{"id":18113,"date":"2021-05-10T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T08:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/?p=18113"},"modified":"2023-01-16T17:21:59","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T17:21:59","slug":"sales-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/sales-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Successfully Create a Sales Plan that Works [with Examples and Templates]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating an effective sales plan is the first important step in defining your sales strategy. Are you a business owner with a sales team? Perhaps you are a sales manager in charge of numerous sales reps? If so, this is your key to taking control and achieving sales success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every salesperson should learn to write a sales plan. They are an invaluable resource in determining your sales goals and how to achieve them, providing helpful insight with every step of the way. You might have the best <\/span><strong><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/the-marketing-mix-and-the-4-ps-of-marketing-the-definitive-guide\/\">marketing mix<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and social media team in the world. But, without the right strategy in place, it can be hard to reach your targets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This article will look at how you can start to create a plan that actually works. You can also take advantage of our free-to-download template. Why not download it now and start creating your secret weapon in sales forecasting and planning productivity? Plus, you can discover other great templates and examples we have compiled to make it easy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read on to learn more about sales planning and how it can engage all stakeholders in your company. We\u2019ll go through exactly what a sales plan is, why you need to create one, and what you should include in it. Then it\u2019s over to you to put your thinking cap on and go ahead and create one of your own.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why your sales strategy matters so much<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A good strategy <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">creates the vision and develops the roadmap to ensure objectives and goals will be met. It also provides the metrics to ensure these can be measured. The overall aim is obviously to grow your sales pipeline, attracting new customers. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">See below for an example of mapping out a sales process that can help with this.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_18120\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18120\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18120\" src=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/steps-on-creating-sales-plan.png\" alt=\"steps-on-creating-sales-plan-753\" width=\"900\" height=\"471\" srcset=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/steps-on-creating-sales-plan.png 900w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/steps-on-creating-sales-plan-300x157.png 300w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/steps-on-creating-sales-plan-640x335.png 640w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/steps-on-creating-sales-plan-768x402.png 768w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/steps-on-creating-sales-plan-376x198.png 376w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-18120\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pipedrive.com\/en\/blog\/sales-plan\">Image credit<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>What is a sales plan?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A sales plan sets out your objectives, target audience, and all the tactics and specifics needed to achieve your sales goals. It breaks down business goals into an actionable and detailed plan. Consider it the \u2018who, where, why, and when\u2019 of your sales strategy. It also outlines the key responsibilities of your sales team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When written effectively, it can be instrumental in helping you to hit all your revenue targets. It can also help you to identify potential problems, ensuring that your goals are achievable and realistic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Writing a plan allows you to formalise your sales activity in all areas, including:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your target audience (otherwise known as ideal customer profile), including demographics<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The structure of your sales team and responsibilities of team members<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Communications tools and metrics you will use<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How you will recognise and record benchmarks<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The structure of your company\u2019s sales process<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your prospecting strategy<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Revenue targets<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sales targets<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your pricing strategy<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A\u00a0 plan for attracting new business<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Details of how you are going to measure performance against the last quarter and previous year<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The benefits of creating a plan such as this are extensive. A good plan will power greater motivation within your team of sales professionals. It can also unite sales and marketing teams, getting rid of confusion and misalignment between the two. It\u2019s always helpful to have everyone on the same page.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Defining and getting your sales team\u2019s initial approach right also lays the foundations for successful future <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/gb\/en\/effortless-customer-engagement.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">customer engagement<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. And we all know that engaged and happy customers are loyal ones!<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is a business plan?