strategic sales plan

As a leading sales tool, Gong can play a pivotal role in planning, executing, and monitoring your strategic sales plan. You can use Gong to give your team access to valuable sales data, and Gong Assist to advise on next steps. 

You can also monitor your team’s pipeline, spot at-risk deals, and forecast future sales to determine whether your strategic sales plan will deliver the results you want. 

Get started with Gong today  or download our  high-growth sales plan template  to start creating your strategic sales plan. 

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How to Build a Sales Strategy Plan for Your Business

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Building and developing a sales strategy plan is arguably the most crucial activity your business will engage in. Whether focused on B2B sales strategy, inbound, outbound, small-to-medium business (SMB) or enterprise, the company needs a dependable source of income to survive.

The key to achieving dependable revenue is in tying specific sales activity to solid, thoughtful, and data-backed objectives formed with the company’s long-term goals in mind.  

While proponents of the adage  stop planning, start doing  have a point in case (no sales strategy plan succeeds without execution) I would argue it’s akin to the famous idiom  shoot first, ask questions later.   

Without a sales strategy plan in place, sales reps and directors make decisions based on what is in front of them at that given time. Not because they’re careless or foolish, but rather unaware of the company’s long-term goals. As a result, it becomes challenging to tie sales activity to specific data-backed objectives.     

So, to create dependable, long-lasting growth throughout the business, sales directors need a strategy. And that, ladies and gents, starts with a solid sales strategy plan.

What is a sales strategy plan?

A sales strategy plan is a company’s roadmap for securing dependable, long-term revenue through the retention and acquisition of new and existing customers. 

They typically encompass everything from specific tactics, market strategy, processes, objectives, forecasting, budgeting, and timeline. Also, plans vary in length, often spanning over a year, maybe two, with an added focus to each fiscal quarter.       

Most businesses’ sales strategy plans are top-down, with revenue targets commonly stipulated by investors, shareholders, and other C-Level executives with a vested financial interest in the company. These are either achieved through the increase of revenue, reduction in expenses, or a combination of both.     

How to develop a sales strategy plan

As I just mentioned, its those at the top that generally implement sales strategy plans. Someone decides on an arbitrary revenue or growth figure based on external factors, divides the number evenly amongst sales territories, and hits the trigger button. 

The problem with this approach is that it’s far too simplistic . It fails to take into account which markets and territories could support the most growth, the continually evolving customer journey, competitors, market maturity, etc.

Consequently, these poorly-planned strategies lose traction over time, create confusion amongst the sales team, and fail to achieve their overall objectives.

So, to build a successful sales strategy plan directors should follow this five-stage sales strategy plan template:  

  • Put the customer at the center of your business
  • Align with overall business goals

SWOT Analysis

  • Go-to-customer strategy

Setting goals

Customer centricity.

Every company starts and ends with its customers. Period. This is why how you hold your customers, or the customer experience you want to create, is the driving force behind all sales strategy plans. 

While customer experience isn’t exclusively a sales issue, we inevitably find ourselves communicating with them daily as they build their primary relationships with our brand. 

Therefore, the experience they have with the sales team shapes their opinion of the company, and in extension, how they share that experience with their peers or through social networks, either good or bad.

As a result, customer experience is critical to the success of the sales strategy plan, forcing sales teams to think about:

  • How they want their customers to view the brand?
  • Around which fundamental values do they want to build their customer experience?
  • Are the field reps aware and communicating appropriately during their face-to-face visits?

What I’m trying to say is, before engaging in budget talks, sales forecasting , and annual sales objectives, the entire organization and sales team need to put the customer at the heart of everything. They need to take an outside-in approach to the sales plan and consider what kind of experience they’d like to create. 

Corporate alignment

The sales team is responsible for executing the corporate strategy. Sure, marketing, customer success, and other internal and external communication programs play a part in creating awareness around the brand, but it’s sales that get the job done.

It’s important to note that this means more than just hitting target revenue. Senior executives are concerned about market positioning, maturity, customer perception, and what they stand for as a brand. As a result, they will have various goals other than pure revenue, such as:

  • Increase market share
  • New product line revenue
  • Increase share of wallet
  • Territorial expansion

The “big picture” enterprise goals must be taken into consideration when building a sales strategy plan. If not, the entire future of the organization is put in jeopardy.

Let me give you an example.

Imagine you are given an annual target revenue of $99m at a company with three primary service plans. 

The first represents your traditional business model, the one your sales team has sold for years. It’s a maturing market, and your company has a solid reputation and an established client base.

The second service plan is an ambitious entry into a new vertical and market segment. It’s a potentially lucrative gamble being a relatively unexplored segment, but the sales team lacks experience and reputation. 

The third and final service plan requires expansion into a new sales territory . Again, this is an unexplored ground that senior executives have earmarked for potential in the future.

As the sales director, you have two options to hit your target revenue of $99m. You could:

  • Focus on your traditional service plan . Your sales team knows the market well, has an established reputation amongst industry leaders, and with a bit of luck, could reach target revenue without worrying too much about the success of the new service plans.
  • Develop a sales strategy plan balanced across all three . You might decide to split your annual revenue target into three, smaller $33m pieces – one for each service plan. You choose to reallocate resources and training budget to help with the two untested plans.

If it were you, what option would you choose? Option 1 or Option 2?

Hopefully, you avoided the potential trap of Option 1. 

While it may bring you short-term success (your target is to hit $99m after all), the long-term future of the company is at risk. Investments made within these new divisions that widen the organization’s revenue plan may be forced to scale back or shut down completely, severely impacting the company’s long-term growth strategy. 

Another critical step in building a sales strategy plan is SWOT analysis . This tactic is handy when assessing the challenges your organization faces when venturing into a new market or under pressure from increasing competition, by looking at a company’s:

Opportunities

By analyzing each of these areas, businesses can build on their strengths, mitigate their weaknesses, uncover new opportunities while blunting the various threats that may crop up down the line.

So how do you undertake a SWOT analysis?

First of all, you will need to allocate an hour, maybe two, to gather a diverse group of colleagues (both internal and external if possible) as well as company leadership. This diversity is critical in providing differing perspectives on each of the four points of your SWOT analysis.

Once you’ve gathered everybody, I recommend handing out a pad of sticky notes and asking each person to come up with five separate points for each quadrant. Doing this exercise first gives every member of the team a voice while reducing the pressure of “group think.”

To help in your analysis mull over some of the following questions: 

  • What are your most substantial assets?
  • Which of those assets would you consider the strongest and why?
  • What is unique about your company?
  • What advantages do you hold over your competitors?
  • How skilled are your sales team?
  • Which of the business processes are most successful?
  • What are the potential areas for improvement?
  • What is it customers are saying they would like to see more of?
  • Are there any physical or tangible assets the company lacks?
  • Are there skill gaps within the sales team?
  • Where do your competitors have an edge?
  • What are some of the current market trends?
  • Is the market expanding or constricting?
  • Are there any upcoming industry events?
  • Do you need to consider any upcoming regulatory changes?
  • Is your chief competitor losing traction with their customer base?
  • Is there something clear and obvious missing from your market?
  • Are there any competitors that could be a potential threat in the future?
  • Is the current customer base satisfied with your services?
  • Is the sales team happy?
  • Is customer behavior changing?
  • Are there any legal threats facing the company in the near future?

Once you’ve completed this exercise, you should end up with a prioritized list of points up for debate amongst the leadership group. You can then convert these points to real-time strategy and add actionable objectives to the sales strategy plan.

Go-to-Customer Strategy

This section of the sales strategy plans focuses on how, as an organization, you can most effectively reach your target customer base.

Figuring out the pros and cons, risks, and costs to all the possible routes to your customers is an extremely time-consuming, complex task. Sales directors must look at:

  • Field sales
  • Inside sales
  • Channel partners

Each route also has its subset of implementations, such as SDRs, territory account management, product specialists, outsourced lead scoring, the primary account managers…the list is truly endless!

What’s more, the go-to-customer strategy is a continually evolving process that needs constant revision to match real-time market changes.

Fortunately for us, sales author David Brock came up with three questions to help analyze core issues within the customer-go-to strategy:

  • How do we find and engage all our target customers?
  • What’s the most effective method in engaging them?
  • How can we achieve this at the lowest possible cost/risk?  

So let’s start by answering our first question. 

To do that, we need to know who our customers are. Now, this doesn’t include everyone; you need to identify your company’s “ sweet spot .” What is your company the absolute best at doing in the world, and who benefits from it?

As soon as we begin to move away from that sweet spot, the quicker the win rate plummets and the costlier the sales cycle becomes.

To answer the second question, we need to look at our customer’s buying process. How do they initiate contact with the business? Is the first touch online, or through outreach via the outside sales team? How do they want to buy from us? 

The simplest and easiest way to find out is by asking your customers. 

Finally, after settling on the customer’s preferred method or process of engagement, how can we achieve this with the lowest cost/risk? The most economic risk deployment model is rarely the cheapest, so strike a balance between both customer and budget allowance.

Now that we’ve taken an in-depth look at our organizational objectives, market positioning, customers, and devised a go-to strategy, it’s time to put this all together with some actionable goals.

Setting  goals for sales reps  is mandatory. Not only as necessary incentives that push them to the limit, but also for keeping their activity aligned to overall business objectives.

This is why all sales goals should follow the SMART principle:

TIME-SENSITIVE 

The more specific you can be when setting sales goals, the more likely your team is to hit them. 

Their primary goal is probably to increase revenue. So instead of giving them an arbitrary figure, ask yourself how much would you like to increase revenue? By when? Why? And How? The more specific you can be, the better.

To evaluate your field sales team’s progress, asses them against some form of quantitative yardstick. If not, how can we know they’re on track or, more importantly, if they are falling short, how we can interject and provide the necessary support?

When setting goals, directors need to toe a fine line between ambition and reality. Yes, we want ambitious objectives that force our reps to go above and beyond what’s expected, but on the flip side, set them too high, and it has the opposite effect – demoralizing and alienating the team from management.

Find that sweet spot somewhere in the middle, and you’ll find your reps much more driven to carry out your sales strategy plan.

The sales goals directors and managers set have to be tied to a relevant, quantitative objective. It goes back to the point I made earlier regarding corporate alignment. If the sales strategy plan fails to execute the bigger picture set out by the company executives, then its future success and longevity are put in jeopardy.

Let’s take a look at a quick example.

Imagine our corporate team tasks us with increasing market share by 20% over the next financial year. 

As sales directors, we must decide on the most cost-effective yet risk-averse strategy to achieve that goal. One option would be to increase our Share of Wallet by  boosting customer retention  figures or reducing churn. 

Now, an actionable sales objective for our reps would be to improve our customer satisfaction ranking, or in other words, where a customer places us against our competitors in loyalty and satisfaction.

Setting relevant sales goals

Time-Sensitive

Finally, our sales goals need an expiry date. If sales reps believe they have all year to hit their objectives, then where’s the incentive? Again, it will need to be achievable as I alluded to earlier, but with just enough stick to get things moving at the business end of the quarter.

Well, I hope that’s given you a head start when developing your next sales strategy plan! Just remember, there is no one-size-fits-all sales plan. Customize the sales strategy plan template provided to fit your needs, those of the organization, and their goals. 

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Sales Strategy in Focus: How to Build a Plan That Delivers in 2024

Illustration Of Sales Strategy Plan

“If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.”

In this blog, we’ll unpack why a good sales strategy matters and the key pieces it needs. We’ll talk about lead scoring, why it should be your 2024 priority, and how Breadcrumbs makes it easy.

We’ll also touch on four other cool strategies that work well with lead scoring: perfecting customer personas, creating an irresistible lead magnet, using data for targeted sales, and investing in training.

Lastly, we’ll show you how to build your 2024 sales strategy using these techniques plus lead scoring.

Let’s get started!

Understanding the Importance of a Sales Strategy

Before we dive into how to build a successful sales strategy, let’s quickly define what it is and why it’s important. 

Build A Successful Sales Strategy In 2024: Inbound Sales Methodology

The Role of a Sales Strategy in Business Success

A well-defined sales strategy will help you achieve your business objectives in 2024. Having a plan helps your sales assistant and their efforts align with the company’s goals. Moreover:

  • It’s an anchor that keeps all activities relevant while providing enough adaptability in response to target market changes and customer sentiment.
  • It helps you outline highly tailored sales techniques and tactics primed to attract and convert your target market.
  • It’s a roadmap where you set specific and measurable goals and establish a way to evaluate success.
  • It helps you position and understand why you’re different from your competitors.
  • It allows you to focus resources on the most lucrative opportunities.

Without it, you risk losing out on profitable opportunities and handing the initiative to your competitors .

Key Elements of an Effective Sales Strategy

Crafting a winning sales strategy for 2024 is all about keeping it real and relevant. Here’s a condensed take on what you need:

  • Know your crowd: Dive deep into who your customers are, what they like, and what irks them.
  • Set real goals: Make sure your goals aren’t just far-fetched pipedreams (i.e., $500 million in revenue). They should be clear, doable, and something you can high-five about when achieved.
  • Pick your message: Everyone’s different, right? Figure out who you’re talking to and tailor your pitch just for them.
  • Stand out: What’s your secret sauce? Find that thing that makes you pop in a sea of sameness.
  • Choose your path: Are you going digital, face-to-face, or a mix? Pick the best ways to reach your folks.
  • Get your act together: Nail down a sales process that’s like a well-oiled machine.
  • Tech up: Embrace tech tools that make your life easier and give you insights on what’s working (or what’s not). 
  • Keep learning: Invest in your team. A sharp squad means better sales.
  • Be like water: Stay flexible and ready to switch gears when needed.

Lead Scoring with Breadcrumbs: Your First Strategy for 2024

A lead score helps your sales team understand whether a potential customer is worth pursuing. 

Time is money, so you want to only deal with those leads that’ll likely lead to a sale. So, scoring leads can help you streamline your sales cycle.

Build A Successful Sales Strategy In 2024: Use Breadcrumbs Lead Scoring

A lead is scored against different factors . Some of these include:

  • Their online behavior–the pages they viewed and how long they spent on them.
  • How much do they engage with the company’s social media channels?
  • Where the lead came from (website, social media, lead magnet, etc.).
  • Past history with the company.
  • Demographic information.

