How to Write an Effective Sales Plan

Create a mission statement. Define your team's roles and responsibilities. Identify your target market. Outline your tools, software, and resources. Analyze your position in your industry. Plan your marketing strategy. Develop your prospecting strategy. Create an action plan. List your goals. Set your budget.

1. Create a mission statement.

Begin your sales plan by stating your company mission and vision statements, and write up a brief history of the business. This will provide background information as the plan drills down into specific details.

2. Define your team's roles and responsibilities.

Next, describe who is on your team and what their roles are. Perhaps you manage five salespeople and work closely with a sales enablement professional and a sales ops specialist. If you're planning on adding headcount, include the number of employees, their job titles, and when you're planning to bring them on the team.

3. Identify your target market.

Whether you're writing your first sales plan or your 15th, knowing your target demographic is crucial. What do your best customers look like? Do they all belong to a specific industry? Exceed a certain size? Struggle with the same challenge? Keep in mind you might have different buyer personas for different products.

For example, HubSpot's salespeople might primarily sell marketing software to CMOs and sales software to sales directors. This section of your sales plan can also change dramatically over time as your solution and strategy evolve and you adjust product-market fit.

In the very beginning, when your product was in its infancy, and your prices were low, you may have found success selling to startups. Now that the product is far more robust and you've raised the price, mid-market companies are likely a better fit. That's why it's important to review and update your personas consistently.

4. Outline your tools, software, and resources.

You should also include a description of your resources. Which CRM software do you plan on using? Do you have a budget for sales contests and incentives? This is where you'll lay out which tools your salespeople should use to succeed in their jobs (e.g., training, documentation, sales enablement tools, etc.).

5. Analyze your position in your industry.

Now, name your competitors. Explain how your products compare, where theirs are stronger than yours, and vice versa. In addition, discuss their pricing versus yours. You should also discuss market trends. If you're a SaaS company, you should note what vertical-specific software is becoming more popular. If you sell ads, mention the rise in programmatic mobile advertising. Try to predict how these changes will influence your business.

6. Plan your marketing strategy.

In this section, describe your pricing and any promotions you're planning on running. What key actions will you take to increase brand awareness and generate leads? Note the impact on sales. 

7. Develop your prospecting strategy.

How will your sales team qualify the leads generated by your marketing strategy? Don't forget to include the criteria prospects should meet before sales reps reach out. And identify which inbound and outbound sales methods your team will use to close more deals.

8. Create an action plan.

Once you've outlined where you want to go, you must figure out how you'll get there. This section summarizes your game plan for hitting your revenue targets.

9. List your goals.

Most sales goals are revenue-based. For example, you might set a total target of $10 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). Alternatively, you can set a volume goal. That could be 100 new customers or 450 sales. Make sure your objective is realistic; otherwise, your entire sales plan will be largely useless.

Factor in your product's price, total addressable market (TAM), market penetration, and resources (including your sales headcount and marketing support). Your goal should also be closely tied to your high-level business goals.

For example, suppose the company is trying to move upmarket. In that case, your goal might be "Acquire 20 Enterprise logos" rather than "Sell X in new business" (because the latter will encourage you to solely chase deals rather than focus on the right type of customers).

Of course, you'll probably have more than one goal. Identify the most important, then rank the rest by priority. If you have territories, assign a sub-goal to each. That will make it easier to identify over- and under-performers. Lay out your timeline too. Having regular benchmarks lets you know if you're on track, ahead, or behind in meeting your targets.

Suppose your sales goal for the first quarter of the year is selling $30,000. Based on last year's performance, you know January and February sales are slower than March.

With that in mind, your timeline is:

• January: $8,000

• February: $8,000

• March: $14,000

You should also write in the DRIs if applicable. For example, maybe Rep Carol's January quota is $5,000. Rep Shane, who's still ramping, has a $3,000 monthly quota. On a smaller team, this exercise helps people avoid replicating each other's work and shifting blame around if targets aren't met.

10. Set your budget.

Describe the costs associated with hitting your sales goals. That usually includes:

• Pay (salary and commission)

• Sales training

• Sales tools and resources

• Contest prizes

• Team bonding activities

• Travel costs

• Food

Compare the sales plan budget to your sales forecast for accurate budgeting. If you want to take your plan to the next level, schedule a complimentary strategy session to learn some tips for creating a highly effective sales plan.