sales goals business plan

• Sales CRM Software
• Application Portals
• Call Center CRM
• Mobile CRM App
• Omnichannel Communication CONVERSE
• Reporting Dashboard SIERA
• Lead Management System
• Opportunity Management
• Sales Process Automation
• Sales Tracking
• Door-to-Door Sales
• Remote Team Management
• Field Sales CRM
• Merchant Onboarding App
• App UI/UX Customizer CASA
• Outside Sales CRM
• Field Force Automation
• Collections Management
• Field Force Tracking
• Event Campaign Management
• Bancassurance Management
• Marketing Automation
• Chatbot - Website
• Chatbot - WhatsApp
• Landing Pages
• Email Campaigns
• Landing Pages Pro PRO
• Lead Capture Automation
• Lead Engagement
• BTL Marketing Automation
• Advanced Marketing Analytics
• Hospitals and Clinics
• Hospice and Palliative Care
• Fertility Clinics
• Dental Care
• Diagnostics Labs
• ACQUISITION
• Patient Intake Automation
• Patient Appointment Scheduling
• Healthcare Call Center Solution
• Patient Experience Management
• Self-serve Patient Portals
• EHR Integration
• Physician Empanelment
• Security and Compliance
• Patient Engagement
• Higher Education
• Pre-schools and K12
• Training Institutions
• Overseas Education
• Student Recruitment Software
• Admission Portal
• Teacher Onboarding
• Publisher Portal
• Admission Software
• Credit Unions
• Securities and Trading
• Lending CRM
• Loan Origination System
• WhatsApp Lending Bot
• Debt Recovery Automation
• Bancassurance Solution
• PAPERLESS ONBOARDING
• e-KYC Solution
• Video KYC Solution
• Merchant Onboarding
• Merchant Lifecycle Management
• Travel and Hospitality
• Agriculture
• Home Improvement
• View by Industries
• 17 SMART Sales Goals Examples for 2024 [With an Action Plan]

Sales goals are important.

Hit your goals, and you’re more likely to grow.

Fail to meet your sales goals though, and growth plateaus.

When we asked 138 sales professionals from different business verticals about their yearly revenue targets they achieved by September 2021, the response was alarming.

More than 60% of sales reps weren’t even close to achieving their yearly sales quota .

A HubSpot survey reported similar results as nearly 40% of companies stated that they failed to achieve their sales goals in 2020.

Shocked? We were.

And it left us wondering if there’s a way to help people achieve their sales goals.

After all, we’re a sales execution platform. 

Our goal is to help our customers achieve their sales goals.

So, we decided to put together a easy to follow action plan for companies to achieve their sales goals.

Here we go!

What are sales goals?

Sales goals are the objectives a company or a team wants to achieve in a given time. It gives sales teams a roadmap of what they need to do to help their company achieve specific targets.

There can be different types of sales goals. For example, revenue goals, customer acquisition goals, customer retention goals, and more. For example,

• Increase sales revenue by 15% in the next quarter.
• $15,000 in sales revenue per representative per month.
• Increase customer acquisition rate by 10%.

Reduce customer defection rate by 3% in the next year.

• Reduce the churn rate to 5%.
• ACV of $180k per sales rep in 2024.
• Make 40 cold calls per day.
• Reduce response time to a maximum of 4 minutes.

In the subsequent sections, we will discuss sales goals examples in detail. But first, let’s look at why it is necessary to set up goals.

Why create sales goals?

Simply put, those who have goals are 10 times more successful than those without them.

And those who have written goals are 3 times more successful than those with unwritten goals.

Interesting, right?

But does this happen in reality?

I’m worried; it doesn’t.

Whether it’s a personal or professional goal, we fail because we don’t know what we’re doing and why.

Let’s look at it from an organization’s perspective.

Many individuals contribute to the organization’s goals.

For example, to achieve $$ revenue goals of a company, every team member is assigned a target, and they work towards achieving them.

Seems pretty straightforward, isn’t it?

But it’s not.

In reality, you’ll find a lot of moving parts between planning and execution.

Let’s say you’ve set sales goals for the coming year.

You have also set up your team and assigned them tasks. But, in the middle of the quarter, one of your team members decides to switch. In that case, if you don’t take appropriate action in time, the goal you’ve set will be in jeopardy.

That’s why setting up sales goals, having an action plan and tracking progress is important.

But not just any goals. The goals you set for your team must be SMART.

Let’s discuss the components of a SMART sales goal in detail.

How to create SMART sales goals

In the context of sales goals, SMART refers to:

• Specific: The goals should clearly define the expectations
• Measurable: The metrics and criteria you define for the goals should be measurable
• Attainable: The goals should be challenging yet attainable
• Relevant: Makes sense for your business and team
• Time-bound: Should have a timeline to accomplish them

Here’s an example of a SMART sales goal.

Specific: Your goal is to acquire 600 customers by the end of March 2024. It’s specific and sets a target.

Measurable: You know that you’ll have to make 40 calls per day (assuming 1 in 4 prospects you call converts).

So, 10 customers per day for 60 working days = 600 customers in 3 months.

Note, you can easily measure the number of calls made per day.

Attainable: Making 40 calls in a day is doable. Setting a target of 100 calls is unrealistic.

Relevant: It should fit with the mission of your company. In this case, it makes sense if your sales process depends on cold calling.

Time-bound: 40 calls per day until March 2024 gives a clear timeline to achieve the goal.

Now follow these steps to define and execute your sales goals.

3 Steps to create successful sales goals

Let’s break it down into three main steps:

• Define goals

Create an action plan

Track performance, define your goals.

You’ll need to define (set) goals:

1. To track metrics: You must set goals on metrics that are important for your business growth. For example, lead generated, the number of calls or meetings scheduled, the number of deals closed, etc.

2. Across the organization’s hierarchy : In an organization, team members will have different roles and KRAs. So, you must set goals and KPIs for individuals as well. For example, revenue targets may not be relevant to the graphic designer.

3. For various cycles : Different KPIs have different timelines. For example, revenue goals are measured on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis. Whereas lead generation goals are measured on a daily/weekly basis.

The goals you define should be fact-based . It shouldn’t be based on whims.

You should evaluate your previous year’s performance, average order value, conversion rate, sales cycle , resources, etc., and accordingly set a realistic goal.

Note that a goal without an action plan is just another new year resolution – unattended and unaccomplished.

So, the next step is to put your plan into action.

An action plan is a well-defined description of goals. It describes the steps that need to be carried out to achieve the goal within a specified time.

For example, if your goal is to bring $100k in revenues next year, your action plan should look like this:

1. Form a team for different aspects of your sales process , such as:

• Lead generation (marketing)
• Lead qualification (SDRs)
• Inside sales for follow ups.

2. Define KPIs for teams and individuals

• Marketing should generate at least X leads/week
• Every SDR (Sales development representative) must do Y discovery calls per day and qualify leads
• The inside sales team must nurture and add Z qualified leads to the pipeline per week.
• The sales representatives or account executives must follow up and close XY deals per month.
• Assign goals to the individuals.
• Equip your teams with the required tools and technology to help them in their day-to-day tasks.

Once the team members are on the same page, know their goals, and are ready to perform, the next thing you must do is track the progress.

As we said, there are several moving parts between planning and execution. Sometimes you might fall short of resources, while other times, external factors like competition, socio-political or environmental conditions might disrupt your business.

That’s why you need to keep a tab on the sales metrics and whether or not you’re on track to achieve your goals.

Now, if you plan to do this manually, you’ll end up deploying more resources in data crunching.

Instead, you can use CRM software to manage your leads, sales reps, and more in one place. With this, you can also generate automated reports and dashboards to keep an eye on the achievements.