Build A Successful Sales Strategy In 2024: Use Breadcrumbs Lead Scoring 2

Accurate lead scoring models help sales managers and their teams chase qualified leads likely to convert. It also helps the marketing team, as some of the lead scoring data will influence the types of content they create.

Lead scoring helps you understand the makeup of your ideal target market —which is why it should be your number-one sales strategy for 2024. And Breadcrumbs is here to help.

We offer a refined approach to lead scoring that goes beyond the capabilities of traditional tools. Unlike outdated ranking systems, Breadcrumbs’ advanced analytics does a deep dive into the variables influencing a lead score.

It also integrates the recency and frequency of user actions—because someone who visited your product demo page a year ago differs from someone who visited yesterday!

Our system factors in various interactions, such as recent website visits and social media engagement. These insights help you fine-tune your go-to-market strategies and allow you to engage leads effectively and at the right time.

Build A Successful Sales Strategy In 2024: Use Breadcrumbs Lead Scoring

Breadcrumbs also supports the development of multiple scoring models tailored to different ideal customer profiles (ICPs) vis-a-vis your products and the regions you serve. This flexibility allows for more precise lead qualification.

Book a demo or start a free trial to see it in action!

4 Other Key Sales Strategies for 2024

With lead scoring at the forefront, the following four strategies should complement your sales approach.

1. Customer Persona Refinement

Adopting a customer-centric approach is essential in customizing your sales tactics to meet the unique requirements of your potential customers. 

Illustration Of Breadcrumbs Icp Worksheet

Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) Worksheet

Learn how to create an Ideal Customer Profile and build a successful sales strategy with this Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) Worksheet.

For example, StudioSuits is a specialized clothing brand that continually refines its buyer personas to stay attuned to evolving customer preferences.

When promoting wedding suits for men, they create a distinct persona based on factors like:

  • Style preferences
  • Buying behavior

This refined persona enables StudioSuits to:

  • Collaborate with other relevant businesses and influencers
  • Communicate effectively with their ideal customer profile
  • Craft targeted marketing campaigns
  • Offer customized product options

Their secret sauce? They tap into the power of user-generated content to showcase modern men’s suits, creating a whole look that resonates with the groom-to-be. The goal? Selling a dream for their big day.

Build A Successful Sales Strategy In 2024: Customer Persona Refinement

While we focus on tailoring experiences to specific customer personas, it’s vital to recognize a significant yet often overlooked segment: individuals who depend on accessible web design.

96% of websites aren’t accessible , which is shocking given millions of people use assistive technologies like screen readers and voice assistants to help them navigate a website. If your website isn’t accessible, you’re missing out on an untapped target customer base.

Accessibility is also a moral obligation. And while ADA compliance checks might not be the first sales strategy you try, they’ll help open your online store to new prospective customers.

If you’re unsure where to start, use tools like the ADA compliance checker from accessiBe. The tool will guide you through making your website inclusive and welcoming to everyone.

Build A Successful Sales Strategy In 2024: Make Your Website Accessible

Plus, here’s how accessibility personalizes your sales strategy:

  • You speak their language: Imagine a visually impaired user struggling to navigate your website, unable to decipher confusing layouts or alt-text-less images. Accessibility removes these barriers, ensuring your message reaches everyone clearly.
  • You break down the walls: Physical stores have ramps and elevators to make everyone feel welcome. Accessibility does the same for the digital world. By removing barriers like missing transcripts for videos or keyboard-unfriendly interfaces, you engage a wider demographic on your website .
  • You stand out from the crowd: Embracing accessibility sets you apart as a brand that cares about inclusivity and values every customer–setting you up for business growth.

2. Create Irresistible Lead Magnets

Let’s face it. Lead magnets require a lot of work upfront. 

But if you create a magnet that acknowledges and addresses your customer’s pain points, you can generate demand and fill your sales pipeline with qualified leads. For example, a B2B software company like Proposify might create a whitepaper or video training series addressing a common industry challenge. Offering free and relevant digital products on their website attracts business professionals who give up their contact details in exchange.

Build A Successful Sales Strategy In 2024: Create Lead Magnets

The company can then nurture these leads with personalized, targeted email campaigns , gradually guiding them down the sales funnel . 

3. Leveraging Data for Sales Success

Making sense of customer sales data helps you understand their preferences, behaviors, and purchasing patterns. You can use this information to deliver targeted marketing and sales messages at the right time.

If a customer regularly restocks supplies from you every six months, it’s likely that’s when they run out. Sending a timely reminder as this period approaches can effectively encourage them to repurchase rather than look elsewhere.

And if you do this with all your customers—breaking them up into segments of like-minded behaviors—you’ll pick up those easy wins. Data analytics platforms can also help you identify high-value prospects and new options your organization can explore.

Build A Successful Sales Strategy In 2024: Leverage Data

Such platforms have internal uses, too, such as assessing sales leader performance and identifying areas for improvement.

4. Investing in Sales Training

Customer needs and wants are constantly changing. It’s crucial to keep your sales reps ahead of the game and invest in their training. This supports them in refining their sales process so the company can reach its 2024 sales targets.

Build A Successful Sales Strategy In 2024: Invest In Sales Training

Practical ways to keep sales professionals’ skill sets updated include:

  • Pair sales leaders with less experienced salespeople for mentoring and guidance to help improve overall sales productivity.
  • Host product training sessions where the sales rep understands how the product works and fits the customer’s lifestyle. As the old adage goes, sell solutions, not features.
  • If you’re a lean company, free or low-priced online courses on platforms like LinkedIn Learning can train your sales department on key areas like sales pitches, customer service, and sales tactics. It’s also worth training them in soft skills like communication. Podcasts such as The Art of Communication are designed to help professionals overcome nerves and speak confidently.

Internal knowledge sharing is a crucial part of an effective sales strategy. Are their silos in your company preventing the transparent flow of information? Tear them down to enable best practice sharing in areas like cross-selling and up-selling to boost sales performance.

Building Your 2024 Sales Plan

So, how do you turn these sales strategies into a successful 2024 sales plan?

Incorporating Lead Scoring with Breadcrumbs

Begin by implementing Breadcrumbs for lead scoring. Our tool will help you evaluate and rank leads based on their conversion potential, guiding you to achieving your revenue targets . 

Use Breadcrumbs to analyze customer interactions, such as website visits or engagement with marketing materials, and assign scores accordingly. This process will enable you to prioritize high-quality leads.

Build A Successful Sales Strategy In 2024: Use Breadcrumbs Lead Scoring

Applying Other Key Strategies

Leverage the data collected through Breadcrumbs and other sources to understand customer behaviors and preferences. Use this data to segment your leads and tailor your sales approaches. 

For example, you might find that a particular demographic responds well to a specific product or marketing campaign, allowing you to target your efforts more precisely.

Use Lead Magnets

Once you’ve segmented your leads, you’ll have a deeper understanding of their pain points , needs, and desires. You can now create compelling and targeted lead magnets that appeal to your target segments. These should address ‌those specific needs or interests.

Prioritize Continuous Customer Persona Refinement

Keep refining your customer personas based on the insights gathered from lead scoring, data analysis, and the inbound leads from your magnets. Update these personas to reflect changing customer needs and behaviors, ensuring your sales and marketing strategies remain relevant.

Be Accessible at Every Touchpoint

Ensure your website and other digital touchpoints (lead magnets and online resources) have accessibility features. A website accessible to those with disabilities: 

  • Reflects positively on your brand
  • Helps you reach business goals
  • Improves user experience

Setting Goals and Tracking Progress

Setting goals and tracking progress sounds like a no-brainer, but we must stress the importance of this step for your sales strategy. 

After all, you need to know where you’re going and how close you are to getting there. Here’s how you can do it effectively:

  • Set SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound‌—they’re your recipe for realistic goals that push you forward without setting you up for an uphill battle. 
  • Break it down: Big goals are great but can also feel overwhelming. Chop them into smaller, bite-sized tasks. Tackle them one step at a time. 
  • Keep score: Tracking progress is like keeping score in a game. It tells you if you’re winning or need to up your game. Use tools that make tracking sales metrics easy and visible.
  • Regular check-ins: Schedule regular reviews of your goals and progress. That way, you get a glimpse of if you’re still on track or need to make any tweaks.
  • Celebrate milestones: Don’t just wait to pop the champagne at the end. Celebrate the small victories along the way. It keeps your team motivated and energized.
  • Learn and adapt: Be ready to learn from the misses and adapt your strategy. Sometimes, the best lessons come from ‌detours and roadblocks.

Preparing for Sales Success in 2024

To make 2024 your company’s best year yet, you must adopt a sales approach that strategically uses data to identify your ideal customer segments. That should be followed by delivering relevant experiences and directing your marketing efforts to match the preferences of each segment.

When leads come in, tools like Breadcrumbs can prioritize them based on their likelihood to convert—guaranteeing that your sales efforts are focused on the most promising leads.

Explore Breadcrumbs for free , or book your demo .

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How to Write a Sales Plan

Table of contents.

Elizabeth Veras

Every business needs a business plan as well as more detailed road maps that offer guidance to each department working toward that common goal. As the revenue-generating engine of your company, the sales department should be a top priority for this type of document, aptly named the “sales plan.” This guide introduces the concept of a sales plan and gives you all the guidance you need to create a sales plan that works for your business.

What is a sales plan?

A sales plan details the overall sales strategy of a business, including the revenue objectives of the company and how the sales department will meet those goals. This may also include revenue goals, the target audience and tools the team will use in their day-to-day. In addition, the sales plan should include examples of the hurdles and pain points the team might encounter, as well as contingency plans to overcome them.

“[A sales plan] is essential to support the growth of an organization,” said Bill Santos, vice president of the ITsavvy Advanced Solutions Group. “A sales plan helps individual reps understand the priorities of the business as well as the measurements by which they will be evaluated.”

Business plans vs. sales plans

Business plans and sales plans are closely linked. A sales plan, though, should outline the actions that the sales department will take to achieve the company’s broader goals. A sales plan differs from a business plan, though both work toward the same end.

“A business plan is a ‘what’ [and] a sales plan is a ‘how,'” said James R. Bailey , professor of management and Hochberg Professional Fellow of Leadership Development at the George Washington University School of Business. “Business plans are where a firm wants to go. A sales plan is a part of how they can achieve that. A business plan is direction; a sales plan is execution.”

For example, a software company that developed a new mobile application might state in its business plan that the app will be installed by 1 million users within a year of launch, while the sales plan describes how that will actually be achieved.

How to write a sales plan

Every sales plan should suit the individual needs of a different company, so they come in all shapes and sizes. There is no one-size-fits-all sales plan; the one you create will be unique to your business. With careful planning, you’ll have a much clearer vision of what you need to accomplish and a road map for how to get there. 

Chris Gibbs, vice president of global sales at Centripetal Networks, named some additional items that every sales plan should include.

  • Targeted accounts: Assign each salesperson a few key accounts to focus on, and grow from that base.
  • Targeted verticals: Sales teams might focus on specific market segments or verticals, such as a particular industry.
  • SKUs: Salespeople should emphasize certain SKUs or inventory items rather than get lost in a broad catalog of merchandise to sell.
  • Sales and marketing coordination: Sales and marketing teams should work together to create promotions to help generate sales.
  • Product road maps: Every company has a road map, and each product should have a road map that shows the plan and direction for a product offering over time to chart out when a product will launch and when it might sunset or be replaced by a newer model.
  • Forecasts: Sales forecasting is projecting sales volumes and expectations by comparing them historically to sales of previous years, and then conducting market comparison to determine where sales will fall against the competition.

“Sales plans are extremely important to ensure there is cohesiveness between product teams, sales and marketing,” Gibbs said. “In addition, they’re important for ensuring that timing of new products and/or new version releases coincide with sales objectives and forecasts.”

What are the steps to create a sales plan?

A sales plan is necessary for businesses of every size, from an individual entrepreneur to a Fortune 500 company. When you’re ready to actually write your sales plan, follow these steps:

1. Define the objectives. 

Clearly outlining your goals and stating your objectives should always be the first step in creating a sales plan or any other business venture. You should include the expected sales volume and any markets or territories you expect to reach. 

For example, let’s say you own a retail store selling household goods and electronics. If your purpose is to establish yourself as a trusted local retailer, ask yourself the following questions:

  • If so, are they purchasing anything or just browsing?
  • Was it word of mouth?
  • Was it through marketing efforts, such as email marketing, direct mail or social media?
  • How many are new customers?
  • How many are repeat customers?
  • Where do you want your sales to come from? 
  • What are some external and internal factors that could impact your sales? These include industry trends and economic conditions.

When you can precisely state your key objectives, you are setting yourself up to plan later steps around achieving your goals.

2. Assess the current situation.

The next step is to create an honest overview of your business situation in relation to the goal you set in the first step. 

Review your strengths and assets. Take a look at your resources and how you can apply them to your goal. This can include personal relationships and competitive advantages like new products or services.

For example, if your goal is to enhance your relationship with your customers, you’d need to ask yourself some questions to examine your current situation:

  • What is your current relationship with your customers?
  • Where did most of your sales come from?
  • Where would you like to expand your sales?

When examining your strengths and opportunities, conduct a SWOT analysis to get a clearer picture of where your business stands.

3. Determine and outline the sales strategies. 

Sales strategies are the actual tactics your team will use to reach customers. They can include marketing channels as well as procedures for lead generation and client outreach employed by your salespeople.

Here are two examples of potential sales strategies: 

  • Use your POS system to retain customer information so you can track current and new customers.
  • Employ email marketing, text message marketing , social media, outbound call center services and direct mail marketing campaigns.

4. Define roles for the sales team. 

Each member of the sales team should be assigned clear roles, whether they vary from person to person or everyone performs the same functions.

Defining the sales direction of the team is crucial, as it shows the focus of the company and helps the team target and execute sales most effectively.

The plan of attack for the sales team should be communicated clearly by leadership, whether it is from team leaders or the CEO.  

5. Inform other departments of sales objectives.

A sales plan shouldn’t just update a company president or C-suite; it should inform the whole organization of the sales team’s objectives. 

Clearly outline your plan for the rest of the company to help them understand the goals and procedures of the sales team. Other departments become more efficient when interacting with the sales team and clients. This also conveys a certain level of quality and professionalism to the clients about the company.