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A sales plan is sometimes confused with a business plan. Many business owners or leaders regard the former as an extension of the latter. However, the latter typically lays out all your sales goals and revenue targets across the organisation without outlining the strategy behind achieving them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_18121\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18121\" style=\"width: 550px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18121\" src=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/digital-marketing-plan-template.png\" alt=\"digital marketing plan template-642\" width=\"550\" height=\"764\" srcset=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/digital-marketing-plan-template.png 550w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/digital-marketing-plan-template-216x300.png 216w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-18121\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/guides\/digital-marketing-plan-template\/\">Image credit<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>What is the sales planning process?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s important to remember that sales planning isn\u2019t just about creating a written document. It\u2019s all about the strategy behind that document. The process should be refreshed yearly, at least to keep it up to date. It should ideally include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The metrics you will use to determine success.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sales targets that meet your objectives and goals<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trends and data from previous sales, utilised for sales forecasting<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Analysis of your company\u2019s current situation<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Identification of any gaps<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taking advantage of previously passed-over opportunities<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Outlining the actions to be taken<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>What goes in a sales plan template?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether you are the owner of a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/gb\/en\/solutions\/small-business.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">small business<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> startup or in charge of a much larger organisation, a typical plan will contain similar sections. However, don\u2019t forget that you will need to tailor it to your company\u2019s own needs. This can easily be done by adding or removing sections or charts. Most effective outlines will include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Team roles and structure<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ideal market and customers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Revenue goals<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Market conditions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Promotions and relevant price information<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ownership of deliverables and deadlines<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tools and resources<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tactics and strategies<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Why do you need a sales plan template?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sales teams are usually dynamic and highly active groups of people focused on getting things done. This is great for generating impressive short-term results. Unfortunately, these characteristics aren\u2019t always conducive to organisation and planning. This can lead to unpredictability. To ensure that optimum numbers of target customers are reached, and revenue goals are met, a strategic sales plan is a must.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Successful sales processes should be regarded as a system with optimisable steps or stages. Repeatable systems help keep everyone on track, making it easier to discover what is working well and where improvement is needed. A plan also encourages collaboration by ensuring that everyone is working towards the same goal or outcome.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_18122\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18122\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-18122 size-large\" src=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/inbound_sales_methodology-1-640x495.png\" alt=\"inbound_sales_methodology-1-919\" width=\"640\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/inbound_sales_methodology-1-640x495.png 640w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/inbound_sales_methodology-1-300x232.png 300w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/inbound_sales_methodology-1-768x594.png 768w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/inbound_sales_methodology-1.png 1199w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-18122\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/sales\/sales-strategy\">Image credit<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A high-quality plan is an invaluable resource for every salesperson in your organisation. It empowers high performance by giving access to detailed strategies and best practices. Your plan will become a go-to guide to help sales and marketing teams to understand their roles and responsibilities. It will also ensure everyone has all the necessary targets, tactics, and methods at their fingertips.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Refining your plan is important as you go along. You could even encourage collaboration and editing in real-time from your team. As your business progresses, you will discover the sales methods that work best in different situations with different target customers&#8217; demographics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This can be really helpful for your sales reps. They will encounter various scenarios, so they need to be well prepared. Using the right methods will meet your buyers\u2019 needs, providing a better <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/definitive-guide-customer-experience\/\">customer experience<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Identifying your team\u2019s needs<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Writing a properly structured plan will also help you to concentrate on the people and tools you need to source for success. Some of the questions you will need to ask include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Who do we need to employ at each stage?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Who will lead and manage our teams?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What will extra tools be needed for teams <\/span><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/creating-best-work-from-home-environment\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">working from home<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Which CRM software is best for organising each stage?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What will additional resources be needed?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What metrics will we use to measure performance\/results?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>How do you write an effective sales plan?