So, now you know what’s happening in your team. How far you are from achieving your sales goals. If the destination seems hazy, the obvious step you must take is – improve.

Improve performance

Keeping a tab on sales KPIs will help you spot underachievers and overachievers. While the strategies of star performers can inspire others, training and support can help underachievers.

The following are the ways to improve your team members’ performances.

• Nudges : Motivate users at the right time using relevant nudges via web notifications, mobile, and emails.
• Gamification : Inspire your teams to perform more, break the records using leaderboards , incentives (e.g., SPIFF ), and more.

So, now you know how to create and execute goals. Let’s look at the sales goals examples you can use for your business.

17 SMART sales goals examples

Revenue goals are the targets to increase the gross or net profits of the company. They reflect the cash flow a business needs to generate each year to cover all expenses while making profits. Revenue goals can be set for a team, region, or product line for a specific timeline.

Here are some examples.

• $15,000 in sales revenue for each representative per month.
• Generate $1.2M in 2024 from Alaska.

2. Unit sales

This sales goal applies to all businesses that sell physical products or services. You can set a quota for your sales team to achieve within a timeline.

For example, you can set a sales goal of 100 units per week for your sales reps .

3. Customer acquisition

Companies drive revenues from both – new and existing customers. Customer acquisition as a sales goal focuses solely on acquiring (gaining) new customers.

• Increase customer acquisition rate by 10% per quarter.
• Acquire 100k new customers from Florida.

4. Lower the customer acquisition cost

Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is the total cost you incur to acquire a customer. When your CAC is lower, you can make more profit from a sale.

CAC involves all costs like-

• Wages and commissions of sales reps
• Calling costs
• Marketing and sales expenses
• Tools and software costs

To calculate CAC, divide the total cost of acquiring customers by the number of customers acquired.

That is, if you spend $100 to acquire 100 customers in a year, your CAC is $1.

You can create sales goals to lower the CAC.

Reduce the customer acquisition cost to 80% by next quarter.

You can also refer to the following industry benchmarks for the CAC .

5. Market share

Usually, large enterprises and aggressive start-ups target market share as a sales goal. For instance, you must have heard of Amazon’s relentless strategies to capture market share across several segments.

6. Customer retention

Customer retention refers to the activities to reduce customer defections.

In contrast, customer defection rate is the number of customers who cancel their subscription or stop making regular purchases. The lower the defection rate, the higher is your customer retention and spend.

An example of this goal could be:

7. Improve NPS

NPS or Net Promoter Score is an important sales KPI to boost customer loyalty and retention.

It indicates customer satisfaction and the likelihood of customers to recommend your products or services to others.

• Reduce detractors by 5%
• Increase promoters by 5%

Note that assigning absolute number targets for NPS may lead to score-begging. So, instead, assign relative targets to your reps to understand if you’re actually improving the service quality or not.

8. Reduce customer churn

Customer churn is the number of customers who stopped using your company’s product or service during a certain period.

Churn is unavoidable.

However, if your churn rate is above the industry average, you should be alarmed.

You must find out why your customers churn and ways to make them stay.

Anything like competitor pricing, new market entrants, outdated product features, poor customer service, etc., could lead to churn. But sustainable brands ensure a balance between customer acquisition and retention.

For example, you can set goals to reduce the churn rate to 5%.

9. Customer lifetime value

A customer lifetime value (CLV) is a long-term prediction of the future values of your customers’ interactions.

It is an important business metric that measures how much a business can earn from the average customer over the course of the relationship.

Increasing CLV as a sales goal looks something like this:

• Increase the average customer lifetime value from $80k to $100k.
• Increase the average customer relationship period from 3 years to 5 years.

10. Annual contract value

Annual contract value or ACV is the average annual revenue generated from each customer contract.

Businesses that depend on subscriptions or rentals can use the annual contract value to set targets and commissions.

You can multiply the monthly target of a rep in his annual contract value to get the final value.

So, if a rep’s monthly target is $15,000, then annual contract value is $15,000 x 12 = $1,80,000. You can also include one-time sales in the yearly contract value.

• ACV of $6 million from North America in 2024.

11. Lead generation goals/prospecting

Qualified leads are more likely to convert. The more qualified leads you get, the more deals you can close . You can set a target for your sales team to generate, say, 50 qualified leads per month with at least 75% on the qualification score .

12. Sales cycle goals

A sales cycle refers to the time it takes to convert a lead into a customer. Companies that have shorter sales cycles sell more and earn more revenues.

Let’s say your sales cycle is 6 weeks. You can set a goal to cut it down to 4.5 weeks.

Note that some industries incur longer sales cycles . So be aware of the optimum sales cycle for your business to create a sales cycle goal.

13. Sales activities: email marketing

You can turn the activities of your reps or sales team into targets. These are applicable when you set goals for people down the organizational hierarchy.

Here are some examples of email marketing goals.

• Increase demo sign-ups from email campaigns by 20%.
• Hit 5% email open rate target.

For this, you’ll need to track email KPIs closely.

You can either use email marketing software or CRM software like LeadSquared that supports marketing campaigns.

The following screenshot illustrates how LeadSquared CRM helps you keep an eye on your email metrics and devise strategies to improve them.

14. Sales activities: cold calling

Similar to the above sales goals example, you can give cold calling targets to your inside sales teams. For example,

• Increase cold calling by 20 leads per day.

You can also use LeadSquared CRM software to manage contacts and cold calling activities on a single platform.

15. Sales activities: speed-to-lead

Speed-to-lead, or the average lead response time , is the average time it takes for a sales rep to respond to an inbound lead.

It is advised to contact a lead within 5 minutes of the inquiry. Not doing so decreases the odds of qualifying the lead by 80% .

So, improving lead response time or increasing the speed-to-lead can be a sales goal for an individual. Here are some examples.

• Increase speed-to-lead by 50%

If you’re wondering if this is a call-center metric , you’re wrong.

Speed-to-lead as a sales goal applies to all sales and customer service departments.

16. Sales activities: meetings/demos

Again, this is an individual sales goal, generally given to the SDR (Sales Development Representatives) teams.

The aim is to build a sales pipeline for the account executives. For example, you can give your reps a target to schedule 20 meetings per week .

17. Business expansion goals

Business expansion goals are similar to the revenue and market share goals but with a strong focus on the region. For example,

• Drive $6 million ARR from the United States in 2024.
• Capture 40% consumer durable market share in Texas by 2025.

So, these were some of the sales goals examples that you can set for your teams.

However, it’s essential to use software to track sales goals and measure every individual’s contribution towards achieving those goals.

I’d like to share a story of how LeadSquared helped a leading travel booking company track its sales performances.

How LeadSquared helped a leading travel company plan and act on sales goals

One of our customers in the travel segment was facing challenges in creating sales goals and monitoring them. The problem became serious when they started expanding across geographics.

Some of the pressing challenges were:

• Managing employees and tracking their progress /work log on excel sheets was ineffective
• Data loss due to multiple sheets and inconsistent data flow across systems.
• Monitoring achievements on the whiteboard was just not right.
• The management wasn’t able to track individual and team performances .

“Keeping track of our agents’ conversations, monitoring our teams, and evaluation of productivity became tedious as the operations scaled,” says the company’s Inside Sales Head.

After implementing LeadSquared, the management was able to set clear objectives for the team. Monitoring them regularly helped them improve critical business metrics. The main functional areas that contributed to increased sales efficiency are:

• Setting up talk time targets
• Setting up meeting activity targets
• Tracking lead activities

With LeadSquared, they were able to:

“We were able to configure all the required targets for our team like how many leads we are getting, what actioning has been done, what is conversion rate, how many leads have been closed by the team w.r.t their target. Being able to configure all different kinds of targets makes goals a very critical feature for us now,” says the company’s spokesperson.