6. Provide tools for the sales team.

Provide the tools each member of the sales team needs to achieve the stated goals, such as customer relationship management (CRM) software. The best CRM software is customizable to meet a company’s needs, making it much easier for your team to use the software and work efficiently.

7. Detail how the department will track progress. 

Offer strategic direction and insight on how progress will be monitored. Having a quarterly review to assess whether the company is on target is just as important as the plan itself.

Markets change, and so should your sales plan. Keeping it up to date will help you capitalize on the market and achieve your goals. Tracking progress is made easier by the tools you use to collect data. That data will then have to be analyzed and presented in a way which all departments can understand and use for future growth. 

Key elements of a sales plan

Every sales plan should also include the following elements.

Realistic goals

You need to set achievable goals . Challenge your sales team, but don’t push too hard. Bailey said that these “deliverables” are among the key points to include in a sales business plan. 

“Deliverables need to be as specific as possible and moderately difficult to achieve – specific inasmuch as being measurable in a manner that is uncontested [and] moderately difficult inasmuch as making sales goals too difficult can lead to failure and discouragement.”

Midpoint goals also help build morale and keep the team working toward a larger goal. Instead of having one giant goal, creating smaller goals to achieve along the way will keep your team focused.

Set milestones that give you the opportunity to regularly determine whether you are on track to achieve your sales goals or need to make adjustments.

Sales tools

Tracking sales throughout the term is helpful, and you can employ tools to keep track of each team member as well as the department overall. It also helps establish a culture of accountability among salespeople.

“Tools can help, especially project management and CRM software,” Santos said. “Having a weekly cadence of update and review is also important, as it sends a message that ownership and updates are important.”

Clear expectations and a defined commission structure

Assign goals and responsibilities to each team member to make expectations clear. This is true whether or not each team member has the same goals.

“We meet with each individual to come up with a plan that works for them so that they can reach their goals,” said Leah Adams, director of client success at Point3 Security. “We measure results based on numbers. Each team member has his own plan and how they’re going to get there.”

It’s also necessary to spell out the commission structure in full detail.

“The only real difference is how sales count,” Bailey said. “In petroleum-based products … a few big clients are necessary. Compensation needs to be structured not just in contract value, but in graduated terms: Above $1 million, commissions move from 5% to 9%, and so forth. In smaller-volume enterprises, commissions might be front-loaded with higher percentages early, then graduated down. You have to reward what you want.”

Training programs

Along the way, some training might be necessary to maintain the momentum.

“What’s important to us is that we’re teaching these individuals to be the best salesperson they can be,” Adams said. “We help them do that by constantly training them and giving them knowledge of what’s going on in our industry. Everything stays on track because each member of the team knows their individual goal; though each person has a number, they also know the ultimate goal is for the entire team to hit.”

Adams said that an effective CRM keeps things organized and helps delegate tasks and responsibilities on a schedule that uses the company’s lead information.

Key steps to follow when devising a sales plan

Here are some best practices for creating a sales plan:

  • Refer to the business plan. The sales plan should directly address the objectives of the business plan and how those objectives can be achieved.
  • Advance clear objectives. The clearer the objectives are, the easier it will be to reach your goals.
  • Reference prior sales data. Chart sales over the previous few terms, and project the trend for the current term. New businesses can create sales projections based on expectations.
  • Outline the commission structure. This will help motivate your team and help you calculate anticipated costs.
  • Be clear about how progress is measured. There should be no dispute about this. If larger clients carry more weight than lower-volume buyers, that should be stated upfront.

The benefits of a sales plan

A sales plan keeps the sales department on track, considering the details of how they must operate to hit their targets and achieve company objectives. Because the sales team is the primary driver of revenue, it is an incredibly important document. [Related article: Adopting a CRM? How to Get Buy-in From Your Sales Department ]

“It’s extremely important to have a sales plan in place, almost a must,” Adams said. “Without this plan, it’s almost impossible to get through the year and hit the company’s sales goals.”

It’s not uncommon to encounter obstacles along the way, however. A good sales plan accounts for that.

“Almost always, you’ll run into the speed bumps along the way, but with a plan in place, it makes it a whole lot easier to navigate through it all,” Adams said. “The sales plan allows you to adjust when necessary so the goal can still be hit. I strongly believe a plan allows you to stay in control and reduce the risk while being able to measure the team’s results along the way to that finish line.”

A solid sales plan helps you deal with unexpected events and acts as a benchmark for where your company is and where you want it to go.

Sales plan templates

Sales templates are helpful in that many of them are based on tried-and-true formats that have been used by businesses across several industries. They can also provide structure so that it is clear to each employee what their role and responsibilities are. 

Create your own sales plan by downloading our free template .

“A template helps plan each individual’s daily activities in a structured way,” Adams said. “If you know what each person is doing daily, it’s easier to help correct what’s going wrong. It helps with things like conversion rates, etc. Yes, these templates can be customized in any way a team’s manager sees fit, based on how he believes the team will perform better.”

Sales plans should be unique to the company; however, there are key components they should always include. Because there is somewhat of a formula, you can use a template.

Templates are extremely helpful, Gibbs said. “It creates uniformity for the team, as well as a yearly or quarterly sales plan to present to senior management.”

Gibbs added that templates can easily be customized to meet the needs of a particular business or sales team.

Keeping your team on track with a sales plan

Planning is vital for any business, especially when dealing with sales targets. Before selling your product or service, you must outline your goals and ways to execute them. Essentially, a sales plan enables you to mitigate problems and risks. When there is a clear plan of action, you will know how to proceed in order to attain your goals. 

Enid Burns contributed to the writing and reporting in this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.

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10 Free Sales Plan Templates for an Effective Sales Strategy

ClickUp Contributor

February 15, 2024

Every sales team wants to win more leads and close more deals. But how do you make that happen? With a solid sales plan, of course! 

A sales plan gives your team a way to focus on your goals while taking only the necessary steps to get there. It has everything you need to win, which means it’s often a comprehensive guide—and that takes time.

And we’re guessing you’re already pressed for time. ⏲️

Fortunately, creating a plan doesn’t have to be complicated—with the right template, you can simplify the process.

That’s why we’re sharing this list of the best sales plan templates. Not only are these sales strategy templates absolutely free but they’ll also save you time so you can start closing those deals faster. ⚡

What Is a Sales Plan and Why Create One?

1. clickup sales plan template, 2. clickup sales and marketing plan template, 3. clickup sales strategy guide template, 4. clickup sales pipeline template, 5. clickup sales kpi template, 6. clickup b2b sales strategy template, 7. clickup sales calls template, 8. word sales plan template by business news daily, 9. word sales plan template by templatelab, 10. excel sales plan template by spreadsheet.com.

A sales plan is your roadmap for how to make sales effectively. Think of it in the same way that a business plan guides the strategy for your company or a marketing plan sets out how you’ll find, reach, and serve your ideal customers. 

clickup goals feature

A good sales plan sets out your sales goals , objectives, and sales activities. It considers your target audience, brand, products, services, and needs—and covers which sales tactics and strategies you’ll use to close deals, as well as which metrics you’ll use to measure success. 

Your sales plan is a practical plan that outlines who’s responsible for what, the resources you’ll need, and the overall goals you’re working toward. Without one, your sales team will feel lost and struggle to connect with your customer base.

With a strategic sales plan, though, the sales manager and the entire team will know exactly what you’re trying to achieve and the steps needed to get there. 📚

How to choose the best sales plan template

There are so many different sales plan templates out there. Some are designed for specific niche audiences, while others are more generic and easier to customize. How do you know which is the right template for you?

When you’re thinking about using a sales plan template, consider the following: 

  • Ease of use: Is the template easy to use? Will everyone in the team structure and sales planning process be able to understand it fully?
  • Customization: Can I personalize the template to match my sales goals?

targets in clickup goals

  • Collaboration: Can my sales team work on this template together?
  • Integrations: When I create a sales plan, can I integrate this template with other aspects of my sales pipeline or workflow, like task management?
  • Artificial intelligence: Can I use a built-in AI writing tool or copywriting tool to help me complete the template? Are there automation features that speed up the process?
  • Platform: Which sales app is this template for? Do I have it already, or should I invest in it? What’s the pricing like?

Asking yourself these questions will help you figure out what your needs are, so you can then choose a template to match. 

10 Sales Plan Templates to Help You Close Your Next Deal

Now that you have a better idea of what you’re looking for, let’s explore what’s out there. Take a look at our hand-picked selection of the best sales plan templates available today for Microsoft Word and sales enablement tools like ClickUp.

Create and organize tasks by team, deliverable type, priority, due dates, and approval state with the ClickUp Sales Plan Template

Smart sales teams use a sales plan to map out their route to success. The best sales teams use the Sales Plan Template by ClickUp to simplify the process and ensure they don’t leave anything out.

This template is designed with all the structure you need to create a comprehensive sales plan that can drive results. Use this template to set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) business goals; plan strategies and tactics; and organize all your sales ideas in one place.

The list-style template is split into sections that cover the executive summary all the way through to specific tactics and strategies. Beneath this, you can arrange tasks and subtasks, and see the progress at a glance. View task titles, deadlines, who’s responsible, approval status, and a visual progress bar.

Use this template if you want to consolidate all your sales tasks and initiatives in one area. Add your sales tasks and tactics, then tag team members so you can see what’s happening and hold everyone accountable. ✅

Use the Sales and Marketing Template by ClickUp to set goals and collaborate on campaigns

While sales and marketing teams often work independently, sometimes it’s useful to collaborate on shared goals. With the Sales and Marketing Plan Template by ClickUp , you can organize and run your sales and marketing operations from one location.

Our collaborative template makes it easy to set sales and marketing goals and objectives, visualize your tasks, work together on sales and marketing campaigns, and track your results in real-time. View the status of your sales and marketing projects, adjust your plans, and monitor your key performance indicators (KPIs)—all from one view.

This sales and marketing plan template allows you to split your tasks into sections. The examples in the template include revenue goals, competitive analysis, and action items, but you can customize these to match your needs exactly.

View tasks beneath these categories to see at a glance whether there are any roadblocks when a task is due, and who is responsible for it.

Add this template to your collection if you want to work more collaboratively with your marketing team—especially on preparing assets for sales calls or outreach programs. 📞

The ClickUp Sales Strategy Guide Template can help you determine the right way to promote your product by answering predefined questions

Before you can plan your sales tactics, you first need to decide what your overall goals are. The Sales Strategy Guide Template by ClickUp is your go-to resource for determining your approach.

This sales process template explains the benefits of having a well-defined approach and gives you a central place to create, review, and store your own. Everyone on your team can then access your sales strategy guide to help them understand what to do when prospecting and closing deals.

Our sales goals and strategy guide template is presented in a document format. Some sections and headings allow you to split your guide into different areas, making it easier to read and understand.

Use the prompts to fill out your own strategy guide details like your target market, sales strategies, and how you’ll monitor progress.

Use this sales strategy guide template to create a resource for your team. Make it the only destination for everything your sales reps need to know to execute an effective sales plan. 📝

Track your leads and deals, applying a consistent deal qualification framework and deal process to increase sales.

Sales strategies are a must-have for any great sales team, but beyond that, you need a way to record and monitor specific tasks or initiatives. That’s where the Sales Pipeline Template by ClickUp comes in handy whether you need a visual into sales forecasting or your specific sales goals.

This sales pipeline template gives you one place to store all your daily sales-related tasks. With this template, it’s easy to work toward your sales goals, track leads, map out each step of the sales process, and organize all your tasks in one place.

You can view a task’s title, assignee, status, due date, complexity level, start date, and department—or customize the experience with your own custom fields. 

Sales KPIs are essential to measuring the success of your sales strategy.

With ClickUp’s Sales KPI Template , you and your team can create and manage goals surrounding your sales initiatives. See instantly what’s in progress and when it’s due, alongside the task’s impact level.

This allows you to identify high-priority tasks to focus on and to react quickly if it looks like there’s a roadblock.

This sales KPI template includes:

  • Custom Statuses: Create tasks with custom statuses such as Open and Complete to keep track of the progress of each KPI
  • Custom Fields: Utilize 15 different custom attributes such as Upsell Attempts, Value of Quotes, Product Cost, No of Quotes by Unit, Repeat Sales Revenue, to save vital KPI information and easily visualize performance data
  • Custom Views: Open 4 different views in different ClickUp configurations, such as the Weekly Report, Monthly Report, Revenue Board per Month, and Getting Started Guide so that all the information is easy to access and organized
  • Project Management: Improve KPI tracking with tagging, dependency warnings, emails, and more

This template gives you a simple way to see which tasks are complete or in progress, so you can monitor the progress of your project and crush your sales KPIs. 📈

The ClickUp B2B Sales Strategy Template guides you through the process of creating an effective plan and list of objectives for your sales team

While there’s not a huge difference in the way we market to business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C) customers these days, it’s still useful to have specific templates for niche needs. If you’re driving sales in the B2B space, you need the B2B Sales Strategy Template by ClickUp .

Like our first sales plan template, this one gives you space to communicate your sales objectives and revenue targets, but it also introduces other areas—like market research, stakeholder analysis, customer relationships, buyer persona, and customer pain points. 

This document-style template is highly customizable so you can make it match your brand style and sales approach. Fill in each section and use the supplied prompts to complete your B2B sales strategy document even faster. 

Add this template to your collection if you’re working in B2B sales and want to approach your process in a more organized way. Use the template to build a strong sales strategy, then share it with the rest of your sales team so they know how to execute against your sales and company goals. 🎯

Sales Calls Template offers you a sales calls pipeline that helps you convert prospecting leads to your clients.

ClickUp’s Sales Calls Template is designed to streamline the sales process, from tracking contacts and calls to managing sales opportunities.

The template includes custom statuses for creating unique workflows, ensuring that every call and client interaction is accounted for. It also provides an easy-to-use Sales CRM to manage and track leads, visualize sales opportunities in the sales funnel, and keep all contacts organized.

With additional features like the Sales Phone Calls SOP Template, sales professionals can empower their teams to make every call count and close more deals. ClickUp’s Sales Calls Template is a versatile solution for sales teams, aiding in everything from daily calls to long-term sales forecasting.

