Most people agree that if you want to accomplish something in life, it's best to have a plan. When you are attending college for a degree, you plan how many credits you need and what classes you need to take. You plan vacations, birthday celebrations, weddings, buying a house, and many other "life events." It only makes sense that you should plan how to grow your sales.

Problem:

Even though planning makes sense, very few companies actually plan for sales growth other than setting a target income goal. In fact, many companies spend more time planning sales outings than planning their sales goals. Setting an income goal is not the same as planning how to reach that goal. Additionally, other things need to be considered:

• Are we growing our business beyond our existing accounts?
• Are we growing market share?
• What competitive accounts do we want to obtain as customers?
• Are we growing by acquiring and developing customers that fit our ideal customer profile?

Without a clear plan you become driven by circumstances. More often than not, you will not achieve the business you set out to accomplish.

How to Develop Your Sales Plan

1. Keep it simple-An effective plan does not need to be a book. A plan longer than four pages is too long. If it is too long most sales people won't look at it again. The goal of plan is to have a working document.

2. Clearly define the kind of business you want at the end of the year. Making $100,000 is different than having a $100,000 business. Having a $100,000 business means that it is sustainable. Making $100,000 means you did it once. An effective business plan defines:

• What your sweet spot is for your products/services
• A definition of your ideal customer
• Which customers to grow, which to let go, and prospects to gain as customers
• Targeted sales number and acceptable margin
• What you need to do to be competitive in the future

3. Develop specific, measurable steps that are needed to build the business you want. (Most sales people I work with need help developing these steps because they lack training and experience in business planning.)

4. Make monthly corrections- Things are constantly changing in the market and your plan needs to do the same. In the Apollo missions to the moon, astronauts constantly made mid-flight corrections to ensure they reached the moon. Without corrections, they would have missed it by hundreds of miles. As the market place changes we need to make corrections to ensure we hit our targets.

5. Accountability- Enlist your sales manager, another sales person, a mentor, or someone else that has successfully built a sales business and whom you trust to help you stay accountable to your plan. Use your monthly correction time to meet and review your progress, address obstacles, and adjust your plan accordingly.

There is no doubt that planning takes time, but the investment in time will help you develop a sales business that is sustainable and meets your goals.

These ideas are to assist you in starting your sales planning process. If you want more information about sales planning, contact: jimsearls@commonsensesales.com

Web site: www.commonsensesales.com