In conclusion

While setting up sales goals gives clarity and direction to organizational success, tracking progress ensures that you have everything you need to achieve your goals.

If you have a plan but are not able to track progress, it’s high time to invest in a tool that helps you just do that. And while you do, do check out LeadSquared sales performance suite. LeadSquared has helped leading organizations like BYJU’S, Dunzo, and many more achieve and exceed their sales goals. To see it in action,

Nidhi is a content writer/editor at LeadSquared. She works closely with sales professionals and senior management to bring their outlook into her write-ups. Connect with her on LinkedIn or write to her at [email protected].

Table of Contents

• Share on Facebook
• Share on WhatsApp
• Share on LinkedIn

Want to see LeadSquared in action?

• Customer Portal
• Performance Management
• Dev Platform LAPPS
• Help Portal
• Pricing SALES
• Pricing MARKETING
• Education CRM
• Healthcare CRM
• Insurance CRM
• Banking CRM
• Real Estate
• Marketplace CRM
• Manufacturing CRM
• What is CRM
• What is lead management
• What is vendor management
• What is sales management
• Case Studies
• Guides & Blogs
• Compare CRM
• CRM Glossary
• Sales Glossary
• Media & News

GET IN TOUCH

(+1) 732-385-3546 (US)

080-47359453 (India Sales)

080-46801265 (India Support)

62-87750-350-446 (ID)

• Legal & Compliance

Attain 100% lead capture, 75% increase in sales efficiency and 2x engagement.

Filter by Keywords

10 Free Sales Plan Templates in Word, Excel, & ClickUp

Praburam Srinivasan

Growth Marketing Manager

August 12, 2024

Start using ClickUp today

• Manage all your work in one place
• Collaborate with your team
• Use ClickUp for FREE—forever

Every sales team wants to win more leads and close more deals. But how do you make that happen? With a solid sales plan, of course!

A sales plan gives your team a way to focus on your goals while taking only the necessary steps to get there. It has everything you need to win, which means it’s often a comprehensive guide—and that takes time.

And we’re guessing you’re already pressed for time. ⏲️

Fortunately, creating a plan doesn’t have to be complicated—with the right template, you can simplify the process.

That’s why we’re sharing this list of the best sales plan templates. Not only are these sales strategy templates absolutely free but they’ll also save you time so you can start closing those deals faster. ⚡

What Is a Sales Plan and Why Create One?

1. clickup sales plan template, 2. clickup sales and marketing plan template, 3. clickup sales strategy guide template, 4. clickup sales pipeline template, 5. clickup sales kpi template, 6. clickup b2b sales strategy template, 7. clickup sales calls template, 8. word sales plan template by business news daily, 9. word sales plan template by templatelab, 10. excel sales plan template by spreadsheet.com.

A sales plan is your roadmap for how to make sales effectively. Think of it in the same way that a business plan guides the strategy for your company or a marketing plan sets out how you’ll find, reach, and serve your ideal customers.

A good sales plan sets out your sales goals , objectives, and sales activities. It considers your target audience, brand, products, services, and needs—and covers which sales tactics and strategies you’ll use to close deals, as well as which metrics you’ll use to measure success.

Your sales plan is a practical plan that outlines who’s responsible for what, the resources you’ll need, and the overall goals you’re working toward. Without one, your sales team will feel lost and struggle to connect with your customer base.

With a strategic sales plan, though, the sales manager and the entire team will know exactly what you’re trying to achieve and the steps needed to get there. 📚

How to choose the best sales plan template

There are so many different sales plan templates out there. Some are designed for specific niche audiences, while others are more generic and easier to customize. How do you know which is the right template for you?

When you’re thinking about using a sales plan template, consider the following:

• Ease of use: Is the template easy to use? Will everyone in the team structure and sales planning process be able to understand it fully?
• Customization: Can I personalize the template to match my sales goals?

• Sales Collaboration : Can my sales team work on this template together?
• Integrations: When I create a sales plan, can I integrate this template with other aspects of my sales pipeline or workflow, like task management?
• Artificial intelligence: Can I use a built-in AI writing tool or copywriting tool to help me complete the template? Are there sales automation features that speed up the process?
• Platform: Which sales app is this template for? Do I have it already, or should I invest in it? What’s the pricing like?

Asking yourself these questions will help you figure out what your needs are, so you can then choose a template to match.

Now that you have a better idea of what you’re looking for, let’s explore what’s out there. Take a look at our hand-picked selection of the best sales plan templates available today for Microsoft Word and sales enablement tools like ClickUp.

Smart sales teams use a sales plan to map out their route to success. The best sales teams use the Sales Plan Template by ClickUp to simplify the process and ensure they don’t leave anything out.

This template is designed with all the structure you need to create a comprehensive sales plan that can drive results. Use this template to set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) business goals; plan strategies and tactics; and organize all your sales ideas in one place.

The list-style template is split into sections that cover the executive summary all the way through to specific tactics and strategies. Beneath this, you can arrange tasks and subtasks, and see the progress at a glance. View task titles, deadlines, who’s responsible, approval status, and a visual progress bar.

Use this template if you want to consolidate all your sales tasks and initiatives in one area. Add your sales tasks and tactics, then tag team members so you can see what’s happening and hold everyone accountable. ✅

While sales and marketing teams often work independently, sometimes it’s useful to collaborate on shared goals. With the Sales and Marketing Plan Template by ClickUp , you can organize and run your sales and operations from one location.

Our collaborative template makes it easy to set sales and marketing goals and objectives, visualize your tasks, work together on sales and marketing campaigns, and track your results in real-time. View the status of your sales and marketing projects, adjust your plans, and monitor your key performance indicators (KPIs)—all from one view.

This sales and marketing plan template allows you to split your tasks into sections. The examples in the template include revenue goals, competitive analysis, and action items, but you can customize these to match your needs exactly.

View tasks beneath these categories to see at a glance whether there are any roadblocks when a task is due, and who is responsible for it.

Add this template to your collection if you want to work more collaboratively with your marketing team—especially on preparing assets for sales calls or outreach programs. 📞

Before you can plan your sales tactics, you first need to decide what your overall goals are. The Sales Strategy Guide Template by ClickUp is your go-to resource for determining your approach.

This sales process template explains the benefits of having a well-defined approach and gives you a central place to create, review, and store your own. Everyone on your team can then access your sales strategy guide to help them understand what to do when prospecting and closing deals.

Our sales goals and strategy guide template is presented in a document format. Some sections and headings allow you to split your guide into different areas, making it easier to read and understand.

Use the prompts to fill out your own strategy guide details like your target market, sales strategies, and how you’ll monitor progress.

Use this sales strategy guide template to create a resource for your team. Make it the only destination for everything your sales reps need to know to execute an effective sales plan. 📝

Sales strategies are a must-have for any great sales team, but beyond that, you need a way to record and monitor specific tasks or initiatives. That’s where the Sales Pipeline Template by ClickUp comes in handy whether you need a visual into sales forecasting or your specific sales goals.

This sales pipeline template gives you one place to store all your daily sales-related tasks. With this template, it’s easy to work toward your sales goals, track leads, map out each step of the sales process, and organize all your tasks in one place.

You can view a task’s title, assignee, status, due date, complexity level, start date, and department—or customize the experience with your own custom fields.

With ClickUp’s Sales KPI Template , you and your team can create and manage goals surrounding your sales initiatives. See instantly what’s in progress and when it’s due, alongside the task’s impact level.

This allows you to identify high-priority tasks to focus on and to react quickly if it looks like there’s a roadblock.