An example of Word Sales Plan Template by Business News Daily

We’re big advocates of using ClickUp as the go-to place to store everything about your sales workflow, but if you’re limited to using Microsoft Word or Google Docs, then this template is a great option.

This sales business plan template has sections for your executive summary, mission statement, target customers, sales targets, benchmarks, and more. Each section has useful prompts to guide you on completing your new sales plan.

Use this template if you’re tied to using Microsoft Word and want a comprehensive guide on how to create your own sales plan or sales strategy. 📄

An example of Word Sales Plan Templates by TemplateLab

If you want a free sales plan template or want to choose from a variety of options, this collection of Word templates by TemplateLab is a good place to do that.

There’s a wide range of options available including sales process plans, lead generation plans, sales action plans, and sales report templates . Each template works with Microsoft Word, and you can customize the look and feel to match your brand or your sales goals.

Use this resource if you prefer to see a range of templates on one page, or if you’re not sure exactly what you’re looking for until you see it. You can easily set your sales goals and the action steps needed to achieve them. 📃

Successful sales strategies need to be integrated with other teams—like your marketing department—to ensure your sales objectives are clear and possibly align with the overall marketing strategy too. Choose your specific sales goals, set revenue targets, and describe everything in detail with these Word sales planning and sales process templates.

sales rep strategic plan

The Excel Sales Plan Template by Spreadsheet.com is a comprehensive and user-friendly tool designed to assist businesses in developing effective sales strategies and managing their sales activities.

T his template is crafted with the aim of providing a structured framework for sales planning, enabling organizations to set clear objectives, track performance, and optimize their sales processes.

Reach Sales Goals With Free Sales Plan Templates

A strategic sales plan makes it easier to achieve your goals. Give your team the guidance and support they need with the help of a well-crafted free sales plan template.

If you’re considering making even more improvements in how you work, try ClickUp for free . We don’t just have incredible sales process templates: Our range of features and AI tools for sales make it easy for you to optimize and run your entire sales funnel and CRM system from one place. ✨

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Sales strategy planning is an essential part of the overall business process to ensure your sales organization is reaching for the right targets, goals and audience.

Sales Strategy Planning: Step By Step Guide

sales rep strategic plan

Defining Sales Strategy Planning

Should you use a sales strategy template, what are the most typical sales strategy planning mistakes, mapping out the first 30, 60 & 90 days of your sales strategy plan, how to define your short-term sales plans, how to define your long-term sales plan, step-by-step guide to perfecting your sales strategy, ready to build better conversations.

Simple to set up. Easy to use. Powerful integrations.

Sales strategy planning can help you meet both short- and long-term sales targets, carrying you through the first 90 days and beyond to successfully achieve your overall business goals. However, it can get a bit overwhelming in the beginning, which is why some entrepreneurs skip this step altogether.

But that doesn’t mean you should shy away from getting the most out of your sales strategy planning phase. When you break your sales strategy into distinct steps, planning is far easier.

With this step-by-step sales strategy planning guide, you can avoid a lot of the common mistakes made in sales strategy planning and ensure smooth sailing ahead for your business.

Quick links

A sales strategy plan allows you to see the full scope of your sales projects at a glance. A review of the big picture will help you stay focused on your goals and objectives, meet deadlines, and measure the success of your overall sales program.

It’s easy for sales managers to get caught up in how their sales teams are doing. But just because you’re experiencing success right now, it doesn’t mean that you’ve automatically secured success in the future.

The danger in going with the flow rather than following a plan is that it prevents your sales teams and your company from achieving your end goals. For example, B2B sales strategy planning can help you ensure long-term revenue by acquiring and retaining customers on a consistent basis.

Here’s a list of things to consider incorporating into your sales strategy plan:

Specific sales activities and workflows

Marketing strategy

Sales goals and objectives

Target forecasts

Sales budget

Timeline for all activities

Your sales plan should span at least a year, possibly two years. You should also have shorter detailed plans for 30 day, 60 day, and 90 day targets.

The key to keeping the stream of revenue rolling? Make sure your sales department is tying specific sales activities to objectives that are realistic, meaningful, and backed by data. You also need to continuously review your plan – it shouldn’t be static, especially if you want long-term success.

There are a lot of sales strategy templates that are readily available and easily customizable, providing you with quick planning solutions for your business. But do you really need a sales plan template to conduct your own sales strategy planning?

The answer is no, but using one will save you a lot of time. Plus, you can reinvest those hours into developing your sales strategies.

Besides saving you valuable time, there are additional benefits when using a sales strategy plan template:

Makes it easy to modify and update

Provide a standard for future sales strategy plans

Improves consistency over your sales strategies

Eliminates the need to start your outline from scratch in consecutive years

Helps to organize information so it’s usable

Produces a presentation-ready sales strategy plan that’s worthy of sharing

Reduces errors

Makes your sales strategy plan accessible and convenient

Your sales strategy plan is something that you’ll be revisiting on a regular basis, so it makes sense to use a template to streamline the process as much as possible.

Without the right sales training and a thorough sales plan to follow, sales representatives can make a lot of unnecessary mistakes along the way. By developing your sales strategy in a way that mitigates these common issues, things will ultimately run more smoothly in your business as a whole, as well as within your internal sales team or call center.

Here’s a look at some of the most common sales strategy planning mistakes:

Failing to:

Allow for sufficient initial sales rep training time

Account for developing sales skills in sales reps

Align your marketing and sales departments

Not training sales reps on the value of the customer experience and the overall customer journey

A lack of clear profiles for your buyer personas and target audience before your reps start selling

Going full-force with your sales strategy plan without testing it out first

Over-relying on 1-2 top sales reps, rather than having a plan to develop teams’ capacities

Failing to evaluate and test the effectiveness of different sales strategies or workflows

Not assigning a sales leader or manager to monitor your sales call center

Failing to establish sales incentives that are challenging, yet attainable

Purchasing contact lists instead of setting up workflows that generate unique qualified leads

Overlooking the value of account-based selling and failing to set up workflows that leverage it to generate qualified leads

Not leveraging the talent of your top performers during team training

Not establishing clear job descriptions and expectations for sales and management positions

Although a sales plan ensures long-term success, you should further break it down to short-term goals. There are three primary advantages to breaking your sales strategy plan into shorter timeframes.

As you hit goals in a short timespan, you become more confident that you can achieve goals over a longer timeframe.

You get smaller, more actionable steps that will help you reach your long-term goals.

Your sales reps will have an easier, more productive onboarding process.

Here are some sales planning activities for the first 30, 60, and 90 days that you can incorporate into your sales strategy plan.

Do some basic research on your company. Review the company’s vision, mission, and history. Read the company’s marketing materials and check out the company’s social media platforms.

Get a firm grasp on the company’s culture, strategic business plan, and market position.

Get acquainted with sales trends in the market.

Identify your competitors, then analyze their strengths and weaknesses.

Meet with the product manager to:

Learn how products are developed, what problems they solve, what features and functions they have, and who their target market is.

Better understand the target market, audience segments, and how you can align the sales and marketing strategies.

Meet with the customer support team manager to learn more about the types of calls they typically receive.

Review customer feedback and surveys to gain a better understanding of the practical value of the company’s products and services.

Familiarize yourself with major accounts, and learn more about methods for increasing their retention rate.

Review call recordings of top performers, taking note of the phrases and style of speaking they use.

Create an initial timeline for converting a qualified lead into a sale.

Ask for insight and recommendations from top performers about what should be included in your sales strategy plan.

Evaluate your digital tools, including your cloud-based phone system, sales software integrations, etc.

Explore various sources and identify channels for getting qualified leads.

Develop clear workflows that correspond to your objectives.

Test your tools and workflows through mock scenarios.

Develop outbound calling strategies.

Set up a workflow that incorporates sales email templates, and save them in your CRM system.

Write call scripts to be used in various stages in the sales funnel, including lead generation, qualifying leads, nurturing leads, and closing sales.

Set up teams and establish timeframes for each sales activity (e.g. lead generation, lead qualification, and appointment setting).

Create a strategy for conducting automated surveys and sales follow-ups.

Set up a refresher training session for your sales reps.

Set up powerful and engaging sales meetings to encourage more sales.

Schedule short individual meetings with sales reps for coaching and feedback.

Gather data on common objections.

Fine-tune strategies for setting appointments and closing sales.

Set up a plan for regularly monitoring call center performance.

Analyze sales performances for individuals and teams.

Create sales reports and evaluate strategies for improving conversion rates.

The first 90 days is an essential part of your short-term sales strategy plan. However, depending on the size of your company and how aggressive your sales goals are, your short-term sales plan could span up to a year, giving you more time to ramp up sales activities, test strategies, and optimize processes.

To define your short-term  sales plan , it’s best to work with your marketing team. Alignment with your marketing team should help build for long term success. Your short-term plan may focus on new products, services, promotions, and sales, rather than established products which departments are more familiar with. For this reason, launch periods are also a great opportunity to test your sales strategies and ensure that your company is running smoothly.

Here are a few tips for implementing a sales plan for a new product launch:

Aim for slow and steady sales in the beginning.

Train staff to leverage current promotions during sales calls.

Set time limits on promotions to entice customers to make an immediate purchase. This prevents them from shopping around for your competition.

Train your sales reps to gather as much information about customers as they can and document the details in your CRM.

To establish a good base of clients, try to identify companies or organizations that have large numbers of employees or members. You can make a special group offer to these organizations, and potentially get a lot of sales to build your client base in one go.

For example, if you’re selling a home security system, you might offer a discount for one of your products to members of the National Council of Realtors or the Women’s Council of Realtors. Just be sure to monitor group offers to make sure that the incoming revenue is greater than the cost of the discount.

Your marketing department may also generate leads from sources like PPC advertising, social media advertising, or trade shows – all of which needs to be accounted for, so that you can optimize the joint efforts of both the marketing and sales teams to increase conversions. You’ll need to have your sales workflows ready to handle an influx of leads if a new PPC campaign performs well, because if you wait too long to approach prospects, warm leads will go cold – meaning you lose out on potential revenues from new customers.

While short-term sales strategies focus on bringing in initial sales and establishing a strong client base, your long-term sales plan focuses more on establishing brand awareness and generating consistent revenues. You’ll need to train your sales reps how to enhance the customer experience at every point in the customer journey to increase retention rates and inspire brand loyalty, as well as establish systems for consistently bringing in new leads.

For example, having the right call center software can significantly increase the effectiveness of your sales strategy plan. A cloud-based phone system has purpose-built features which help boost sales representatives’ productivity and optimize customer conversion rates, such as:

Call routing and skills-based routing, which quickly direct callers to the person best suited to answering their query

Voice calling features, like power dialing and click-to-dial, which let sales reps increase their call volumes while requiring fewer manual inputs

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) or knowledge bases, which give customers a range of self-service options to increase call center efficiency and customer satisfaction

Call queueing and queue callback, which help ensure that customers are served in the shortest time possible

Contact center software also makes it possible to store and access data in a single source. This is particularly useful in cases when call center software works in tandem with CRM or other sales software. Sales reps will be able to access call history and other details while speaking with customers on the phone, allowing them to tailor their pitch to each individual.

Part of defining your long-term sales strategy is to decide on which types of technology you plan to use in your sales department to optimize your sales funnel. Choosing the best call center software is just one of the ways of doing this, but it’s also one which will potentially impact your sales volumes the most.

Want a quick, step-by-step guide to perfecting your sales strategy planning?

10 steps to follow to ensure you’ve covered all your bases:

Use a sales strategy planning template to cut down on time.

Keep an eye on your competition. If it works for them, it’ll probably work for you. Keep in mind, though, that it’s always better to be the trailblazer, so don’t be afraid to find ways to innovate in your sales process.

Invest in training your sales reps to understand yours products, the customer experience, and different sales techniques.

Ensure sales and marketing alignment .

Invest in a cloud-based phone system and other sales softwares. Leverage their features and functions to enhance your workflows.

Start slow. Get all the kinks worked out before you increase sales quotas – otherwise, you may struggle to handle volumes and provide satisfactory customer service.

Continually monitor your call center. Compare sales results against your sales strategy plan at least every month to ensure you’re on track for achieving your targets.

Keep testing different sales strategies to see what works best. Keep fine-tuning your sales processes and workflows as you move forward to optimize customer conversion rates.

Tap the expertise of sales mentors or top sales agents when training call center sales reps.

Set up appropriate short- and long-term sales plans, continuously review data, and adjust sales strategies as needed to account for changes in consumer behaviors or market trends.

Our #1 piece of advice? Be flexible and ready to adapt as things change. What works today may not be effective tomorrow or next month, so having the agility to stay ahead of the curve will help your company stay competitive in any environment.

This is where your cloud-based phone system’s dashboard analytics come in. They will alert you when there’s a change in call volumes, the average length of calls, or other crucial metrics that signal a changing need within your organization. Then, improve your sales strategy plan based on this data.

Remember, perfecting your sales strategy doesn’t mean that it needs to be perfect right away. If you monitor your sales, align with your other departments, and leverage data, your plan will be a perfect work in progress – and that’s exactly what it should be.

Published on January 17, 2024.

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6 Steps to Create a Successful Sales Business Plan

6 Steps to Create a Successful Sales Business Plan

Written By Michelle Richardson

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Michelle Richardson

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What Actually Is "Strategic Sales" and How to Craft a Killer Strategic Sales Plan

What Actually Is "Strategic Sales" and How to Craft a Killer Strategic Sales Plan

When people think of sales, they tend to reflect on transactional sales – the type that focuses on a sales outcome that can take place in a matter of minutes or a longer set period. For example: You go to the store, you buy a candy bar. You just took part in a transactional sale. 

But sometimes you need a sales strategy more focused on building a long-term customer relationship. How will the clerk nurture your relationship and convince you to buy more products in the future? The answer is found in a strategic sales plan.

What is strategic sales?

What is strategic sales? Strategic sales involve developing a detailed plan for targeting prospective clients and selling them a product or service. Through strategic sales, companies focus on how their brand can provide a solution for their target customers. How do they do this? Sales teams take steps to understand their potential customers’ needs and develop strategies for their products and services to fulfill those desires.