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It can be quite difficult and time-consuming to write a plan like this from scratch. It is much quicker and easier to use a template where you need to fill in the blanks. Templates are easily customisable and can be simplified or added to according to your preferences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The key strategy here is converting business goals into actionable sales objectives. Your plan will help you to identify problems and ensure your targets are realistic. Your plan can span either a year, a quarter, or even a week, depending on your sales cycle. It\u2019s all about making it a personal resource for your organisation.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_18123\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18123\" style=\"width: 780px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18123\" src=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/how-to-Define-Your-Sales-Strategy.jpg\" alt=\"how-to-Define-Your-Sales-Strategy-488\" width=\"780\" height=\"606\" srcset=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/how-to-Define-Your-Sales-Strategy.jpg 780w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/how-to-Define-Your-Sales-Strategy-300x233.jpg 300w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/how-to-Define-Your-Sales-Strategy-640x497.jpg 640w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/how-to-Define-Your-Sales-Strategy-768x597.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-18123\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.propellercrm.com\/blog\/sales-strategy\">Image credit<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3><strong>Steps to creating a sales plan<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We have outlined 12 easy steps below to help you create your plan. Read on to discover our top tips:<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong>1. Write a company history and outline important core values<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the first section, pay real attention to why your company exists and what it stands for. Important aspects to include are your company background, mission statement, and vision statement.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong>2. Defining your target market<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this section, you need to add buyer personas for all segments of your target market. It is crucial to really understand your customer demographics here. You should also list any exclusions from your target market and explain why they exist.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t neglect to add in physical locations, too. Explain whether your company serves a local area or operates nationally and discuss why.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This section of your plan will probably need to change over time. Buyer personas rarely stay the same as your company develops. That is why it is important to review and revise regularly.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong>3. Listing team structure and capabilities<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask yourself what your team structure looks like. What leadership does your team need to support it to succeed? This section is all about listing your sales leadership team\u2019s names and positions and defining structure. You could also include the overall headcount of available contributors to the sales process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here is where you need to add a growth strategy for the staffing of your team. You also need to identify any gaps and the effects that these vacancies may have.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong>4. Looking at positioning and industry market conditions<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Try to explain your company\u2019s position in the market. Then add in a description of the market conditions in your industry. How is it performing at the moment? Think about current market trends and how they could affect your business.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Explain what your company\u2019s value proposition is. Now add how your service or products solve customers\u2019 problems and what benefits entice them to purchase.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next step is to talk about competitive advantage and perform a brief competitor analysis. Try to name all your main competitors. Explain your pricing strategy and how it was developed to complete the picture.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_18124\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18124\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-18124 size-large\" src=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/marketing-mix-640x590.png\" alt=\"marketing-mix-908\" width=\"640\" height=\"590\" srcset=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/marketing-mix-640x590.png 640w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/marketing-mix-300x277.png 300w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/marketing-mix-768x708.png 768w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/marketing-mix.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-18124\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-hccc-introbusiness\/chapter\/marketing-mix-introduction\/\">Image credit<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4><strong>5. Listing all the resources at your team\u2019s disposal<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This section is where you need to list all the tools, resources, and <\/span><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/collaboration-collaborative-team\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">collaboration<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">software that your team has access to. Examples could include training, workflow tools, etc. It is a good idea to include specific details of your <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/definitions\/customer-relationship-management-crm\/\">CRM software<\/a>. You should also include information about how it is used in all the stages of your buying cycle.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong>6. Adding your marketing strategy<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is where it may pay to enlist your marketing department\u2019s help. You will need to document a brief version of your company marketing plan. It should include a list of who is responsible for each area and how to contact them. Don\u2019t forget to include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email marketing strategy<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketing strategy, including blogging<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Direct mail marketing strategy\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social media marketing strategy<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your pricing strategy, including promotions\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>7. Defining your prospecting strategy<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Outline your company\u2019s prospecting strategy and how leads are qualified in this section. What criteria does a prospect have to meet for outreach? Remember to add details of your inbound and outbound marketing strategies.