This sales KPI template includes:

• Custom Statuses: Create tasks with custom statuses such as Open and Complete to keep track of the progress of each KPI
• Custom Fields: Utilize 15 different custom attributes such as Upsell Attempts, Value of Quotes, Product Cost, No of Quotes by Unit, Repeat Sales Revenue, to save vital KPI information and easily visualize performance data
• Custom Views: Open 4 different views in different ClickUp configurations, such as the Weekly Report, Monthly Report, Revenue Board per Month, and Getting Started Guide so that all the information is easy to access and organized
• Project Management: Improve KPI tracking with tagging, dependency warnings, emails, and more

This template gives you a simple way to see which tasks are complete or in progress, so you can monitor the progress of your project and crush your sales KPIs. 📈

While there’s not a huge difference in the way we market to business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C) customers these days, it’s still useful to have specific templates for niche needs. If you’re driving sales in the B2B space, you need the B2B Sales Strategy Template by ClickUp .

Like our first sales plan template, this one gives you space to communicate your sales objectives and revenue targets, but it also introduces other areas—like market research, stakeholder analysis, customer relationships, buyer persona, and customer pain points.

This document-style template is highly customizable so you can make it match your brand style and sales approach. Fill in each section and use the supplied prompts to complete your B2B sales strategy document even faster.

Add this template to your collection if you’re working in B2B sales and want to approach your process in a more organized way. Use the template to build a strong sales strategy, then share it with the rest of your sales team so they know how to execute against your sales and company goals. 🎯

ClickUp’s Sales Calls Template is designed to streamline the sales process, from tracking contacts and calls to managing sales opportunities.

The template includes custom statuses for creating unique workflows, ensuring that every call and client interaction is accounted for. It also provides an easy-to-use Sales CRM to manage and track leads, visualize sales opportunities in the sales funnel, and keep all contacts organized.

With additional features like the Sales Phone Calls SOP Template, sales professionals can empower their teams to make every call count and close more deals. ClickUp’s Sales Calls Template is a versatile solution for sales teams, aiding in everything from daily calls to long-term sales forecasting.

We’re big advocates of using ClickUp as the go-to place to store everything about your sales workflow, but if you’re limited to using Microsoft Word or Google Docs, then this template is a great option.

This sales business plan template has sections for your executive summary, mission statement, target customers, sales targets, benchmarks, and more. Each section has useful prompts to guide you on completing your new sales plan.

Use this template if you’re tied to using Microsoft Word and want a comprehensive guide on how to create your own sales plan or sales strategy. 📄

If you want a free sales plan template or want to choose from a variety of options, this collection of Word templates by TemplateLab is a good place to do that.

There’s a wide range of options available including sales process plans, lead generation plans, sales action plans, and sales report templates . Each template works with Microsoft Word, and you can customize the look and feel to match your brand or your sales goals.

Use this resource if you prefer to see a range of templates on one page, or if you’re not sure exactly what you’re looking for until you see it. You can easily set your sales goals and the action steps needed to achieve them. 📃

Successful sales strategies need to be integrated with other teams—like your marketing department—to ensure your sales objectives are clear and possibly align with the overall marketing strategy too. Choose your specific sales goals, set revenue targets, and describe everything in detail with these Word sales planning and sales process templates.

The Excel Sales Plan Template by Spreadsheet.com is a comprehensive and user-friendly tool designed to assist businesses in developing effective sales strategies and managing their sales activities.

T his template is crafted with the aim of providing a structured framework for sales planning, enabling organizations to set clear objectives, track performance, and optimize their sales processes.

Types of Sales Strategies

It’s essential to know that there isn’t a single ‘best’ strategy that will work for every business or every sales team. It all depends on your business goals, the nature of your product or service, your audience demographics, and various other factors. Here’s an overview of some of the most common types of sales strategies that you may consider incorporating into your sales plan:

Solution Selling: This strategy involves identifying a problem that your prospective customer is experiencing and positioning your product or service as the best solution. This requires a deep understanding of your customers’ pain points and how your offerings can address those issues.

Value Selling: Value selling is a strategy often used in B2B sales where the focus is on communicating the overall value that a product or service brings to a customer’s business. It involves demonstrating how features and benefits translate to significant returns on investment, savings, or productivity gains for your customer.

Social Selling: With the prevalence of social media platforms in today’s business landscape, social selling has become highly effective. It involves using social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook to find and engage with potential customers. By providing useful content, answering questions, and engaging in conversations, salespeople can build relationships and generate leads.

Inbound Selling: Inbound selling puts the customer first. It’s a sales methodology that focuses on personalizing the sales experience based on where the buyer is in their journey. This strategy aligns sales efforts with buyer needs to provide solutions that are the best fit for their individual challenges.

Consultative Selling: This strategy involves acting as a trusted adviser to potential customers. The focus is on building relationships, understanding the needs and problems of the customer, and then recommending solutions. It’s more about dialogue and less about pitching.

Account-Based Selling : Account-based selling is a strategic approach that treats individual accounts as markets of their own. It involves crafting personalized buying experiences that cater to the unique needs and challenges of high-value accounts.

Each of these sales strategies can bring efficiency and effectiveness to your sales process. However, the key to success is understanding and selecting which strategy aligns best with your business model and customer base. Then, incorporate it into your sales plan and support it with the right sales plan template.

Sales Planning Tips and Strategies

Planning is a crucial aspect for a successful sales strategy. Here are some valuable tips and strategies to boost your sales planning process:

1. Set Clear Objectives: Clearly outline what you want to achieve. Your objectives are your guiding light, providing a direction for your sales planning. These objectives should align with broader business goals.

2. Understand Your Audience: Research extensively about your target audience. Understand their needs, desires, and pain points. The more you know about your potential customers, the better you’ll be able to position your product or service effectively.

3. Implement SMART Goals : Your sales plan should be based on SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound) goals. This way, your goals will be clear, realistic, and trackable.

4. Stay Informed about Market Trends: Business environments are constantly changing. Stay updated with the latest industry trends and competitor strategies to keep your sales plan agile and effective.

5. Incorporate Sales Tools: The effective use of technology can completely transform your sales process. Build your sales tech stack with CRM software , data analytics, and sales project management platforms like ClickUp to automate processes and give your sales team a high-impact lift.

6. Regularly Review and Adjust Your Plan: Your sales plan should be a dynamic document. Regularly revisiting and adjusting your plan based on performance metrics, market changes, or shifts in company goals ensures that your sales strategy remains relevant and effective.

7. Train and Empower Your Sales Team: The success of any plan lies in its execution. Provide your sales team with proper training and resources they need to effectively implement the sales plan. Encourage them to also bring innovative ideas to the table.

8. Customer Retention: Don’t just focus on acquiring new customers. Implement strategies in your sales plan to retain existing customers as it’s often more cost-effective to maintain a loyal customer base than to constantly seek out new ones.

9. Refine Your Sales Pitch: Ensure your value proposition is strong and compelling. Your sales pitch should highlight the unique values and benefits of your product or service.

10. Measure Performance: Use key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of your sales plan. This can provide valuable insights about what’s working and what needs to be improved.

By incorporating these sales planning tips and strategies into your processes, you can improve your sales plan’s effectiveness and increase your chances of success. As always, keep an open mind to adjustments and improvements along the way!

Reach Sales Goals With Free Sales Strategy Templates

A strategic sales plan makes it easier to achieve your goals. Give your team the guidance and support they need with the help of a well-crafted free sales plan template.

If you’re considering making even more improvements in how you work, try ClickUp for free . We don’t just have incredible sales process templates: Our range of features and AI tools for sales make it easy for you to optimize and run your entire sales funnel and CRM system from one place. ✨

Questions? Comments? Visit our Help Center for support.

Receive the latest WriteClick Newsletter updates.

Thanks for subscribing to our blog!

Please enter a valid email

• Free training & 24-hour support
• Serious about security & privacy
• 99.99% uptime the last 12 months

15 Sales Goal Examples + How to Set Smart Goals for 2023

Casey O'Connor

What Are Sales Goals?