Because strategic sales is an ongoing process, it requires careful planning. An effective strategic sales plan should include information about every aspect of the sales cycle, from capacity planning to territory design. It should also present plenty of data to justify the presented strategies. 

Why are strategic sales important?

Every sales team will develop a unique strategic sales plan specific to their products, brands and customers. The benefits provided by strategic sales, however, are common to practically any business. These benefits include:

  • Strategic sales allow teams to build and develop customer relationships.
  • Strategic sales plans help sales teams to better utilize sales analytics and understand the value of various metrics.
  • Strategic sales help turn average sales reps into outstanding sales leaders.
  • A strategic sales plan helps sales teams identify weak and strong areas in their sales funnels so they can make necessary adjustments.
  • Strategic sales plans help sales and marketing teams align their processes to improve outreach efforts.
  • A sale strategy helps teams target and nurture more profitable customers.
  • A detailed strategic sales plan helps ensure a brand’s sales strategies are optimized and followed by all.

Develop a strategic sales plan

How do you develop an effective strategic sales plan? Your strategic sales plan should include not only your sales funnel and strategies, but also all of the ideas, processes and resources available to help implement sales strategies.

Every company will benefit from a unique strategic sales plan, but most will share a few common elements that can serve as a solid foundation. When creating your own strategic sales plan, be sure to include:

  • Mission statement – What are the company’s purpose and values? What is the brand’s primary strategy for doing business?
  • Market condition s – In what market is the sales team operating? What are the market challenges? Have any recent events impacted the market? What is the competitive analysis?
  • Sales organization – Who makes up the sales organization? Using an organizational chart , identify the team’s key players and possibly individual sales reps.
  • Product information – What are the details of the products for sale, and what is their pricing? What about the products gives them value at their set price points?
  • Target customer – Who is the target customer that will most likely purchase the product or service being sold? What are their demographics, and what are their motivations?
  • Financial data – The strategic sales plan should include a variety of financial data to support the strategies described, including sales, revenues, budgets and even the sales compensation plan.
  • Branding and marketing – What sort of branding has the company emphasized, including potential social media presences, advertising and other marketing efforts. What is the company’s marketing strategy?
  • Sales process – What does the company’s sales funnel look like? What sales processes have been implemented for teams to follow?
  • Goals – What sales goals have been set for the company, each sales team and each sales representative?
  • KPIs – How are sales teams currently performing? It’s important to regularly update the strategic sales plan to reflect current data measuring sales teams’ progress and performance.

Not ready to create a strategic sales plan from scratch? Try customizing a template instead! Beautiful.ai offers a slew of convenient presentation templates created by professional designers to take the guesswork out of developing your sales plan. 

Take a look at the sales plan design of our Sales Projection Presentation Template , which includes slides to analyze the health of a company, compare projections to past sales numbers and even inform audiences about company operations. It’s easy to add additional slides to better illustrate your company’s own unique sales strategy, or just customize the Smart Slides with specific data relevant to your business.

It’s effortless to personalize slides using Beautiful.ai. Just enter your content and watch as artificial intelligence adjusts the design of the slides, infographics and other data visualizations.

Samantha Pratt Lile

Samantha Pratt Lile

Samantha is an independent journalist, editor, blogger and content manager. Examples of her published work can be found at sites including the Huffington Post, Thrive Global, and Buzzfeed.

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How to Create an Effective Sales and Marketing Plan

sales rep strategic plan

A comprehensive sales and marketing plan sets up organizations for long-term growth and success. In this guide, we’ll dig into the differences between sales and marketing plans, how to create your plan, and templates to get the ball rolling.

What is a Sales and Marketing Plan?

Sales plan vs. marketing plan, marketing plan template: the essential components, sales plan template: the essential components, steps to create a sales and marketing plan.

A well-crafted sales and marketing plan is indispensable for the success and growth of any company, whether it’s a startup, small business, or enterprise. This plan serves as a roadmap, outlining clear objectives, targeted customer segments, and actionable tactics to drive sales and promote brand awareness.

It enables companies to understand their market position, competitive landscape, and customer needs. On top of that, it provides a structured approach to buyer engagement , ensuring consistent and effective communication across various touchpoints.

By defining specific goals and identifying key performance indicators (KPIs), a sales and marketing plan provides a structured framework for marketing and sales to align their go-to-market efforts. And when teams are aligned, companies can generate up to 208% more revenue from their marketing efforts.

While sales and marketing are integral to an overall business plan, they serve distinct purposes and focus on different aspects of the customer journey. Here are the key differences between a sales plan and a marketing plan:

Focus and Objectives

Sales Plan: Primarily focuses on the activities and strategies to drive direct revenue generation. It outlines the specific actions the sales team will take to achieve targets and goals.

Marketing Plan: Concentrates on creating awareness, generating interest, and positioning new products or services in the market. It aims to build and maintain the brand, nurture leads, and create favorable conditions for sales.

Sales Plan: Typically more tactical and operational, it details the sales team’s day-to-day activities. It addresses how sales representatives engage with prospects, close deals, and meet revenue targets.

Marketing Plan: Has a broader scope, encompassing the overall market strategy, brand positioning, promotional activities, and communication efforts. It sets the stage for sales by creating a favorable market environment.

Sales Plan: Often focuses on short-term goals and immediate revenue generation. It may have a more immediate and tactical orientation focusing on quarterly or annual targets.

Marketing Plan: Can have a longer-term perspective, building brand equity and customer relationships over time. It may include short-term and long-term initiatives aligned with the overall business strategy.

Sales Plan: Includes sales tactics, prospecting strategies, target setting, and customer relationship management (CRM) activities.

Marketing Plan: Encompasses market research, target audience identification, advertising, content creation, social media strategy, and overall brand positioning.

Sales Plan: Metrics focus on sales performance , revenue targets, conversion rates, customer acquisition costs, and individual sales representative performance.

Marketing Plan: Metrics include brand awareness, lead generation, website traffic, social media engagement, customer acquisition costs, and marketing ROI.

Collaboration

Sales Plan: Primarily involves collaboration within the sales team, setting individual and team goals, and coordinating efforts to meet targets.

Marketing Plan: Requires collaboration between marketing and other departments to ensure a consistent brand message and a seamless customer experience. This collaboration extends to content creation, advertising, and customer relationship strategies.

Here, you can see that a sales plan is more tactical and concentrates on direct revenue generation. In contrast, the marketing plan is strategic, focusing on creating a favorable market environment and building brand equity.

An effective marketing plan outlines a business’s strategies and tactics to achieve its marketing objectives. Here are the key components that typically go into creating a new marketing plan:

Executive Summary

  • Brief overview of the marketing plan, including goals, strategies, and key components.

Market Analysis

  • Analysis of the target market, including demographics, trends, and opportunities.
  • Competitor analysis, highlighting strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis).

Target Audience and Buyer Personas

  • Detailed profiles of the target customers, specifying their needs, pain points, preferences, and behaviors.
  • Development of buyer personas to guide marketing strategies, messaging, and sales outreach.

Marketing Goals and Objectives

  • Clearly defined SMART goals for the marketing efforts.
  • Specific objectives, such as brand awareness, lead generation, customer acquisition, or market share.

Positioning and Messaging

  • Clear articulation of the brand positioning and competitive advantages.
  • Development of consistent messaging that resonates with the target audience.

Marketing Strategies

  • Overview of the overarching marketing strategies, including product positioning, pricing, distribution, and promotion.
  • Differentiation strategies and competitive positioning.

Marketing Mix (4Ps)

  • Product: Details about the products or services being marketed.
  • Price: Pricing strategy, discounts, and payment terms.
  • Place: Distribution channels and logistics.
  • Promotion: Advertising, public relations, digital marketing, content marketing, and other promotional activities.

Marketing Budget

  • Allocation of budget for each marketing activity and channel.
  • Cost projections and expected return on investment (ROI).

Marketing Calendar

  • Timeline for planned marketing activities, campaigns, and promotions.
  • Seasonal considerations and industry-specific events.

Marketing Channels

  • Identification and description of the marketing channels to be utilized (online and offline).
  • Social media strategy, content marketing plan, email marketing, advertising channels, etc.

Content Strategy

  • Development of a content plan, including types of content (i.e. case studies, one-pagers), frequency, and distribution channels.
  • Content creation and distribution strategy.
  • Regular content audit to see what’s working and what isn’t.

Measurement and Analytics

  • KPIs to benchmark the success of marketing activities.
  • Tools and methods for data collection and analysis.

A sales plan is a strategic document that outlines the tactics and activities a business will undertake to achieve its sales objectives. Here are the key components that typically go into a sales plan:

  • Brief overview of the entire sales plan, summarizing the goals, strategies, and key components.

Sales Objectives

  • Clearly defined and measurable sales goals, such as revenue targets, market share, or customer acquisition metrics.
  • Specific and realistic objectives for the sales team.

Target Market and Customer Segmentation

  • Identification of the target market and specific customer segments.
  • Create ideal customer profiles and characteristics to guide sales efforts.

Product or Service Offering

  • Detailed information about the products or services being sold.
  • Value propositions and key differentiators.

Sales Strategies

  • Overview of the overarching sales strategies , including prospecting, lead generation, and conversion tactics.
  • Strategies for acquiring new customers, upselling, cross-selling, and customer retention.

Sales Team Structure

  • Organization of the sales team, including roles, responsibilities, and reporting structure.

Sales Tactics and Techniques

  • Detailed description of the tactics and techniques the sales team will use to engage with potential customers and increase the bottom line.
  • Sales methodologies employed by the team.

Sales Forecast

  • Prediction of sales performance over a specific period.
  • Revenue projections, taking into account market conditions and other relevant factors.

Sales Territories and Distribution Channels

  • Definition of sales territories and distribution channels.
  • Strategies for reaching and serving customers in different geographic areas.

Sales Metrics and KPIs

  • Identification of key metrics to measure sales performance.
  • KPIs such as conversion rates, average deal size, and customer acquisition costs.

Sales Training and Development

  • Plans for training and developing the sales team.
  • Continuous improvement strategies.

Now that you have templates in place, let’s put them together to create an overall plan and what it could look like.

Look for trends in the data

Before you start digging into the meat of your plan, you need to gather data, drawing from internal company insights and external market trends. Internally, you can look at historical sales data, customer behaviors, and product performance, providing a foundation for understanding the company’s strengths and areas for improvement.

On the other hand, keeping a keen eye on external market trends, consumer preferences, and industry developments allows for a proactive approach to shifts in the market. This data-driven strategy enables businesses to effectively tailor their sales and marketing initiatives , aligning them with evolving customer needs. By combining internal insights with external trends, organizations can craft a dynamic plan that is not only grounded in historical performance but is also adaptable to the changing landscape of the business environment.

Know your customer

One of the most important steps when creating a sales and marketing plan is to know who you’re selling to. You should develop in-depth buyer personas based on demographic, psychographic, and behavioral attributes. By understanding your target audience’s characteristics, preferences, and pain points, you can tailor your sales and marketing strategies to resonate more effectively.

This key step not only enhances the efficiency of marketing campaigns but also streamlines the sales process by aligning efforts with the expectations and behaviors of your customers.

Set achievable goals

Now that you have a clear image of who you’re selling to, where you stand, and where the market is, you and various stakeholders can begin to set realistic goals and targets for your team.

Setting goals is crucial for your success. They allow you to track if you’re making a real impact on your business. They create alignment between teams so they know what they must do to achieve those goals. A recent study by HubSpot found that 25% of companies say their sales and marketing teams are either “misaligned” or “rarely aligned” on goals, leading to confusion and poor performance.

To get your teams on the same page, you should consider setting SMART goals. Here is a great example of how to think about goal setting:

Specific: Make sure your goals are clear. What will be accomplished? What actions will you take? Don’t just say you want to increase revenue — explain how you plan to achieve it. For example, you can say: We will increase revenue by 15% by using a guided selling approach.

Measurable: What metrics will you use to determine if you met your goal? This makes a goal more tangible because it provides a way to measure progress.

Achievable: Consider how to accomplish the goal, if you have the tools and skills needed, and what it would take to attain it. Don’t set objectives that are impossible to reach. The goals are meant to inspire motivation, not discouragement.

Relevant: Goals need to fit your current situation and sales strategy. They should align with the overall business goals and department objectives.

Time-Bound: Realistic timing for when you can achieve your goals is crucial. Provide deadlines and target dates to hold teams accountable.

Determine how you will measure success

Now that you’ve set goals, it’s time to start measuring them.

KPIs are crucial metrics that help measure the effectiveness of sales and marketing efforts. Here’s a list of KPIs for a sales and marketing plan:

Sales KPIs:

  • Revenue: Total income generated from sales.
  • Sales Growth Rate: Percentage increase in sales over a specific period.
  • Conversion Rate: Percentage of leads that convert into customers.
  • Average Deal Size: Average value of a sales transaction.
  • Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Cost incurred to acquire a new customer.
  • Sales Cycle Length: Average time it takes to close a sale.
  • Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Predicted revenue generated throughout a customer’s lifecycle.
  • Win Rate: Percentage of opportunities that result in a sale.
  • Churn Rate: Percentage of customers lost over a given period.
  • Upsell and Cross-sell Rate: Percentage of existing customers who purchase additional products or services.

Marketing KPIs:

  • Lead Generation: Number of new leads acquired.
  • Website Traffic: Number of visitors to the website.
  • Conversion Rate (Marketing): Percentage of website visitors who take a desired action.
  • Click-Through Rate (CTR): Percentage of people who click on a specific link.
  • Cost per Lead (CPL): Cost associated with acquiring a new lead.
  • Social Media Engagement: Likes, shares, comments, and other interactions on social media.
  • Email Open and Click-through Rates: Percentage of opened emails and clicked links.
  • Content Engagement: Interaction with blog posts, videos, or other content.
  • Brand Awareness: Measured through surveys, social media mentions, or search volume.
  • Return on Investment (ROI): Ratio of the net profit from marketing campaigns to the cost of those campaigns.

Overall Business KPIs:

  • Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): Measurement of customer satisfaction.
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS): Indicator of customer loyalty and likelihood to recommend.
  • Market Share: Company’s portion of the total market.
  • Brand Equity: Perceived value and strength of a brand in the market.
  • Customer Retention Rate: Percentage of customers retained over a period.