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong>8. Reviewing last quarter\u2019s performance<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take a look at last quarter\u2019s results (or last year\u2019s if your plan is every year). Fill this section with numeric details and analyse what worked and what didn\u2019t. Include positive actions and successful tactics, as well as mistakes to learn from.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong>9. Creating an action plan<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Create your action plan in this section. Outline actions your team will take to achieve your company\u2019s goals. How will you hit your targets?\u00a0 Explain who will take ownership of each tactic. It would be helpful to reference factors such as new products and customer referrals here.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong>10. Defining your goals<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">List your revenue goals. How will you break them down quarterly or monthly? Don\u2019t forget to include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Revenue targets\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The target for the number of deals closed<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Number of units sold<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any other key metrics your company is tracking<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_18125\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18125\" style=\"width: 780px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18125\" src=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/aligning-sales-plan-goals.png\" alt=\"aligning-sales-plan-goals-469\" width=\"780\" height=\"536\" srcset=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/aligning-sales-plan-goals.png 780w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/aligning-sales-plan-goals-300x206.png 300w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/aligning-sales-plan-goals-640x440.png 640w, \/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/aligning-sales-plan-goals-768x528.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-18125\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubstaff.com\/business-goals\/\">Image credit<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4><strong>11. Outlining your budget<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This section requires an outline of your sales budget, including:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Salaries<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An overview of your commission structure<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your budget for resources<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anticipated expenses<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>12. Adding any other information relevant to your company<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The key to this section of your plan is personalisation. Your plan needs to include individual details which are relevant to your specific organisation. This will help it to have optimum effect.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Strategic sales plan examples.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating a good sales plan is all about finding what works for your individual organisation. There is no \u2018one size fits all solution. It\u2019s all about finding a suitable template and adapting it to meet your requirements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>We have developed a template that you can download for free here:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\t\t<div class=\"bottom-cta style-3 mid  CID-cta-2FdM5dTp\"\r\n\t\t\tdata-dl-custom-type=\"ctaButton\">\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"bottom-cta-copy text-center\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"h2\"><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<p><\/p>\r\n\t\t\t\t<div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"rc-cta-shortcode btn btn-primary btn-lg\" data-dl-element=\"button\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg\" style=\"margin-top: 16px; font-weight: bold;\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\ttitle=\"Read the report\" href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/RingCentral-UK-Sales-Plan-Template-Microsoft-Word.docx\" target=\"_blank\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\trel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-dl-additional-info=\"\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-dl-name=\" | DOWNLOAD HERE\">DOWNLOAD HERE<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alternatively, why not look at five of the best strategic sales plan examples existing sales and marketing teams are using? We\u2019ve listed them below to make it easy for you.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/offers.hubspot.com\/sales-plan-template?hubs_post=blog.hubspot.com\/sales\/ultimate-guide-creating-sales-plan&amp;hubs_post-cta=Sales%20Plan%20Template%20by%20HubSpot\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sales plan template by HubSpot<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This sales template outlines the key elements of the plan you need to create. It walks you through each of the steps to create your own personalised version.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/offers.hubspot.com\/sales-plan-template?hubs_post=blog.hubspot.com%2Fsales%2Fultimate-guide-creating-sales-plan&amp;hubs_post-cta=Image%20Source&amp;_ga=2.187999150.74291804.1619346669-197760743.1619346669\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image source<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/templatelab.com\/sales-plan-templates\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TemplateLab\u2019s 32 sales plan &amp; sales strategy templates<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This selection of templates breaks down goals into actions. This helps in assigning responsibilities and committing to dates, focusing on multiple goals at once. These resources can really help you to create an effective plan.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.besttemplates.com\/design\/2647\/sales-action-plan\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sales action plan by BestTemplates<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This sales action plan has a minimalistic look and focuses on the more robust elements of achieving sales goals. It is easy to personalise and is eight pages long.