The importance of smart goals in sales, how to set sales goals, how to track sales goals, 15 sales goals examples.

Most top-performing sales teams would agree that sales goals are a huge driving force behind their success.

Sales goals are targeted objectives that are designed to help individual sales reps and sales teams stay organized, motivated, and productive as they contribute to business growth .

Without sales goals, many salespeople and teams would become unmotivated, unproductive, and directionless. Sales goals ensure that success is not left up to chance.

In this article, we’ll go over everything you need to know about sales goals, including why they’re so important, how to write them (the right way), and how to track them in a functional and productive way.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

Sales goals are measurable objectives that sales reps and teams use to guide them through their day-to-day sales activities and help them make big-picture strategic decisions.

Sales goals are usually based on sales KPIs and specific sales metrics . They are data-driven and are meant to provide a blueprint for sellers and organizations on how to achieve new levels of success. Sales goals bring clarity and control to the sales process while also mitigating risk.

Fortunately, there’s a specific way to write sales goals that helps ensure your sales goals are comprehensive, easy to execute, and impactful: the SMART goal framework.

The SMART goal framework refers to goals written according to five criteria. SMART goals are: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.

Let’s take a closer look at what those goal-setting components each mean.

A well-written sales goal should clearly outline the intended outcome. Sales reps should get a clear picture of what they’ll be working on when they read the goal. 

Here’s an example:

Non-Specific Goal: I will increase my sales productivity.  Specific Goal: I will increase the number of sales meetings that I book. 

Sales reps and managers need to be able to quantify and track progress toward sales goals. 

Let’s look at the same example as the one above. 

Non-Measurable Goal: I will increase my sales productivity.  Measurable Goal: I will increase the number of sales meetings that I book.

Sales productivity , as a whole, is hard to quantify. There are several factors that go into that metric, and some of the data measurements may be considered subjective. 

On the other hand, the number of sales calls a rep makes is an easy metric to measure and track.

Every sales team wants to consistently exceed their sales quota , but setting unrealistic goals won’t help anyone perform their best over the long term. Sales reps should feel like they have a decent shot at meeting their goals with some intention and hard work. 

Individual sales goals should always align with larger organizational goals. For example, if a company sets a goal to move more towards inbound sales, it wouldn’t make sense for a sales rep to create a goal around increasing their cold calls .

Individual goals don’t need to be identical to team- or company-wide ones, but they should at least run parallel to theirs. 

Part of what makes a goal a goal — instead of a dream or a wish — is that it has a deadline. A goal needs to be designed around a target date. This creates a sense of urgency and motivation in sales reps who might be working at a challenging pace.

SMART goals are designed to help sales teams and individual salespeople stay focused and productive with manageable yet highly impactful incremental achievements.

Sales goals can be created by anyone on the sales team, or upper-level and c-suite management. They sometimes also include the finance team. Sales managers are often responsible for creating team-wide goals, and individual sales reps are encouraged to create personal sales goals, as well.

The same goal-setting process applies whether you’re creating sales goals for yourself or for your team.

1. Identify Areas of Growth

The first step in creating new SMART sales goals is to look carefully at your current sales metrics and KPIs to determine where your biggest strengths and areas of growth are.

To the best of your ability, try to find the root cause of any issues you discover. The better you can identify where exactly deals are getting lost, the more effective your goals will be.

2. Determine What’s Most Important… and Realistic

Virtually all sales goals — assuming they’re written in the SMART format, of course — are worthwhile ones. Most sales teams want to keep reaching new levels of success to help grow their business. And it would be wonderful if every sales team had ample time to pursue every goal they wanted to achieve. 

Unfortunately, anyone who works in sales knows this is far from reality. There are only so many resources — time included — available to set and reach goals. 

With that in mind, it’s very important that sales reps and sales teams carefully prioritize their potential goals. Evaluate which will make the biggest impact, and/or show the fastest results. 

If you’re just starting out with goal-setting, try setting goals related to cash flow, transparency, and productivity. These are all good places to start. 

Further, you’ll also need to consider how well your current resources are suited to meeting particular goals. If you set a goal to generate more leads , for example, you may need to hire new or additional business development reps (BDRs) to free up time for more senior reps to close deals. Not every business has the capital or cash flow to commit to something like that, especially in the early stages.

3. Decide on a Target and Write It in the SMART Format

Once you’ve determined your highest priorities and whittled those down to only those that are realistic given the resources available to you, it’s time to map out the specifics of your new sales goal.

Remember to follow the SMART framework carefully. It does take some practice, so take notes on the process as you go. You’ll get better at it the more you use it. 

It’s worth noting that activity goals are generally easier to work toward and achieve than outcome-based ones. Take a look at these two examples:

Activity-based: Sales reps will close 40% of prospects that hear their sales proposals.  Outcome-based: The sales team will generate 50% more revenue than last year. 

Do you notice the difference between these two? In the activity-based goal, the sales reps’ activity is clear: sales proposals that close deals. They know exactly what they need to work on in order to meet the goal.

The revenue, outcome-based goal, however, might be influenced by a variety of factors. Sales reps have far less control over an outcome-based goal than an activity-based one. 

To be clear, both types of goals are perfectly acceptable, and both are widely used. Every company hopes to increase their revenue, and it’s reasonable (and good practice) to set goals toward achieving that. There’s nothing wrong with outcome-based goals. It’s just something to keep in mind if you’re just starting out with goal-setting and are eager to see results.

4. Educate and Empower Your Sales Team

You’ll quickly find that even the best-written SMART goals are relatively useless if your team isn’t informed and motivated about how to reach them. 

If you’re creating a team-wide sales goal, make sure you carve out as much time as necessary to explain the goal to your sales reps. You’ll also want to make sure they have all of the training, tools, and other resources that they’ll need to reach those goals available to them. 

Finally, it’s also worth exploring whether your current compensation or commission plan is properly aligned with your current SMART goals. For example, if your SMART goals are related to lead generation , you might offer a small bonus or increase in commission to reps who exceed their lead goal. 

That’s not to say that you should offer hyper-specific bonuses for every performance metric. You don’t have to necessarily add anything to your compensation plan . But you should consider whether you’re appropriately compensating your team if they’re consistently meeting their goals.

Of course, motivation should be more than extrinsic. It’s important that sales managers create a climate of trust, accountability, and appreciation in order to fully motivate reps to reach high expectations.

5. Monitor and Track Your Progress 

The backbone of effective sales goals is how well the stakeholders monitor its progress. 

If you can, note within your SMART goal at which intervals you plan to collect data on your goal progress. If this is a team goal, make sure there are clear expectations around how and when to collect goal-related data, and where to store it.

Hitting your sales goals? Grab our free ebook below on scaling your team in 2023.

The best way to track sales goals is with a sales dashboard. Here’s an example .

There are many sales software tools that offer dashboard and reporting capabilities — check out the post with some of our favorite sales dashboards here .

At a minimum, your sales dashboard should display all relevant sales data. Some, though, are more capable than just a simple metrics display, and can actually aggregate and analyze data to indicate progress toward your goals.

If you don’t have a sales dashboard platform and aren’t in a position to acquire one soon, it’s up to you to create a clear and organized system — and the expectations around it — for collecting, managing, synthesizing, and analyzing sales data.

Regardless of whether you use technology or not, tracking your progress toward sales goals is one of the most important parts of the process — even more important than meeting or exceeding them. Without careful monitoring of activities and results related to the goal, sales teams and reps will struggle to know how to improve or what to continue.

There’s no limit to the number of sales goals a team can create. Follow the steps outlined in this article to determine the ones most relevant to your team. 