Regularly monitoring these metrics provides insights into performance, helping businesses make informed decisions and optimize their sales and marketing strategies.

Define your sales and marketing strategies

How are you going to generate demand for your product or service? At this stage in your plan, you can start to define how you will reach your ideal customers and move them through the buyer’s journey. Integrated marketing campaigns that use various channels, such as social media and paid ads, are a great way to get started. Additionally, you should include lead generation strategies such as content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and targeted promotions to nurture prospects and guide them through the sales funnel.

It’s important here that you work with your sales enablement team to create relevant content for the sales team .

Formulate a sales team structure and training program

A well-defined sales team structure and comprehensive training program are vital to a successful sales and marketing plan. The structure of the sales team should outline roles, responsibilities, and reporting hierarchies to ensure efficient workflow and clear lines of communication.

Along with getting the structure right, you must ensure that your sales reps have the right training and coaching to improve their skills, ramp up product knowledge, and stay aligned with the right messaging and communication techniques.

Teams should work closely with sales enablement to schedule regular training sessions that not only focus on enhancing existing skills but also address emerging market trends and customer expectations. Continuous improvement is key, and fostering a culture of learning within the sales team contributes to adaptability and responsiveness. This dual emphasis on structure and training ensures the sales team is well-organized and equipped to navigate challenges.

Download resource: What Good Onboarding, Training, and Coaching Look Like

Create a sales forecasting model

Creating a sound forecasting model provides a structured framework for predicting future sales performance. This model involves analysis of historical sales data, market trends, and external factors that might impact sales.

The sales forecasting model should incorporate variables such as product demand, pricing strategies, and market conditions to provide a comprehensive and accurate estimation.

A well-crafted model not only aids in resource allocation, inventory management, and budgeting but also serves as a proactive tool for anticipating challenges and capitalizing on emerging opportunities, contributing to the overall success of the sales and marketing plan.

Continuously Optimize

Recognizing that markets, consumer behaviors, and competitive landscapes evolve, an effective plan should be agile and responsive. This involves regularly reviewing KPIs, analyzing data, and soliciting feedback to identify areas for improvement.

Whether refining marketing strategies, adjusting sales tactics, or fine-tuning messaging, the goal is to stay attuned to shifts in customer preferences and market trends. By fostering a culture of continuous optimization, businesses can adapt swiftly, capitalize on emerging opportunities, and mitigate potential challenges.

Execute Your Sales and Marketing Plan with Highspot’s Sales Enablement Platform

Aligning your sales and marketing plans is no easy task. Highspot’s sales enablement platform aligns marketing initiatives with sales goals to maximize collaboration. By tracking key metrics across the buyer’s journey, you’ll know how to drive measurable revenue growth that improves lead acquisition and retention. Book a demo today !

The Highspot Team works to create and promote the Highspot sales enablement platform, which gives businesses a powerful sales advantage to engage in more relevant buyer conversations and achieve their revenue goals. Through AI-powered search, analytics, in-context training, guided selling, and 50+ integrations, the Highspot platform delivers enterprise-ready sales enablement in a modern design that sales reps and marketers love.

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sales rep strategic plan

Close more deals with the latest sales trends and tips from Salesblazers.

The Ultimate Sales Playbook: How to Create Your Own with Examples for Success

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Help your team succeed with the sales plays they need to close every deal.

sales rep strategic plan

Michael Windeler

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As a coach, it’s thrilling to see your game plan executed to perfection on the field. But it takes careful planning to get to the end zone. If your strategy is too complex, the team may get confused and fumble at a critical moment. Too simple, and you might not be ready when things go awry. What you need is an easy-to-understand sales playbook to guide your team to victory. We’ll walk through everything you need to know to create the right mix of winning plays that guide your sales team to big wins.

What you’ll learn

What is a sales playbook, what’s included in a playbook , benefits of a playbook, sales plays to include in your playbook, how to write an effective playbook, how to keep your playbook up to date.

  • 7 sales playbook types and examples

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sales rep strategic plan

A playbook is a comprehensive guide that outlines your team’s approach to selling. It compiles best practices, strategies, and tactics specific to the team and spells out roles, responsibilities, and objectives. The playbook also provides guidance and examples to help sales teams navigate through every stage of the sales process effectively.

What are sales plays?

Sales plays are specific strategies or steps that your sales team can follow during different parts of the selling process. Think of them as practical, easy-to-follow recipes for sales success. Each play is designed to handle a particular situation or challenge in sales, helping your team know exactly what to do and when.

Say you’re trying to engage a potential client who’s shown interest. An example of a sales play might be sending a personalized email, followed by making a phone call and then arranging a meeting. This straightforward, step-by-step approach can guide your reps toward higher chances of success.

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Just as every coach has their own playbook, a playbook is unique to every organization. That said, there are often common elements. Here’s what’s often included:

Sales strategies and tactics

This section is the heart of the playbook. It includes detailed methods for engaging with customers, such as how to approach cold calls , effective emailing techniques , and tips for successful face-to-face meetings.

Customer personas

Here, you’ll find detailed descriptions of your ideal customers or buyer personas and insights into their buying habits. This information helps sales reps understand and empathize with potential customers’ challenges and pain points and form personalized solutions.

Scripts and templates

To maintain consistency in communication, your playbook should include scripts for calls and meetings, email templates for various scenarios, and guidelines for social media interactions.

Product information

A thorough overview of your products or services should also be included, showcasing features, benefits, pricing, and competitor analyses. This section is crucial for ensuring your team understands what they’re selling. It can also help when handling objections from prospects.

Sales process

This is where you detail how your team should engage with potential customers from initial contact to closing a deal. This is crucial as it provides a clear, company-specific roadmap, ensuring all team members follow a consistent, effective sales strategy.

Supporting training materials and best practices

To help new and existing team members, your playbook should have training resources, best practices, and tips from top performers — a mix of learning materials and real-world wisdom teams can emulate.

Tools details and resources

Information on CRM systems, sales enablement tools, and other technologies that support the sales process are important inclusions in your sales playbook. This ensures everyone knows how to use the tools at their disposal effectively.

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

This is a collection of all metrics and goals that sales reps should aim for. This includes targets expected of sales reps like total sales closed, the number of calls per day, conversion rates, or average deal size.

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A playbook provides a structured approach to achieving sales goals. Here’s what a playbook brings to the table:

• Assists with training for new reps: Your playbook becomes a time-saving tool in onboarding new team members. It provides a clear, step-by-step guide on everything from conducting sales calls to closing deals , significantly reducing the time it takes for a rep to ramp up to peak efficiency.

• Makes selling more straightforward: Your sales team won’t have to guess the best way to handle different selling situations. A playbook gives them ready-to-use methods and tips so they can spend more time selling and less time figuring out their approach.

• Supports a consistent approach: Companies often want reps to use specific messaging and competitive responses. If you don’t outline this for sellers, they may just make it up as they go. Sales playbooks help everyone on your sales team talk about your products and deal with customers in a similar way. Customers have a consistent experience, which is good for your brand because it instills confidence.

• Shares success secrets: Sales teams can collect trade secrets from top sellers and share the most effective methods. That way, everyone can learn from them, which helps boost the performance of the whole team.

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When considering which sales plays to include, consider the specific challenges and opportunities your sales team faces. Examples include:

Prospecting plays

Develop a comprehensive strategy for identifying and reaching out to potential new customers. Focus on innovative techniques like using social media and crafting personalized outreach messages. Highlight the importance of understanding your target audience and tailoring the approach accordingly.

Lead qualification plays

Provide a detailed guide for evaluating whether a lead is likely to convert. Include a set of qualifying questions and criteria that sales reps can use to assess a lead’s potential. Emphasize understanding the customer’s needs and readiness to buy.

Ghosting plays

Equip sales reps with strategies for handling unresponsive clients. Offer examples of follow-up messages that show understanding, emphasizing empathy while suggesting actionable next steps.

Product demo plays

Outline strategies for effective product demonstrations. Emphasize tailoring the demo to the customer’s needs and interests and preparing to address common questions or concerns. If any employees are new to presenting, this is a good chance to outline best practices and tips for public speaking.

Follow-up plays

Highlight the best practices for follow-up communications. Include references to previous interactions and continually add insights for each contact while addressing any new changes or developments that might affect the customer’s decision.

Closing plays

Outline steps and techniques to help your team close deals effectively, whether creating a sense of urgency, addressing last-minute objections, or getting the deal through procurement.

When drafting your playbook, think of it as setting up a game plan that ensures every player on your team knows the plays, understands their roles, and sees the path to scoring sales. Here are the steps to follow to ensure your playbook covers everything you want your sales team to know:

1. Assemble a diverse team

Form a group that includes sales leaders, frontline sales reps, marketing experts, and customer service staff. This team should represent different aspects of the customer journey and sales process. For example, sales leaders can offer insights on overall strategy, while frontline reps can share hands-on experience with customer interactions.

2. Define your sales philosophy

Clarify your company’s sales approach and values. Involve top management in this discussion to ensure the playbook aligns with broader business goals. Asking “What values should drive our sales interactions?” and “How do we differentiate our approach from competitors?” can help crystallize your sales philosophy.

3. Create customer personas

Work with the marketing department to develop detailed customer/buyer personas. These should be based on market research and existing customer data. For example, a B2B software company might have personas like Tech-Savvy Startup Owner or Cost-Conscious SME Manager.

4. Document the sales process with reps

Collaborate with sales representatives to outline each stage of the sales cycle . This process might include steps like lead generation, qualification , proposal generation, negotiation, and closing. Document tactics that have been effective at each stage, such as using case studies in proposals or specific negotiation techniques.

5. Develop strategies with team input

Use brainstorming sessions to develop sales strategies and plays for specific products and scenarios. This could include handling objections or unique selling propositions for different products. For instance, you might create a strategy for upselling additional services to existing clients.

6. Craft templates, scripts, and outlines

Develop practical tools like call scripts, email templates, and proposal outlines. These should be based on successful past communications and refined through team feedback. For example, create an email template for follow-ups after initial meetings.

7. Create tools enablement materials

Select the most effective tools and resources, such as CRM systems or sales enablement platforms, to enable your reps to sell and draft enablement materials to help them use these effectively.

8. Integrate training resources

Incorporate educational materials and training resources into the flow of work. This might include online courses, internal training sessions, and materials from top performers. Ideally, fold these into your CRM so they’re easily accessible as your reps go about their work. Also, determine the best ways to facilitate continuous learning and skill development.

9. Set goals with management’s insight

Work with sales leadership to establish clear performance metrics and goals. These should be specific, measurable, and aligned with both individual sales role objectives and the company’s broader objectives. Goals might include sales quotas , conversion rates, or customer satisfaction scores.

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sales rep strategic plan

Your playbook shouldn’t be static. It needs regular tune-ups to stay relevant and practical. Like a coach tweaks a team’s playbook for every season — sometimes even mid-way through a game — you should regularly refine your sales strategies to align with changing market and customer needs. Set times for regular playbook reviews, like at the beginning of each quarter, to ensure it stays in step with the market.

Keep a close watch on customer behavior and preferences, adapting your sales approaches and personas to reflect the current landscape. Above all, keep your playbook accessible, user-friendly, and well-organized, making it an effective tool for your team’s success.

7 playbook types and examples

Creating a playbook from scratch can be daunting, but you don’t have to start with a blank page. To help you get the ball rolling, here are examples of some different types of sales playbooks. Think of these are starting points, which you can customize to fit your team’s unique needs and sales goals:

1. Classic playbook

Envision this as the comprehensive guide for your sales team. It includes everything from identifying target customer personas to detailed strategies for each stage of the sales cycle. For example, if your product is an educational app and your target audience is busy parents, the playbook might include specific conversation starters for parent-teacher meetings, tailored email templates for follow-ups, and objection-handling techniques specifically addressing common parental concerns.

2. Start-up playbook

This one’s tailored for emerging businesses, focusing on fundamental sales strategies and innovative marketing. For a new coffee subscription service, the playbook might suggest leveraging social media platforms for brand awareness, using influencer marketing to reach a broader audience, and guerrilla marketing tactics like pop-up events or collaborations with local businesses to create buzz.

3. Product-specific playbook

This playbook zeroes in on effectively selling a particular product, like a high-tech home appliance. It would detail the appliance’s features, benefits, and competitive advantages. Sales strategies might include a comparison guide (a side-by-side look at your product vs. competitors’ products), case studies of satisfied customers, and tailored scripts for in-store demonstrations.

4. Account-based playbook

This is perfect for targeting high-value accounts such as large corporations or specialized sectors, as these accounts typically require more attention. It would outline methods for identifying and engaging key decision-makers, tips for personalizing pitches, and strategies for nurturing these relationships.

5. Solution selling playbook

Designed for complex, consultative selling scenarios driven by an overarching problem. This playbook would guide sales reps in diagnosing the problem, presenting a tailored solution, and navigating lengthy decision-making processes. It could include questionnaires to uncover client needs, presentation templates for solution proposals, and strategies for effective follow-up.

6. Social selling playbook

This is ideal for teams incorporating social media into their sales strategy. A solution selling playbook might include best practices for engaging potential customers on platforms like LinkedIn, tips for creating compelling content on Instagram, and strategies for using Facebook ads to generate leads. It could also cover how to transition online interactions into sales opportunities.

7. Remote sales playbook

Essential for teams that operate primarily in a virtual environment, this playbook covers techniques for effective video sales calls and virtual engagement, including how to set the scene for a professional backdrop during video calls, how to use engaging presentation tools, and how to build rapport over a screen. It might also include recommendations for CRM and sales tracking tools suited for remote teams.

Remember, these are just starting points. The most effective playbooks are tailored to your team’s unique selling environment, market conditions customer profiles, and sales goals.

Sales playbooks fuel future wins

Crafting and refining your playbook is not a one-time play. It’s an ongoing effort that must adapt to shifting markets and the growth of your team. Regularly updating your playbook keeps your sales strategies fresh, relevant, and ahead of the competition. Continuous refinement and adaptation will also keep your team agile, focused, and prepared for whatever the sales field throws at them.

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Fresh from eclipsing Tesla in EV sales, BYD plans raft of new upscale models to grab leading share of luxury car market

The Yangwang U8 from BYD

China’s BYD outlined a new long-term strategy to boost sales and profits along with its sagging stock price, including plans to take a “leading position” in the luxury EV market.

