How to Create a Proper Sales Plan

Do you have a sales plan? Entrepreneurs, sales executives, and sales managers all benefit from writing sales plans — whether for their business, department, or team.

You must know where you're going before you can hit your key targets, and from there, you must break down the strategies and tactics you'll use to do it. This information can be included in a sales plan (and more).

Read on to learn how to draft the right sales plan for your organization.

What is a sales plan?

A sales plan lays out your objectives, high-level tactics, target audience, and potential obstacles. It's like a traditional business plan focusing on your sales strategy. A business plan lays out your goals — a sales plan describes exactly how you'll make those happen. Sales plans often include information about the business's target customers, revenue goals, team structure, and the strategies and resources necessary to achieve its targets.

The purpose of your company's sales plan is to:

1. Communicate your company's goals and objectives.
2. Provide strategic direction.
3. Outline roles and responsibilities.
4. Monitor your sales team's progress.


Communicate your company's goals and objectives.

You can't expect your sales team to work well if they don't know your company's goals and objectives. It is necessary to make sure the goals are clear and realistic. As they change over time, ensure you regularly communicate your strategy to the entire team.

Provide strategic direction.

A sales strategy is vital to selling your products or services. To execute your plan, your company needs to provide direction. Should your employees focus on email conversions versus social media conversions this quarter? Are you boosting your efforts on LinkedIn instead of Facebook? Your business needs to provide your team with guidance to be effective.

Outline roles and responsibilities.

Your company's sales plan should outline the roles and responsibilities for your sales team and leadership. The benefits of this include efficient task delegation, improved collaboration, overlap reduction, and increased accountability.

Monitor your sales team's progress.

Your sales team is the driving force behind your strategy. If they do well, so does the company. Unfortunately, the alternative is also correct. Monitoring your team's progress on organizational goals allows you to manage your objectives. It ensures you have the people and tools in place to be successful.

Your next step should be to dive into the details of the sales planning process.