Here are a few examples to use as a starting point. Be sure to update or change the numeric specifics (i.e., the timeline and intended outcome) to fit the needs of your team.

Increase monthly revenue by 10% in twelve months Increase annual revenue by 10% in twelve months Reduce customer churn to <1% in six months Increase units sold in a quarter by 20% Increase customer lifetime value (LTV) by 12% in twelve months Decrease customer acquisition cost (CAC) by 5% in six months Increase the number of marketing qualified leads (MQL) by 15% in six months Increase the number of sales qualified leads (SQL) by 15% in three months Reduce the length of the sales cycle by 8% in six months Increase win rate by 8% by the end of the year Increase hours spent on sales rep coaching by 15% in six months Increase the number of sales training opportunities by 10% in three months Decrease rep turnover by 8% in twelve months Increase the number of leads generated by 20% in three months  Increase the number of sales demos scheduled by 15% in six months

Do you use SMART sales goals in your sales process ? What has been your most successful goal so far? Think both in terms of the goal-setting process, and measured outcome. What worked so well about the process? Why do you think you were able to meet that particular goal so efficiently?

Get sales tips and strategies delivered straight to your inbox.

Yesware will help you generate more sales right from your inbox. Try our Outlook add-on or Gmail Chrome extension for free, forever!

Hit your number every month

Works on Outlook or Gmail (+ many more integrations)

Related Articles

Essential Sales Manager Skills: Mastering the Art of Leadership in 2024

What Is Adaptive Leadership? A Guide for Sales Managers

Sales Pipeline Management: The Ultimate Guide for Driving Revenue

Sales, deal management, and communication tips for your inbox

We're on a mission to help you build lasting business relationships.

75 Kneeland Street, Floor 15 Boston, MA 02111

[email protected]

22 Best Sales Strategies, Plans, & Initiatives for Success [Templates]

Discover sales strategy examples, templates, and plans used by top sales teams worldwide.

FREE SALES PLAN TEMPLATE

Outline your company's sales strategy in one simple, coherent plan.

Published: 08/28/24

A strong sales strategy plan creates the foundation for a cohesive and successful sales organization. Sales strategies and initiatives also align salespeople on shared goals and empower them to do their best work — keeping them happy and successful, too.

In this guide, I’ll dig into some sales strategies and initiatives that I’ve found can help you generate more leads and close more deals. But first, let’s define what a sales strategy is.

Table of Contents

What is a sales strategy?

Why is a sales strategy important, the most effective sales strategies, how to build a sales strategy, sales initiatives, sales strategy examples from successful sales teams.

A sales strategy is a set of decisions, actions, and goals that inform how your sales team positions the organization and its products to close new customers. It acts as a guide for sales reps to follow, with clear goals for sales processes, product positioning, and competitive analysis.

Free Sales Plan Template

Outline your company's sales strategy in one simple, coherent sales plan.

• Target Market
• Prospecting Strategy

Download Free

All fields are required.

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Sales Strategy Types

The custome r is the most important element to consider when choosing your business‘s sales strategy. Once you’ve addressed their needs, you can start thinking about your sales team. Your sales strategy should offer a framework that attracts and engages prospects — while simultaneously enabling your team to build relationships.

Prospects‘ and teams’ needs and interests vary, so your sales strategy shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all. Every sales org should draw up the type of sales strategy that works best for its priorities. Here are some frameworks you can reference when putting yours together.

Outbound Sales Strategy

Outbound sales strategies are the legacy approach of most sales teams. In these systems, companies base their sales strategy on the seller, not the customer.

Outbound sales processes often include cold calling, purchasing email lists, and engaging in other cold prospecting techniques. As a result, daily success metrics are often based on the quantity of connections, not the quality.

Outbound sales teams often rely on manually-entered data to monitor their sales pipelines and coach their salespeople. To enhance efficiency, outbound sales teams may utilize software to automate certain tasks, though the integration might not be seamless. They may also run sales and marketing independently, which can create a disjointed experience for buyers.

Inbound Sales Strategy

Inbound sales strategies are the modern methodology for sales teams. Companies following an inbound approach base their sales processes on buyer actions, capturing seller and buyer data to monitor their pipelines and coach their salespeople.

Inbound sales strategies connect reps’ activities to the three stages of the buyer journey — awareness, consideration, and decision — encouraging sales teams to map their tactics to each step.

The inbound methodology also aligns sales and marketing, creating a seamless experience for buyers. Check out this post to learn more about inbound sales and how to develop an inbound sales process.

Inbound vs. Outbound Sales Methodology

Nowadays, much of the information needed to evaluate a product is available online — empowering buyers and making them less reliant on sellers for product knowledge and insight. That means that if sales teams don’t align with the modern buyer’s process. If they fail to add value beyond the information already available online, then buyers will have no reason to engage with a sales team.

As mentioned above, inbound sales benefits buyers at each stage of the buyer process, including:

• Consideration.

Inbound sales teams help buyers become aware of potential problems or opportunities and discover strategies to solve those problems.

Then, buyers evaluate whether the salesperson can help with their problem, and if the buyer thinks they can, they’ll purchase a solution to their problem. Inbound sales reps are helpful and trustworthy, creating partnerships rather than power struggles.

Consultative Selling

The modern sales professional should always act as a helpful, consultative resource for prospects. Consultative selling is a strategy that leans into that trend. It places emphasis on leading with relationship building and positioning the right product after that connection has been established.

This brand of sales involves certain key actions, including balancing questions with insights, developing trust with extensive product knowledge, active listening, and letting feedback guide conversations.

Obviously, this is an extremely high-level overview of the strategy — for a more granular picture of how it works, check out this article .

Account-Based Selling

Account-Based Selling (ABS) is a sales strategy that's rooted in locking in on key, higher-value accounts as opposed to casting a wide net for a broad range of prospects. With ABS, salespeople are expected to identify and pursue specific accounts that have high conversion potential.

That means salespeople are expected to conduct thorough, thoughtful research on prospects to more effectively meet them where they are. The strategy also places emphasis on collaboration with marketing — sales teams lean on their marketing departments to create personalized, targeted content for each account.

Ultimately, successfully executed Account-Based Selling rests on a sales team's ability to take a granular approach to really lock in on individual prospects' needs and interests. Salespeople leveraging the strategy also need to know how to prioritize the accounts they pursue.

ABS can be extremely effective if it's done right, but it does come with its share of risk — if your sales org elects to forego reaching out to a wide range of prospects in favor of connecting with key accounts, you generally have less room for error.

For a look at some other key methodologies that can inform your sales strategy, check out this article.

Below, I’ll walk through how to create a sales strategy plan for your team.

50+ for Social Selling on LinkedIn and Beyond

Use this guide to improve your social selling efforts and close more deals from platforms like...

2. Become a thought leader.

Sharing your advice, tried-and-true best practices, and niche expertise are some of the most long-lasting ways to build your personal brand and lend more credibility to your organization.

That’s what thought leaders do. Indeed, a 2022 report found that “Thought leadership is one of the most effective tools an organization can use to demonstrate its value to customers during a tough economy — even more so than traditional advertising or product marketing, according to B2B buyers.”

According to the study, 61% of decision-makers believed that thought leadership could be moderately or very effective in demonstrating the value of a company’s products.So what’s the catch? Not all thought leadership content is created equal.

When done right, thought leadership can have a huge positive impact, but poor thought leadership can be devastating to a company’s sales goals. So, before you plan a spree of LinkedIn posts to drive leads, consider who your audience is, what they need to know, and how your organization can help

Also, it may not hurt to have a second set of eyes from your marketing, communication, and PR departments review your plan first to make sure everything is on-brand (and trackable!).

3. Prioritize inbound sales calls as hot leads.

You and your sales team know your process better than anyone. So take it from me — if you’ve seen success with pitching with pricing first, last, or somewhere in between, stick with what’s working for you.