Fresh from eclipsing Tesla in sales for the first time last quarter, the Warren Buffett–backed carmaker said in a  regulatory filing on Sunday it would begin offering a raft of new premium priced EVs and plug-in hybrids—collectively classified as New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) in China—across three main brands starting this year. 

The Shenzhen-based carmaker leads a new phalanx of Chinese EV upstarts Elon Musk has warned can “ demolish ” their Western competitors thanks to their aggressive growth, a booming domestic EV market, low-cost labor, and a vast supply chain for lithium refining and battery cell production.

“The hot sales of high-end luxury brand models have significantly enhanced the company’s profitability and greatly enhanced brand image,” BYD said in the statement.

The company chose to be light on the specifics, but it cited as evidence the success of its upscale Yangwang U8. BYD expects that the SUV, which is capable of turning a full 360 degrees on the spot like a tank, will be China’s best-selling vehicle in the segment for 1 million-plus RMB ($140,000) EVs in January for the second month running. 

BYD became the first-ever Chinese automaker to participate in the Japan Mobility Show in its 47-year history. The YANGWANG U8 displayed its tank turn, showcasing BYD's innovative tech and superior craftsmanship to Japanese audiences. #JMS2023 Read more: https://t.co/D6qpXagmAa pic.twitter.com/dPjgQg3xEm — BYD (@BYDCompany) October 27, 2023

Typically new launches act as a drain on financial resources initially, as the dealer pipeline has to be filled with enough inventory to meet demand from the first wave of customers. The same goes for expanding a company’s production footprint, as BYD is doing in Hungary, where it has begun building its first car plant in Europe. 

BYD, however, said its growth plans would not prove an impediment to buying back its own shares, as China’s leading carmaker seeks to restore investor confidence.

Enormous R&D staff to power product offensive

The announcement comes as most traditional carmakers in the West are scaling back their EV ambitions or at least pushing them further into the future. 

Even Tesla has hit the brakes , preferring instead to talk up the prospects of its humanoid robotics program in order to capitalize on the boom in artificial intelligence . When it comes to its core car business, Musk delayed construction of his vehicle manufacturing plant in Mexico and quietly buried previous aspirations to announce the next site of a new Tesla EV factory by the end of December. 

By comparison, BYD neither shows signs of slowing down nor is tempted to follow Musk by pivoting away from cars to tout sexier trends like  AI and robotics . To fuel the new product offensive, the Chinese carmaker has a staggering 90,000 engineers in research and development on its payroll; that’s nearly two-thirds of Tesla’s entire global workforce.

Even as BYD has torn up the EV market, though, its shares have flopped over the past 12 months. Everything from concerns over Elon Musk’s price war to waning enthusiasm for owning Chinese shares has seen the stock plummet 35% since this time last year. As a result it has dropped from third-most valuable carmaker by market cap, behind Tesla and Toyota , to just seventh.

That’s why the company is considering a second stock buyback that would be “reasonable and feasible,” based on prevailing market conditions, after previously repurchasing 5.51 million shares by June 2022. 

This should delight investors like Buffett. His Berkshire Hathaway investment holding owns nearly a tenth of the company.

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Middle East latest: Israel plans to build 3,000 homes in occupied West Bank 'in response to shooting'

Israel plans to approve the construction of more than 3,300 homes in the occupied West Bank, which one minister said was in response to a shooting near a checkpoint in which one person died. Listen to a Daily podcast on the potential Rafah offensive while you scroll through our updates.

Friday 23 February 2024 12:58, UK

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Israel plans to approve the construction of more than 3,300 new homes in the West Bank, the Israeli government has announced. 

The homes are expected to be built in the settlement areas of Maale Adumim, Efrat and Kedar.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a statement late last night that the new construction is a response to a shooting near an Israeli checkpoint in the occupied West Bank in which one person died and five were injured.

Most countries deem any project led by Israel in the West Bank as wrong, as many Palestinians want it to be an independent state.

But Israel claims it has historical and biblical ties to the land.

Gaza health authorities have said at least 120 people were killed and 130 wounded in the last 24 hours of Israeli assaults.

Many more people are thought to be still trapped under rubble.

One of the areas targeted was Rafah - a southern city near the border with Egypt - where around 1.5 million people are currently packed.

People were pictured mourning the loss of family members after the airstrikes, which destroyed the city's al Farouk mosque.

Israel has threatened to launch a full-blown attack on Rafah, despite international pleas not to.

Residents who are currently staying in the city have nowhere left to go, they say.

By Nicole Johnston, former Gaza-based correspondent

Amal Zaqout is from Gaza city, her flat was destroyed in the war. She's now living in Rafah with her cousin.

Over the last four months of this war, her messages and conversations with Sky News have grown increasingly desperate.

"What will we do next? It's unthinkable," she says.

"The majority of Palestinians in Gaza city, and the north and Khan Younis, their houses have been destroyed and the infrastructure has also been destroyed."

Amal says she cannot imagine living in Gaza for the next five years, but doesn't know where people will go, including herself.

"Everything is destroyed," she says, "I hope that the whole world will wake up and come and join us to rebuild Gaza again.

"I know it won't be easy [to rebuild], but we will try, we will not give up and we will not leave our land.

"We are human beings, we don't deserve this, we are peaceful people, and we want to live like anyone.

"Children, women and innocent people and dying every day.

"Shame on you. Wake up. We are not animals."

'You struggle to find everything'

Amal says the prices for everything in Gaza are now so expensive, it's like "Switzerland". 

She says everyone is in need, even people who had money at the start of the war.

"You struggle to find everything; food, gas, flour, vegetables and fruit," she says.

Currently living in a flat with her family, her cousin's family and her sister's family, Amal says three salaries are still not enough to afford food because of the sky-high prices in Gaza.

"I think about the people with no money living in the tents, in the street, I try to help them," she says.

The Palestinian president has said a proposed plan set out for a post-war Gaza by Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu is doomed to fail.

Earlier this morning, we reported that Mr Netanyahu said Israel will control security in a demilitarised Gaza and play a role in civilian affairs, after its war on Hamas ends.

In reaction to the proposal, a spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas said any Israeli plans to change the geographic and demographic realities in Gaza were not going to work.

"If the world is genuinely interested in having security and stability in the region, it must end Israel's occupation of Palestinian land and recognise an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," Nabil Abu Rudeineh said.

The Palestinian Authority foreign ministry added in a statement on X that Mr Netanyahu's plan "serves his interest in prolonging the war to stay in power". 

It added the proposal's obstruct American and international efforts to establish the Palestinian State.

The number of people killed in Gaza by Israel airstrikes has risen to 29,514, the Hamas-run health ministry in the enclave has said.

Another 69,616 have been injured since the war began.

The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and fighters killed in its figures.

Israel has previously accused the health ministry of inflating the death toll and casualty figures.

But in previous conflicts, the numbers coming out of Gaza have been similar to UN estimates.

Hamas's political leader has left Egypt after holding talks with officials about a possible ceasefire in Gaza, the group has said.

Ismail Haniyeh and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel are thought to have also discussed an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. 

It is unclear if the talks were successful or led to a potential breakthrough. 

The talks came ahead of a meeting at which the US, Qatar, Egypt and Israel are set to discuss the return of hostages.

Mediators are working on a new deal after Israel rejected proposals from Hamas to end the war and release Israeli hostages in return for the all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Israel is instead seeking a phased deal, including a temporary pause in fighting, in exchange for the release of some of the roughly 100 hostages.

The Israeli prime minister has said Israel will control security in a demilitarised Gaza and play a role in civilian affairs after its war on Hamas ends.

The plan submitted by Benjamin Netanyahu to his cabinet marks the first time he has set out a formal post-war vision for the enclave.

His war cabinet colleague, defence minister Yoav Gallant, outlined a similar post-war plan  for Gaza last month.

The plans are the complete opposite to those proposed by the US and many world leaders who are pushing for a two-state solution. 

This would see an independent Palestinian state established alongside Israel - giving both peoples their own territory.

Mr Netanyahu's plan also envisions Gaza being governed by local officials who he says would "not be identified with countries or entities that support terrorism and will not receive payment from them".

The Israeli military has said a man killed in a drone attack in the occupied West Bank was part of a militant group.

The IDF named him as Yasser Hanoun and claimed he was a member of the Islamic Jihad group.

It comes after the Palestinian health ministry said one man was killed and 15 wounded, two critically, in an Israeli attack on a car in the Jenin refugee camp last night.

The IDF said Hanoun was on his way to carry out an attack when the car he was driving was hit. He was previously involved in several attacks targeting Israeli settlements and army posts, it added.

A 17-year-old was also killed in the strike, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Violence has escalated in the West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, triggered by the 7 October Hamas attacks.

Since then, about 400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank, most as part of near-daily arrest raids by troops searching for suspected militants.

Welcome back to our coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas and the wider crisis in the Middle East.

The Hamas-run health ministry said yesterday that at least 71 people had been killed in Israeli strikes in southern and central Gaza in a day.

It came as tensions rose in the West Bank, where three gunmen opened fire at motorists near an Israeli checkpoint, killing one person and wounding five, emergency services said.

One woman was seriously wounded, Israel's ambulance service said. 

Police said officers and civilians at the site shot dead two gunmen and wounded a third. 

The suspects were from the city of Bethlehem, police said. 

In other news from the region:

  • The US military said a person was injured and damage was caused after a Houthi missile hit a UK-owned cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden. It came after six Houthi drones were downed in the Red Sea;
  • The leader of the Iran-backed group said operations in the shipping route would continue and the Houthis were looking to escalate them;
  • A UN aid worker said Gaza's "whole society has collapsed" amid the dire humanitarian crisis;
  • The White House said the US's Middle East envoy held "constructive" talks in Israel and Egypt on a hostage release deal.

In southern Gaza, aid workers report that security is collapsing fast.

Sky News has received messages from a foreign aid worker in Rafah, who doesn't want to be named for their own safety.

They said the looting of aid supplies has "raised the risk to red".

The message said truck drivers delivering humanitarian aid were stopped by gunfire yesterday, and even when the driver stopped and said "take the truck", he was beaten and his truck was smashed. 

The aid worker said a gun was held to the driver's head and blames groups based in Gaza for the violence.

The message continued: "An international lead convoy was attacked by gunfire twice and six looters were killed in the crowd surge."

By all accounts, law and order has collapsed in Gaza as anarchy, chaos and desperation takes over.

Sky News was sent videos of looting "hot spots" in Gaza, taken over the last three days.

The source said trucks are being attacked through the Philadelphi Corridor (a narrow strip of land on the Egyptian-Gaza border).

There are also attacks near the Keram Shalom border crossing with Israel, as well as close to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, where trucks are being targeted by Palestinian bedouins.

"They pulled knives on us and then shot at the truck," the source said.

"Inside the Rafah crossing we were attacked by large groups, coming over the fence as the trucks were cross loading and placing the goods in rubhalls (large tents used in emergency situations)." 

Any trucks coming from the crossings are also being looted by "armed and aggressive large groups", they said. 

"The violence against drivers is unprecedented, there is no moral compass and no compassion, just a sheer need to attack and destroy."

"It's out of control, it is so dangerous. Honestly in Rafah the threat is not the Israelis now, it is the people."

"It's hell in a basket, I see it imploding. No one has any ideas, they are just putting out spot fires, that reignite a front on all sides."

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Biden Administration Is Said to Slow Early Stage of Shift to Electric Cars

The change to planned rules was an election-year concession to labor unions and auto executives, according to people familiar with the plan.

The bright red body of a Ford F-150 Lightning truck suspended a couple of feet over a chassis on an assembly line.

By Coral Davenport

Coral Davenport has been covering the government’s effort to fight climate change by regulating tailpipe pollution since the first rules in 2009.

In a concession to automakers and labor unions, the Biden administration intends to relax elements of one of its most ambitious strategies to combat climate change, limits on tailpipe emissions that are designed to get Americans to switch from gas-powered cars to electric vehicles, according to three people familiar with the plan.

Instead of essentially requiring automakers to rapidly ramp up sales of electric vehicles over the next few years, the administration would give car manufacturers more time, with a sharp increase in sales not required until after 2030, these people said. They asked to remain anonymous because the regulation has not been finalized. The administration plans to publish the final rule by early spring.

The change comes as President Biden faces intense crosswinds as he runs for re-election while trying to confront climate change. He is aiming to cut carbon dioxide emissions from gasoline-powered vehicles, which make up the largest single source of greenhouse gases emitted by the United States.

At the same time, Mr. Biden needs cooperation from the auto industry and political support from the unionized auto workers who backed him in 2020 but now worry that an abrupt transition to electric vehicles would cost jobs. Meanwhile, consumer demand has not been what automakers hoped, with potential buyers put off by sticker prices and the relative scarcity of charging stations.

Sensing an opening, former President Donald J. Trump, the Republican front-runner, has seized on electric cars, falsely warning the public that they “don’t work” and telling autoworkers that Mr. Biden’s policies are “lunacy” that he would extinguish on “the first day” of his return to the White House.

Last spring, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the toughest-ever limits on tailpipe emissions . The rules would be so strict, the only way car makers could comply would be to sell a tremendous number of zero-emissions vehicles in a relatively short time frame.

The E.P.A. designed the proposed regulations so that 67 percent of sales of new cars and light-duty trucks would be all-electric by 2032, up from 7.6 percent in 2023, a radical remaking of the American automobile market.

That remains the goal. But as they finalize the regulations, administration officials are tweaking the plan to slow the pace at which auto manufacturers would need to comply, so that electric vehicle sales would increase more gradually through 2030 but then would have to sharply rise.

The change in pacing is in response to automakers who say that more time is needed to build a national network of charging stations and to bring down the cost of electric vehicles, and to labor unions that want more time to try to unionize new electric car plants that are opening around the country, particularly in the South.

But delaying the most stringent requirements of the rule could come at a cost to the climate, after the hottest year in recorded history.

An Ambitious Initial Plan

Postponing the sharp increase in electric vehicle sales until after 2030 would still eliminate roughly the same amount of auto emissions as the original proposal by 2055, according to E.P.A. models. But it would mean the nation would continue to pump auto emissions into the atmosphere in the short run. Scientists say every year counts in the government’s efforts to prevent the planet from tipping into more deadly and costly climate disasters.

