Any business owner wants to increase revenue and scale their business. This has been the plan for most of them from the get-go. But prospects don't come knocking at your door unannounced. That's not how easy things are in today's business world. If it is, there would be a multitude of millionaires on the street. To achieve this, you must have a foolproof plan.

Every business needs to have its own sales strategy plan. Not only will it help you achieve your objectives, but it can also allow you to track your progress.

There are many tried and tested ways to conquer this goal. But one you may need to employ to grow your leads and increase revenue is investing in email and SMS marketing software, among the few on the long list.

If you want to find out how to write an efficient sales plan, keep reading. 

What is a sales plan?

 A sales plan is a plan that contains all of the details regarding the sales strategy of your business. This includes the revenue objectives of your company and how the sales department plans to meet those objectives.

This plan may also contain your target audience, revenue goals, and some of the tools the team will be using for their daily tasks.

Additionally, the sales plan should also contain examples of pain points and issues the team will likely encounter while trying to reach the sales goal, as well as a steady plan to overcome these difficulties.

Essentially, a sales plan is an extremely crucial element that will support the growth of your organization and help you achieve your revenue goals. It clears out your priorities and helps you work your way around sales.

Another critical aspect of creating a viable plan is to analyze your competition. You must know their strengths and weaknesses to leverage them to your advantage. What's important to remember is that even if you have a similar product, you need to be able to differentiate yours from theirs by creating a unique selling proposition.

It's also crucial to define your sales metrics. This way, you can easily track if you're making progress. Some essential metrics include sales revenue, conversion rates, sales cycle length, forecast accuracy, and sales pipeline. When you clearly grasp your metrics, you can make the necessary adjustments to your strategy.

Business plan vs. sales plan 

While business and sales plans are closely linked, they are not the same. It's important to understand how they differ from one another.

A sales plan outlines the actions and steps the sales department is meant to take to achieve the company's broader goals.

The similarity between them is that they both work towards achieving the same end. A business plan answers the question "what," while a sales plan focuses on answering the question "how."

In other words, your business plan is there to set the company's goals and objectives. A sales plan will tell you how to achieve those objectives. If you're developing either, starting with a clear business plan outline can help you structure your strategy more effectively.

How to write a sales plan 

Your company's sales plan will solely rely on the individual needs of your company and the objectives you want to achieve. This means that sales plans come in different shapes and sizes.

According to Chris Gibbs, vice president of global sales at Centripetal Networks, a good sales plan includes:

• Targeted accounts
• Targeted verticals
• SKUs
• Sales and marketing
• Product road maps
• Forecasts

Steps in creating a sales plan 

No matter how big or small your business is, every company needs to have a sales plan if it intends on tracking and growing its revenue over time.

Follow these steps to write an efficient sales plan: 

Step #1: Define your objectives 

Before you create your sales plan, you need to determine and clearly outline your company's objectives. Your sales plan should include the expected sales volumes and other territories or markets you plan to reach.

Let's use an example to showcase what kinds of questions you should ask yourself to figure out what your objectives are.

If you own a retail store selling any kind of goods, these are some of the questions that will help you figure out your goals:

• Who are your target customers?
• Are they in-store or online customers?
• How did they find your store?
• How many customers are the new ones?
• How many of them are repeat customers?
• What's the demographic of your target audience?
• Where do you want your sales to come from?
• What are the internal and external factors that can affect your sales? 

Step #2: Assess the current situation 

After clarifying your objectives, it's time to examine your current business situation. This needs to be an extremely honest overview of your strengths and assets, but also flaws and aspects of your business that need to be improved.

Examine your resources and see how you can best apply them to achieve your objectives. You may ask yourself some of the following questions to assess your business situation:

• What is your relationship with customers like at the moment?
• Where did your sales come from until now?
• Where do you see yourself expanding your sales? 

Step #3: Outline your sales strategies 

Sales strategies are the tactics your team will utilize in order to reach customers. This part also contains marketing channels and procedures for client and lead generation outreach.

The following are two examples of what sales strategies should look like:

• Use your POS system to gather customer information in order to track your current as well as new customers.(Read Wise Small Business guide on how to choose an effective POS system can help ensure your business runs smoothly)
• Utilize email marketing, social media, text message marketing, direct mail marketing, and outbound call center services.

While outlining your sales strategies, you should also write an RFP that will help you further explain and display your company's projects and needs. 

Step #4: Define the roles for the sales department

Every member of the sales team needs to be assigned specific and clear roles. The next step in the sales plan writing process is clearly defining these roles and assigning them to your sales team.

Ensure you communicate your instructions clearly and that your sales team has the adequate tools to fulfill these tasks.

Step #5: Inform the other departments about sales objectives

Just because other departments don't work on your sales plan directly, doesn't mean they shouldn't be informed about the company's sales objectives.

You should provide an outline and an efficient explanation of the goals and procedures your sales team will follow to achieve the company's objectives.

Step #6: Provide the right tools for the sales team

Every sales team member will require specific and adequate tools in order to achieve the outlined goals and objectives of the company.

For instance, one of the common tools your sales team will require is customer relationship management software, or short for CRM software. You can get a customizable one that will help your sales team reach your company's objectives easily and efficiently.

Step #7: Provide details on how the department will track progress

Lastly, you need to have a plan for how you're going to track your sales progress. Make sure to offer instructions on how the progress will be monitored.

Since the market is constantly changing, you need to be able to detect all your ups and downs and determine what needs to be changed to help your company keep up with the latest trends.

You will find tracking progress much easier with easily accessible tools that will help you collect relevant data.

Conclusion

To sum up, a sales plan is a crucial element that will help you define, track, and achieve your company's objectives.

Following this simple list of steps will help you write a sales plan that caters to your company's needs.

Author Bio

 Sophie Douglas is a digital marketing specialist and a journalist based in Columbus, state of Ohio.

Her characters are passionate, innovative, and ambitious.

Before becoming a writer for DigitalStrategyOne, she was writing short stories, screenplays, and directing short films.