Beyond that, your team should always prioritize the prospects who come to you. These hot leads are definitely interested in what you have to sell, and before they make a decision, they want to get the information they need about how it will benefit them.

By prioritizing talking to these prospects as soon as they call in or send an email, you’re putting your best foot forward and showing them that you’re helpful, solutions-oriented, and considerate of their time.

4. Properly research and qualify prospects.

I’ve personally discovered that even the strongest sales strategy can’t compensate for targeting the wrong customers. To ensure your team is selling to the right type of customer, encourage reps to research and qualify prospects before attempting to discuss your product. Indeed, throughout my career, I’ve found that more work on the front end can lead to smoother closing conversations later on.

Outline the criteria a prospect needs to meet to be qualified as a high-probability potential customer. These criteria will depend on your unique business and target audience, but they should generally be based on a prospect’s engagement history and demographics.

5. Implement a free trial.

HubSpot’s sales strategy report , free trials were the second most popular self-service tools among the survey's respondents for supporting sales strategies — with 41% citing it as one of the most effective of those kinds of resources.

Free Sales Training Template

Use this template to set up a 30/60/90 day sales training and onboarding plan.

• 30/60/90 Day Goals
• People to Meet
• Feedback/Review Process

Create great processes for hiring new members of your sales team.

First and foremost, create a list of criteria for sales managers to screen for when interviewing candidates. A well-defined job description and competency framework are also useful. These tools can help your team recruit and retain top talent.

Develop sales onboarding, training, and development programs.

Your training and onboarding program should prepare your sales team to sell effectively and efficiently. It should also help sales reps build advanced skills and industry knowledge.

But what if you don’t have the resources to develop comprehensive training in-house? In these situations, it may be worth considering combining organization-specific training with online sales training programs .

Create a motivational compensation and rewards plan.

Finally, once you’ve built a strong team, it’s vital to ensure your compensation plan is set up to motivate and retain them.

Many organizations connect sales compensation to organizational sales goals, but regardless of the specific compensation plan you choose, make sure that it meets or exceeds industry expectations. It should also inspire your team to celebrate individual and team achievements.

4. Create a plan to generate demand.

Now, it’s time to put together a detailed plan for how to target potential customers and increase their awareness of your offering. This may include using paid social acquisition channels, creating e-books, hosting webinars, and the many other strategies laid out in this article.

Featured Resource: Sales Plan Template

Free Sales Metrics Calculator

A free, interactive template to calculate your sales KPIs.

• Average Deal Size
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

6. Track sales activities.

Data is key to an effective sales strategy plan. With sales activity metrics, you can go beyond individual team performance to understand your entire sales operation.

Collect a range of sales activity data.

Sales activity metrics can help you understand how the team approaches day-to-day sales as a whole. I’ve found that it can be helpful to track everything from the sales presentation to closing techniques.

Specifically, collect data to see how your sales team performs beyond call or deal numbers in activities, such as:

• Meetings scheduled.
• Presentations delivered.
• Proposals submitted.
• Sales presentation success rates.
• Closing techniques.

Then, comparing this data to other goal metrics can show you patterns, best practices, and areas for improvement.

Track, lead, and prospect sources.

It’s also vital to make sure you’re tracking where your prospects are coming from. For example, if you’ll be publishing thought leadership content or sourcing leads from social media, make sure that any link you share is trackable with a UTM parameter .

Trackable links aren’t just valuable for learning which channels are generating the most leads. They can also help you focus your resources on the channels that generate the most relevant, qualified leads for driving sales.

Focus on continuous improvement.

Once you have a complete set of analytics to track your strategy, use that data to refine your sales strategies, team knowledge, and plans. A clear, data-driven process will make it easier to use customer feedback to grow your sales. It will also give your sales team the agility to adapt to industry and market changes that may impact your business down the road.

Free Marketing & Sales SLA Template

Align Sales & Marketing goals with this free template.

• Initiatives
• Accountability
• Communication

Known for its consistent sales momentum and customer satisfaction, Shopify offers another great example of a highly successful sales organization. In a recent press release , Loren Padelford, shopify VP and general manager of Shopify Plus, shared his secret sauce for boosting sales.

Hire great people, not necessarily great salespeople.

Hiring is arguably one of the most essential components of a great sales strategy. Many sales managers, though, are misled into believing that they must hire sales superstars.

Instead, Padelford looks for six key traits when hiring salespeople: intelligence, work ethic, a history of success, creativity, entrepreneurship, and competitiveness.

The truth is that sales teams must first look for great people. Then, you can train them to help them become great salespeople.

Treat sales as a science, not an art.

Padelford describes how, thanks to modern digital tools, we can now measure sales down to the second. We can explain success with cold, hard data points, rather than turning to vague, qualitative assessments.

As such, every sales team today should be tracking their average deal size, average sales cycle length, lead-to-deal conversion rate, calls per day per rep, and the number of deals in the pipeline.

When tracked over time, each of these metrics can inform companies about the health of their sales process and help them pinpoint areas where they need to improve.

Build a smart, technological foundation.

Before Padelford took over the sales process at Shopify, sales reps would manually log phone calls and emails into a CRM, consuming five precious hours each week. With a sales force of 26 reps, that added up to 130 wasted hours per week.

Realizing this misuse of time and capital, Padelford led Shopify to adopt the HubSpot CRM . With this modern CRM, Shopify’s sales reps were able to receive notifications when prospects opened their emails, clicked links, and viewed document attachments.

In addition, its prospecting tool gave reps access to more than 19 million prospects, as well as detailed information about these prospects, such as estimated revenue, number of employees, suggested email addresses, and so on.

Maintain a high-quality pipeline by eliminating unqualified leads.

Shopify uses a 4/5 Threshold to filter out unqualified leads, thereby allowing its sales reps to focus on selling to leads who have a higher probability of becoming customers.

To evaluate whether a lead is qualified, a rep must have a concrete answer to four of the following five variables:

• Pain. Is the prospective customer experiencing a prominent business issue or challenge that requires them to make a change?
• Power. Is the prospective customer directly involved with the decision-making process? If not, who is?
• Money. Does our offering fall within their budget constraints?
• Process. What’s their buying process?
• Timeline. What stage are they at in the buyer’s journey? Will they purchase within a reasonable time frame?

Grow Better with Sales Strategies, Initiatives, and Templates

Every company can benefit from crafting a sales strategy plan. The free template below includes everything you’ll need to customize your strategy for your business and sales team.

Most importantly, regardless of what strategy you choose, always implement a buyer-first approach. With the strategies, initiatives, and examples described above, you’ll be on your way to leading a successful, high-performance sales team.

Editor's note: This post was originally written in April 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Don't forget to share this post!

Related articles.

The Ultimate Guide to Building a Lead List

37 Stats That Make the Case for Sales Automation in 2024

Sales 101: Go From Beginner to Pro With These Strategies

8 Signs That It's Time to Walk Away From a Prospect, According to Sales Leaders

The Power of AI in Sales & 7 Ways You Can Use It in 2024

What is a Sales Funnel? (& What You Should Make Instead)

Outcome-Based Selling: An Overview + Practical Tips

The Ins & Outs of Cold Emailing That Delivers Results

What Is Cross-Selling? Intro, Steps, and Pro Tips [+Data]

Company Growth Strategy: 7 Key Steps for Business Growth & Expansion

Powerful and easy-to-use sales software that drives productivity, enables customer connection, and supports growing sales orgs

How To Build a Strategic Sales Plan + 10 Examples

• March 28, 2024

Every sales team has some sort of plan, even if it’s just “sell more of the product/service that you’re employed to sell.”