“You’ll have faster warming if U.S. transportation emissions don’t decline before 2030,” said James Glynn, a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.

Scientists have warned that if average global temperatures increase by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius compared with preindustrial levels, humans would struggle to adapt to increasingly violent storms, floods, fires, heat waves and other disruptions

The planet has already warmed by about 1.2 degrees Celsius .

Ali Zaidi, Mr. Biden’s senior climate adviser, declined to discuss the details of the final regulation. But he said in an interview that Mr. Biden’s climate policies, combined with record federal investment in renewable energy, would still help to reach the president’s goal of cutting the country’s greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.

“I feel very good about how our policies, including the regulatory actions, are fitting together to boost our ability to hit our 2030 targets and setting us up for the longer term trajectory,” Mr. Zaidi said.

Still, experts say it’s uncertain whether Mr. Biden can meet his twin goals of cutting the country’s greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and eliminating them by 2050, a target that scientists say all nations must achieve to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.

Wary Unions

Labor support has been a key part of Mr. Biden’s political coalition and his portrayal of himself as a fighter for the middle class.

That backing was threatened last spring, when the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the new limits on tailpipe emissions. Soon after, Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, wrote that the union was withholding its endorsement of Mr. Biden’s re-election bid over “concerns with the electric vehicle transition.”

The union has been wary of electric vehicles, since they require fewer workers to assemble and many electric vehicle plants are being built in states with few unions.

In public comments it filed regarding the proposed rule, the United Auto Workers pressed the Biden administration to relax the compliance timeline so that it “increases stringency more gradually, and occurs over a greater period of time.” Union leaders repeated that request in discussions with senior White House officials, including Mr. Zaidi, over the past six months. Biden administration officials said the union’s comments had “resonated.”

Last fall, when the union went on strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, in part over fears about the industry’s transition to electric vehicles, Mr. Biden sought to assuage their concerns and became the first president to stand with workers on the picket line.

By early January, the E.P.A. sent a revised version of its auto emissions rule with the longer time frame to the White House. Weeks later, the United Auto Workers endorsed Mr. Biden .

A spokesman for the union declined multiple requests to interview Mr. Fain.

After the endorsement, Mr. Trump called Mr. Fain a “dope” on Truth Social, his social media site. “He bought into Biden’s ‘vision’ of all Electric Vehicles, which require far fewer workers to make each car but, more important, are not wanted in large numbers by the consumer, and will ALL be made in China,” Mr. Trump wrote.

Barry Rabe, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, noted the way Mr. Trump has focused on the anxiety over electric vehicles that pervades that auto-making state, one of a handful of swing states where the election is likely to be decided.

“Trump has been very effective previously at using wedge issues,” Mr. Rabe said. “Whenever he comes to the state, this comes up. And this is not abstract in Michigan, it’s a real question. ‘What plant am I going to be working in?’”

Worried Automakers

Although a record 1.2 million electric vehicles were sold in the United States last year, growth is slowing , even as the new regulations would require a nearly tenfold increase in such sales within just eight years.

While buyers of new electric vehicles are eligible for up to $7,500 in federal tax credits, only 18 models are currently eligible for that full credit, down from about two dozen last year. One of those eligible models, the Ford F-150 Lightning , an all-electric pickup truck that once had a waiting list of 200,000, last year saw sales of 24,000, far short of the 150,000 sales projected by Ford.

And while construction of E.V. chargers is expanding, nearly doubling from about 87,000 in 2019 to more than 172,000 last year, analysts project that the nation will need more than two million chargers by 2030 to support the growth in electric vehicles envisioned by the proposed rules.

All that worries auto companies, which have invested about $146 billion over the past three years in researching and developing electric vehicles, according to the Center for Automotive Research, a nonprofit organization in Ann Arbor, Mich. Auto companies would face billions of dollars per year in fines if the emissions associated with their auto sales exceed the limits set by the new regulations.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents 42 car companies that produce about 97 percent of the new vehicles sold in the United States, asked the administration for the same slowdown sought by the United Auto Workers.

“Pace matters,” said John Bozzella, president of the alliance, in an interview. “Give the market and supply chains a chance to catch up, maintain a customer’s ability to choose, let more public charging come online.”

Analysts say the current lag in electric vehicle sales is to be expected, as the market for early adopters — typically wealthier, coastal residents who have bought an E.V. as a second car — is saturated.

“It may be some time before the larger middle class, middle-of-the-country market is ready to embrace buying plug-in cars,” said K. Venkatesh Prasad, the senior vice president of research at the Center for Automotive Research.

It could be easier to sell many more electric vehicles after 2030, Mr. Prasad said.

“There is new technology coming in, prices changing, consumer behavior changing,” he said. “If you’re running one of these businesses and you get some extra time, you would use every second. You can do things that allow you to better source components, test out new technologies, battery technology will get cheaper and allow people to drive longer distances, there is more investment in charging infrastructure, and in the minds of consumers you could start to see more acceptance of this.”

Some analysts said the trade-off, relaxing the rules to give auto companies and workers what they want, could be worth it if it helps Mr. Biden win the election, since Mr. Trump has made clear that if he wins, he plans to roll back the rules entirely.

David Victor, co-director of the Deep Decarbonization Initiative at the University of California San Diego, said, “You have more emissions for a few years but you raise the odds that the rule will stick.”

Coral Davenport covers energy and environment policy, with a focus on climate change, for The Times. More about Coral Davenport

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  1. 8 Examples of Strategic Sales Plans

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  2. 32 Sales Plan & Sales Strategy Templates [Word & Excel]

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  3. 6 Strategic Sales Plan Examples [Pro Tips Included]

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  4. 32 Sales Plan & Sales Strategy Templates [Word & Excel]

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  5. How To Create A Sales Plan: Steps, Templates, And Examples

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  6. Sales Plan

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COMMENTS

  1. 8 Examples of Strategic Sales Plans

    30-60-90 Day Plan. The concept behind a 30-60-90 day plan is simple: it outlines the strategy, goals, and action steps goals for the first 30/60/90 days of a new sales territory or a new sales position. This kind of document is especially helpful for companies in periods of growth or expansion.

  2. Sales Plan

    A sales plan is the first step toward defining your sales strategy, sales goals and how you'll reach them. A refined sales plan is a go-to resource for your reps. It helps them better understand their role, responsibilities, targets, tactics and methods. When done right, it gives your reps all the ...

  3. What is Sales Planning? How to Create a Sales Plan

    This template is an excellent example of making it short and sweet while still communicating the most important elements of the plan. In landscape mode, this strategic sales plan includes a channel, expected costs and sales, distribution strategy, and key performance indicators in an easy-to-read grid layout. 4. Online Sales Plan Maker Map by ...

  4. 22 Best Sales Strategies, Plans, & Initiatives for Success [Templates]

    A clear sales strategy serves as a map for the growth of your business. Your sales strategy is key to future planning, problem-solving, goal-setting, and management. An effective sales strategy can help you: Give your team direction and focus. Strategic clarity can help your sales reps and managers understand which goals and activities to ...

  5. The Sales Manager's Guide to Strategic Planning

    A strategic plan is essential because if none exists, your sales reps are left to their own devices, making uneducated decisions based on the information they have in the moment. Without knowledge of the company's long-term goals, you can't blame your reps for falling short — they're just working with what they have. By creating (and ...

  6. How To Build a Strategic Sales Plan + 10 Examples

    It includes outlines of goals, strategy and actionable steps in 30-day periods. This is a useful sales plan model for a new sales representative tracking progress during their first 90 days in the position or meeting quotas in a 90-day period. This type of sales plan is also ideal for businesses in periods of expansion or growth.

  7. A Guide To Building A Strategic Sales Plan For Your Business

    A strategic sales plan is a collection of documents, processes, and other information that defines how your business approaches sales. Your strategic sales plan can include guidelines for prospecting, lead generation, marketing, and more. ... Consider that 88% of today's buyers think of sales reps as trusted advisors in their industry, and ...

  8. How to Create a Sales Plan in 10 Steps (+ Free Template)

    Download as Word Doc. Download as Google Doc. 1. Establish Your Mission Statement. A mission statement summarizing why you're in business should be part of your action plan for sales. It should include a broad overview of your business' products or services and your brand's unique selling proposition.

  9. How to Create a Sales Plan: Tips, Examples & Free Templates

    Here's the point: Focus on value, not features in your sales plan template. Your competitive advantage will inform everything your company does moving forward, from marketing to product development. It's a great example of where sales can influence the development of a product and the direction of a business. 6.

  10. How to Create a Strategic Sales Plan: A Step-by-Step Guide

    The first step in building an effective strategic sales plan is to create your mission statement. Your mission statement will clearly define your company's purpose, the types of markets it serves, and the objectives it aims to achieve. This needs to succinctly answer the question of why you are in business.

  11. Sales strategies: 5 to try (+ how to create your own) in 2024

    Build a sales strategy that works in 8 steps. Your sales plan should clearly outline goals, product positioning, ideal customers, pipeline activities, and any other information to help your team make more sales. Your sales strategy plan can (and should) be tweaked to fit your business model, but the following framework is a good starting point.

  12. What Is a Strategic Sales Plan?

    A strategic sales plan takes a long-term approach to relationship-building and converting deals, so you don't want your reps wasting time on companies that were never a good fit in the first place. 3. Choose a relevant sales methodology. Your sales methodology is the framework your sales team will use to close accounts.

  13. Sales Strategy Guide: 5 Steps to More Efficient Selling

    Make sales strategy and planning absurdly easy. Our Sales Planning solution helps you align overarching strategy with budget, headcount, and sales territories — with just a few clicks. ... Direct sales is classic sales: one rep talking to one customer, building a relationship over time, and finally bringing the deal to close. Choose this for ...

  14. How to Develop a Sales Strategy Plan for Your Business

    Develop a sales strategy plan balanced across all three. You might decide to split your annual revenue target into three, smaller $33m pieces - one for each service plan. You choose to reallocate resources and training budget to help with the two untested plans.

  15. Sales Strategy in Focus: How to Build a Plan That Delivers in 2024

    The Role of a Sales Strategy in Business Success. A well-defined sales strategy will help you achieve your business objectives in 2024. Having a plan helps your sales assistant and their efforts align with the company's goals. Moreover: It's an anchor that keeps all activities relevant while providing enough adaptability in response to target market changes and customer sentiment.

  16. How to Write a Sales Plan

    2. Assess the current situation. The next step is to create an honest overview of your business situation in relation to the goal you set in the first step. Review your strengths and assets. Take ...

  17. 8 Effective Sales Strategies, Examples, and Best Practices for

    If the prospect reaches out to the business first, this is inbound selling; if the sales rep reaches out to the prospective customer, this is outbound selling. Some examples of inbound sales strategies include: ... So, to recap, your sales strategy is a long-term sales plan, encompassing all the practices and processes for your sales team and a ...

  18. 10 Free Sales Plan Templates for an Effective Sales Strategy

    Take a look at our hand-picked selection of the best sales plan templates available today for Microsoft Word and sales enablement tools like ClickUp. 1. ClickUp Sales Plan Template. Create and organize tasks by team, deliverable type, priority, due dates, and approval state with the ClickUp Sales Plan Template.

  19. How to Write a 30-60-90 Day Sales Plan with Examples

    A 30-60-90 day sales plan is a three-month strategy designed to onboard new sales team members or sales managers. You can also use it to help guide reps in expanding to new territories or implementing new tools or processes. The distinguishing feature of the 30-60-90 day plan for sales lies in the name.

  20. Sales Strategy Planning: Step By Step Guide Blog

    Sales strategy planning is an essential element of your larger business strategy. This step-by-step guide will help you build effective plans ... Over-relying on 1-2 top sales reps, rather than having a plan to develop teams' capacities. Failing to evaluate and test the effectiveness of different sales strategies or workflows.

  21. 6 Steps to Create a Successful Sales Business Plan

    Unfortunately, many sales reps fail to prioritize planning and therefore aren't spending their time as efficiently as possible. But with these 6 simple steps, your sales reps can identify their sales strategy and create a sales business plan that they can use to stay organized and crush their sales targets. Step 1: Take Measure of the Sales ...

  22. What Actually Is "Strategic Sales" and How to Craft a Killer Strategic

    Financial data - The strategic sales plan should include a variety of financial data to support the strategies described, including sales, revenues, budgets and even the sales compensation plan. Branding and marketing - What sort of branding has the company emphasized, including potential social media presences, advertising and other ...

  23. 30-60-90 day sales plan for managers, reps, and sales territories

    When acclimating a new manager to a sales team, a solid three-month plan is an effective tool for setting expectations and learning how people respond to incremental changes. Below is a 30-60-90 day plan for district sales managers: Phase 1: Days 1-30. 1. Learn key pieces of information (birthdays, likes/dislikes, etc.) about every team member.

  24. How to Create an Effective Sales and Marketing Plan

    A sales plan is a strategic document that outlines the tactics and activities a business will undertake to achieve its sales objectives. Here are the key components that typically go into a sales plan: Executive Summary. Brief overview of the entire sales plan, summarizing the goals, strategies, and key components. Sales Objectives

  25. Ultimate Sales Playbook: How to Create Your Own

    Form a group that includes sales leaders, frontline sales reps, marketing experts, and customer service staff. This team should represent different aspects of the customer journey and sales process. For example, sales leaders can offer insights on overall strategy, while frontline reps can share hands-on experience with customer interactions. 2.

  26. Tesla killer BYD to grab leading share of luxury EV market

    China's BYD outlined a new long-term strategy to boost sales and profits along with its sagging stock price, including plans to take a "leading position" in the luxury EV market. Fresh from ...

  27. Middle East latest: Netanyahu sets out post-war plan for Gaza

    The Palestinian president has said a proposed plan set out for a post-war Gaza by Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu is doomed to fail. Earlier this morning, we reported that Mr Netanyahu said Israel ...

  28. Biden Administration Is Said to Slow Early Stage of Shift to Electric

    Feb. 17, 2024, 5:03 a.m. ET. In a concession to automakers and labor unions, the Biden administration intends to relax elements of one of its most ambitious strategies to combat climate change ...