Whether you're new to sales or a seasoned pro, understanding how to craft an effective sales plan is crucial. A sales plan is a crucial part of any salesperson’s tool kit, guiding you throughout the sales process and leading to better sales results.
In this article, we'll explore what a sales plan is, how to create one, and provide some sample sales plan examples and sales strategy templates. Let’s get started!
What is a sales plan?
What is a sales plan? Simply put, it’s your roadmap to sales success. Imagine you're about to embark on a cross-country road trip - you wouldn’t just hop in the car and drive aimlessly, would you? A sales plan is much the same – it’s a structured guide that helps you navigate the complex world of sales.
Sales plans give salespeople essential guidance throughout their sales career or during a specific sales campaign. This allows them to impress sales managers, connect with customers and achieve great results. By effectively using a sales strategy, sales reps can demonstrate initiative and maintain focus, allowing them to smash those all-important sales targets.
Of course, sales plans aren’t one-size-fits-all. There are a range of different types of sales plans, all used in different sales environments and project types. A sales plan for a business dealing with short-term or one-time sales will differ from one focusing on long-term relationships with repeat customers. It’s about choosing the right tool for the job.
Below we’ve listed some common sales strategies, their benefits, how to create a sales plan using this model and some sample sales plan and sales strategy templates to help you adapt these approaches within your own sales work.
How to create a 30-60-90 day sales plan
A 30-60-90 day sales plan is a step-by-step approach to setting and achieving sales goals for salesperson’s first three months on the job. It outlines actions that can be taken to reach important outcomes throughout the sales process. It's divided into three phases:
- 30 Days: Focus on learning. Understand the company's products, services, and sales processes.
- 60 Days: Start engaging. Begin applying what you've learned by engaging with customers and making initial sales.
- 90 Days: Expand and optimize. Now, you’re aiming to optimize your sales strategies and hit your first major targets.
This plan is particularly beneficial for those starting a new sales role, as it offers clear milestones, making sure you understand and excel in your new role. Creating a plan like this also demonstrates great initiative to your sales management team - if you want to impress in any new sales role, creating a 30-60-90 day sales plan is absolutely the way to do it!
To create this plan, start by setting specific goals for each phase. You should consider your company’s objectives and your personal sales targets, making sure that each stage of your plan is in alignment with these factors.
30-60-90 day sales strategy template
Below is a sales strategy template for a simple 30-60-90 day sales plan. You can expand this as much as you’d like to adapt to your role - the more detailed, the better!
| Day 1 - 30 | Day 31 - 60 | Day 61 - 90 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Objectives | Insert a goal you want to achieve in your first 30 days in the role. Example: Acquire in-depth knowledge of products/services. | Insert a goal you want to achieve in your first 60 days in the role. Example: Identify potential clients, begin outreach, schedule meetings. | Insert a goal you want to achieve in your first 90 days in the role. Example: Complete training, shadow experienced team members, familiarize with sales tools. |
| Actions | Outline the actions you can take during your first 30 days in your role to achieve this. Example: Complete training, shadow experienced team members, familiarize with sales tools. | Outline the actions you can take during your first 60 days in your role to achieve this. Example: Identify potential clients, begin outreach, schedule meetings. | Outline the actions you can take during your first 90 days in your role to achieve this. Example: Assess performance, refine sales tactics, aim to meet or exceed initial sales targets. |
How to create a short-term sales plan
Short-term sales plans are all about immediate results. They focus on improving outcomes within a specific sales pipeline. This type of plan allows salespeople to concentrate on a single target, making it easier to measure and achieve short-term goals, setting the stage for sales success in the projects that follow.
With their smaller scope, short-term sales plans can be created to focus on more specific sales pipelines. This means that, rather than having a more general plan covering all sales points, you can create individual plans for all sales tactics, such as cold calls, email marketing and face-to-face meetings.
When looking at how to create a short-term sales plan using this strategy, you should outline the core objective that you are working towards within a short-term window, perhaps focusing on a single sales channel. Outline the actions you will take towards reaching this goal and how these can be measured.