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/venngage.com\/features\/sales-business-plan\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Online sales plan maker map by Venngage<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This tool provides a fully customisable method of creating a plan. You can choose a design, custom charts, and even stock photos or illustrations.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.besttemplates.com\/design\/3124\/strategic-sales-plan\">1-Page sales plan by BestTemplates<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are looking for a shorter, more consolidated plan, this is the one for you. It combines all the essentials with an easy-to-read grid layout.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>How to use RingCentral for business growth<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that you have created a plan to help you achieve sales success, it is time to focus on other methods of supporting business growth. Global enterprises trust RingCentral to provide complete cloud communication and collaboration solution. We can help your organisation to achieve the goals set out in your plan, too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RingCentral provides one intuitive platform for VoIP calls, video meetings, team messaging, contact centre, and collaboration. Teams can readily access must-have digital tools through an easy-to-use platform that works seamlessly across office sites and mobile devices. Setup, deployment, and adoption are easy and can be managed by IT departments from anywhere.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is so much more than a <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/voip-phones\/\">VoIP phone<\/a> solution on offer to businesses, allowing teams to work together from wherever they are located. Ranked as the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/lp\/gartner-magic-quadrant.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">number one business communications leader<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for six years running, RingCentral directly enhances agent productivity. This empowers your outbound campaigns, supercharges your inbound response, and increases the speed of follow-up calls. This all helps to grow those all-important <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/definitions\/conversion-rate\/\">conversion rates<\/a>, helping your business to flourish.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Creating an effective sales plan is the first important step in defining your sales strategy. Are you a business owner with a sales team? Perhaps you are a sales manager &hellip; <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/sales-plan\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;How to Successfully Create a Sales Plan that Works [with Examples and Templates]&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":244,"featured_media":18119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-content-hub.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Successfully Create a Sales Plan that Works [with Examples and Templates] | RingCentral UK Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Every salesperson should learn to write a sales plan. In this article we will look at how you can start to create a plan that actually works. You can also take advantage of our free-to-download template.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/gb\/en\/blog\/sales-plan\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"RingCentral Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"13 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Successfully Create a Sales Plan that Works [with Examples and Templates] | RingCentral UK Blog","description":"Every salesperson should learn to write a sales plan. In this article we will look at how you can start to create a plan that actually works. You can also take advantage of our free-to-download template.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/gb\/en\/blog\/sales-plan\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"RingCentral Team","Est. reading time":"13 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":":\/gb\/en\/blog\/sales-plan\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/sales-plan\/"},"author":{"name":"RingCentral Team","@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/cc4f043d2b478862a8622c28b0ebd08c"},"headline":"How to Successfully Create a Sales Plan that Works [with Examples and Templates]","datePublished":"2021-05-10T08:00:52+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-16T17:21:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/sales-plan\/"},"wordCount":2565,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#organization"},"articleSection":["UC - Collaboration"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":[":\/gb\/en\/blog\/sales-plan\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/sales-plan\/","url":":\/gb\/en\/blog\/sales-plan\/","name":"How to Successfully Create a Sales Plan that Works [with Examples and Templates] | RingCentral UK Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-05-10T08:00:52+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-16T17:21:59+00:00","description":"Every salesperson should learn to write a sales plan. In this article we will look at how you can start to create a plan that actually works. You can also take advantage of our free-to-download template.","breadcrumb":{"@id":":\/gb\/en\/blog\/sales-plan\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":[":\/gb\/en\/blog\/sales-plan\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":":\/gb\/en\/blog\/sales-plan\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"RingCentral Blog","item":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UC - Collaboration"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#website","url":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/","name":"RingCentral UK Blog","description":"RingCentral News and Tips","publisher":{"@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#organization","name":"RingCentral UK","url":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ringcentral-logo.png","contentUrl":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ringcentral-logo.png","width":1921,"height":416,"caption":"RingCentral UK"},"image":{"@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/cc4f043d2b478862a8622c28b0ebd08c","name":"RingCentral Team","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/rcbloguk.wpengine.com\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/rc-profile-photo\/images\/default-avatar.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/rcbloguk.wpengine.com\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/rc-profile-photo\/images\/default-avatar.png","caption":"RingCentral Team"},"url":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/author\/ringcentral-team\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18113"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/244"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}