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How To Build A Strategic Sales Plan

What is the best way to increase your sales? You might be wondering.

This is one of the sort-out answers in the world of products and services.

Whether you are in the world of online or offline, sales will help you boost your company’s revenue.

Sales strategy can be described as a written plan for selling a product or service to a particular target market in a way that is unique from your competitors.

In my own experience as a sales executive, most of the guidelines that I will share with you are tried and tested in my 10+ years of a career in sales and marketing combined in some circumstances.

To be effective, sales strategies need to focus on customer conversions.

But wait let me tell you something, you need to be aware that there are 3 sales strategies.

These strategies can work for any type of organization whether corporate or start-ups.

Sales strategy number #1. New audience

As a salesperson, you have to be constantly on the lookout for new audiences and get them into a sales funnel.

In my own experience, most places have their own marketing team to handle that but you as a sales executive should take care of that using strategies.

Sales Strategy Number #2. Repeat Customers

This kind of approach is either cross-sell or up-sell to existing customers and it’s rather self-explanatory.

A company has a new product or service that it is launching whereby it will sell to your existing customers first before branching out.

Since you have built trust with existing customers, it is easier to sell to them.

Sales Strategy Number #3. Conversion of Leads.

Those leads that you have acquired in the new audience stage and they allowed to opt-in and engage with you.

How Do You Create a Sales Strategy?

What does this mean for you?

You need to have a plan of what you are trying to accomplish before you effectively sell your product or service.

Here is where you will get the roadmap to your sales goals which are more like a direction or a guiding light.

Below are a few ways I have written in detail how to set realistic and achievable goals.

1. Analysis of customers’ past sales data. This will create reasonable goals for the coming quarter. Take the example of getting more customers in the past few months so the goal here is to improve on retaining those customers.
2. Application of the S.M.A.R.T model. This is set to actionable goals of the specific. miserable. achievable. relevant. time-bound. For example, the target to achieve $ 1 million in 2021.
3. Operations are in place to succeed. Take an inventory of the sales department. Do you have the tools needed to sail seamlessly? Example CRM, Human resources. Make sure the resources are positioned to help you to succeed.

Now that you have your goals set, breaking them down feels more achievable.

Weekly or monthly objectives will make it feel very approachable.

Buy working backward, taking it step by step will help ensure you reach the final goal.

How to develop a sales strategy.

1. Build a powerful value proposal in your messaging. Creating a persuasive and powerful message which will articulate the root problem that an organization is facing daily, is a way to sell a remarkable product or service. Let them see the value your service or product will solve by crafting a great story of creating urgency to change the narrative.
2. Speak about the sales journey and not the process. Unfortunately, the reality is in a sales cycle can’t be a one size fits all. There is something called a customer deciding journey. It’s no longer the predictable journey of how you want your prospects and customer to buy. Ask key questions that buyers are asking you to look to answer and address the specific needs of the buyer. Focus on the problem.
3. Deliver insight, not discovery questions. Prospects or buyers want a salesperson who will give insight into what they should want. Their business has a missing link and you are here to provide a solution. Wrap your insights into a story that provides context that will improve their performance.
4. Sales and marketing team. These 2 teams must be aligned and share the same purpose to convince buyers to choose your product or service.
5. The buyer persona in your sales strategy is unreliable. This will help you create leads who are qualified but this approach can be misleading. Buyers, in reality, are motivated by external influences that challenge them to change their willing power. These behavioral changes are determined by the buyer’s situation at that time.
6. Action plan. This can be done using social selling by using platforms such as LinkedIn, Quora, Reddit which are related to your industry. Build relationships by providing value to prospects. Up-sell to your customers who are getting value from your product and services by highlighting how it will benefit them. Ask for referrals from current satisfied customers.

Now, execute the sales strategy that you have created.

How do you do it?

1. Highlight the benefits of the sales strategy with the sales team by having a presentation and the rewards.
2. Arrange for regular meetings to check on the progress to determine if the goals are achievable. Identify the skills the sales team can use to improve their objectives.
3. Strategy can be reevaluated and revised as the business grows and sales targets are met. On a regular basis revise success and failure to adjust your strategy accordingly.

Final word. Create a strategy that enlightens more value in your sales conversion than one that fill-in-blank templates.