Short-term sales strategy template
Below is a sample sales plan for a company using email marketing to drive sales within a short-term project.
| Objective | Increase sales via email marketing by 20% in Q2 |
| Actions | Identify top performing products, target key demographics, create promotional campaigns for use through email. |
| Assessment | Use results generated through CRM solutions to measure ongoing success of email marketing campaigns, adjusting as needed to reflect results. |
How to create a territory sales plan
Territory sales plans are designed for sales managers overseeing specific geographic regions. They can be used to direct sales representatives to the correct target demographics, providing them with key details about the target consumer. This means sales are pitched more effectively and efficiently and should lead to a higher sales success rate in this region.
This is particularly beneficial within companies whose target consumers depending on their region or territory. For example, a product most popular with women aged 18-30 in one country may be most popular with men aged 34-46 in another - an effective territory sales plan will reflect this, targeting the correct demographic for each location.
When looking at how to create a sales plan using the territory sales strategy, it’s important to understand the unique aspects of your territory, setting goals based on local market data and structuring your strategies to regional demands.
Territory sales strategy template
A full territory sales plan is broken down into several more detailed sections, with different strategies depending on region and market. A territory sales strategy overview can be used to gauge whether you’ve got a complete territory sales plan together. Here is a sample sales plan overview for the territory sales strategy:
| Area of focus | To complete: | Complete in (Territory 1)? | Complete in (Territory 2)? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales forecast | Define full sales forecast Break down sales forecast per territory | COMPLETE | COMPLETE |
| Consumer analysis | Define core target demographic per territory Identify key consumer trends per territory | COMPLETE | COMPLETE |
| Sales metrics per territory | Identify volume of leads required per territory Set sales target per representative in each territory | COMPLETE | COMPLETE |
| Sales representative assignment per territory | Identify number of sales representatives needed per territory Assess all sales teams to ensure all reps have necessary skill set | COMPLETE | COMPLETE |
| Lead assignment regulations | Outline plan for lead assignment in each territory | COMPLETE | COMPLETE |
| Sales analysis | Identify strategy for analysing and utilising sales results in all territories | COMPLETE | COMPLETE |
How to create a market expansion plan
Market expansion plans are crucial for businesses venturing into new markets. These plans outline targets, sales metrics, and tasks for achieving success in new markets, offering sales managers and representatives a look at the actions they need to take to achieve their desired results.
Businesses looking at how to create a sales plan using this structure will first need to identify potential markets, before setting realistic sales goals and creating a strategy focused on both market penetration and customer acquisition.
Market expansion sales strategy template
Below is a simple sales strategy template using the market expansion plan strategy. A full marketing expansion plan should also include information on defining KPIs, staffing budgets and such - essentially, any area of business that you’d need to focus on during the market expansion process.
| Area of focus | Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Phase 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | Outline an overall goal for phase 1 of the market expansion process. | Outline an overall goal for phase 2 of the market expansion process. | Outline an overall goal for phase 3 of the market expansion process. |
| Marketing budget | Outline your marketing budget for phase 1. | Outline your marketing budget for phase 2. | Outline your marketing budget for phase 3. |
| Marketing channels | Outline the marketing channels you’ll use during phase 1. | Outline the marketing channels you’ll use during phase 2. | Outline the marketing channels you’ll use during phase 3. |
How to create a new product sales plan
New product sales plans are essential for the successful launch and sales of a new product. These plans allow for adjustments throughout the product launch and provide valuable metrics for evaluating the success of the product via sales figures. A sales plan that is put together effectively allows sales representatives to get a clear picture of the aims and objectives throughout the launch of the new product, which they can use to adjust sales tactics for better results.
When looking at how to create a sales plan for a new product, businesses should identify their target markets, set sales goals and develop strategies for product promotion and distribution.
New product sales strategy template
Here is a sales strategy template that could be provided to sales representatives to guide their own personal sales strategies.
| Objective: | The goal for the product launch overall. Example: Sell 30,000 units in Q1. |
| Target per representative: | How many successful sales is each representative aiming to make? Example: 1,500 units in Q1. |
| Target demographic: | Who should sales representatives be targeting with pitches? Example: Parents of children aged 3 and under. |
| Key pitch: | What features/USP should sales representatives be pitching to potential customers to make a sale? Example: Innovative, fully adjustable car seat for children aged 0-3. Easy adjustment and use. Built for both safety and comfort. |