A sales plan is a portfolio that includes a layout of your processes, target audience, objectives and tactics. It’s used to guide your sales strategy and predict cost and returns. 

Yet without a codified sales plan, it can be difficult to give a sales team the motivation and purpose they need to successfully engage customers and continue to generate revenue.

Not having a sales plan that’s written down and signed off on by stakeholders can lead to confusion around what sales reps should and shouldn’t be doing , which can be demotivating.

It might seem daunting or time-consuming to put together an entire sales plan, but it doesn’t need to be. Here’s how to create a thorough sales plan in 10 simple steps. 

What Is a Sales Plan? 

A successful sales plan defines your target customers, business objectives, tactics, obstacles and processes. An effective plan will also include resources and strategies that are used to achieve target goals. It works similarly to a business plan in the way it’s presented, but only focuses on your sales strategy. 

A sales plan should include the following three components: 

• Ideas: If you use specific business methodologies, you may choose to outline key principles and examples of them in action within your sales plan. An example could be conversation tactics when pitching your product to your target customer. 
• Processes: In order to streamline productivity and business strategy, you’ll want to make sure your processes are defined within your sales plan. Your sales team should be able to refer to the sales plan when they’re in need of direction. 
• Tools and tactics: The most effective sales plans include not only high-level business strategies, but also step-by-step approaches for your sales team to utilize. These tools can include key conversation pieces for your sales reps to use when pitching a product or content to close out a deal. 

Solidifying a sales plan is crucial for a strong business model. Taking the time to narrow in on the components above will set you and your business up for success down the road. 

Sales Planning Process

It’s important to keep in mind that sales planning isn’t just about creating a sales plan document. A sales plan should be a go-to item that’s used every day by your team, rather than sitting on your desk collecting dust. Creating an effective sales plan requires high-level strategy.

You should: 

• Decide on a timeline for your goals and tactics
• Outline the context
• Write out the company mission and values
• Describe the target audience and product service positioning
• Include sales resources
• Draw out an overview of concurrent activities
• Write an overview of your business road map
• Outline your goals and KPIs
• Outline an action plan
• Create a budget 

 Below we dive into each of these steps to create your ideal sales plan. 

1. Decide on Your Timeline

Setting goals and outlining tactics is not going to be productive if you’re not working toward a date by which you’ll measure your efforts.

Determining the timeline of your sales plan should therefore be your number one consideration. When will you be ready to kick-start your plan, and when is a reasonable time to measure the outcomes of your plan against your SMART goals?

Remember that you need to give the plan a chance to make an impact, so this timeline shouldn’t be too restrictive. However, you also want to make sure that you’re flexible enough to adjust your plan if it’s not producing the desired results.

Most sales plan timelines cover about a year, which may be segmented into four quarters and/or two halves to make it a little more manageable.

2. Outline the Context

Use the first page of your sales plan to outline the context in which the plan was created.

What is the current state of the organization? What are your challenges and pain points? What recent wins have you experienced?

Do you have tighter restrictions on cash flow, or does revenue appear to be growing exponentially? How is your sales team currently performing?

While you’ll discuss your business plan and road map later in the document, you can also outline the long-term vision for your business in this section. For example, where do you want to see the business in five years?

Tip: Comparing the current situation with your vision will emphasize the gap between where you are now and where you need to be. 

3. Company Mission and Values

It’s essential that you put your mission and values at the heart of your business. You need to incorporate them into every function – and this includes your sales plan.

Outlining your mission and values in your sales plan ensures that you remember what the company is striving for, and in turn helps ensure that your approach and tactics will support these objectives.

Remember: A strong brand mission and authentic values will help boost customer loyalty, brand reputation and, ultimately, sales.

4. Target Market and Product/Service Positioning

Next, you’ll need to describe the market or markets that you’re operating in.

What is your target market or industry? What research led you to conclude that this was the optimal market for you?

Who within this industry is your ideal customer? What are their characteristics? This could be a job title, geographical location or company size, for example. This information makes up your ideal customer profile .

If you’ve delved further into audience research and developed personas around your target market, then include them in here, too.

5. Sales Team and Resources

This step is simple: Make a list of your sales resources, beginning with a short description of each member of your sales team.

Include their name, job title, length of time at the company and, where appropriate, their salary. What are their strengths? How can they be utilized to help you hit your goals?

You should also include notes around the gaps in your sales team and whether you intend to recruit any new team members into these (or other) roles.

Tip: Communicate the time zones your team members work in to be mindful of designated work hours for scheduling meetings and deadlines. 

Then, list your other resources. These could be tools, software or access to other departments such as the marketing team – anything that you intend to use in the execution of your sales plan. This is a quick way to eliminate any tools or resources that you don’t need.

6. Concurrent Activities

The next step in creating your sales plan involves providing an overview of non-sales activities that will be taking place during the implementation of your sales plan.

Any public marketing plans, upcoming product launches, or deals or discounts should be included, as should any relevant events. This will help you plan sales tactics around these activities and ensure that you’re getting the most out of them.

7. Business Road Map

For this step, write up an overview of your business’s overall road map, as well as the areas where sales activities can assist with or accelerate this plan. You’ll need to collaborate with the CEO, managing director or board of directors in order to do this.

In most cases, the business will already have a road map that has been signed off on by stakeholders. It’s the sales manager’s job to develop a sales plan that not only complements this road map, but facilitates its goals. 

Tip: Highlight areas of the road map that should be touchpoints for the sales team. 

Ask yourself what your department will need to do at each point in the road map to hit these overarching company goals.

8. Sales Goals and KPIs

Another important part of the sales plan involves your sales goals and KPIs.

Outline each goal alongside the KPIs you’ll use to measure it. Include a list of metrics you’ll use to track these KPIs, as well as a deadline for when you project the goal will be achieved.

It’s vital to make these goals tangible and measurable.

A bad example of a goal is as follows:

Goal 1: Increase sales across company’s range of products and services.

A better goal would look something like:

Goal 1: Generate $500,000+ in revenue from new clients through purchases of X product by X date.

9. Action Plan

Now that you’ve laid out your goals, you need to explain how you will hit them.

Your action plan can be set out week by week, month by month, or quarter by quarter. Within each segment, you must list out all of the sales activities and tactics that you will deploy – and the deadlines and touchpoints along the way.

Tip: Organize your action plan by department – sales, business development and finance. 

While this is arguably the most complex part of the sales plan, this is where sales leaders are strongest. They know which approach will work best for their team, their company and their market.

Budgets vary from team to team and company to company, but whatever your situation, it’s important to include your budget in your sales plan.

How are you going to account for the money spent on new hires, salaries, tech, tools and travel? Where the budget is tight, what are your priorities going to be, and what needs to be axed?

The budget section should make references back to your action plan and the sales team and resources page in order to explain the expenditures.

6 Strategic Sales Plan Examples 

You can create different types of strategic sales plans for your company, depending on how you want to structure your sales plan. Here are a few examples.   

Customer Profile 

A customer profile outlines your ideal customer for your service or product. It will usually include industry, background, attributes and decision-making factors.  

Creating a customer profile helps narrow in on the target customer your sales team should focus on while eliminating unproductive leads.  

Buyer’s Guide

A buyer’s guide is an informational sheet that describes your company’s services or products, including benefits and features. This document is useful both for your sales team but also for a potential customer who requires more information on the product before purchasing. 

30-60-90-Day Plan

This plan is organized based on time periods. It includes outlines of goals, strategy and actionable steps in 30-day periods. This is a useful sales plan model for a new sales representative tracking progress during their first 90 days in the position or meeting quotas in a 90-day period. 

This type of sales plan is also ideal for businesses in periods of expansion or growth. It’s helpful to minimize extra effort in onboarding processes. 

Market Expansion Plan

A market expansion plan clarifies target metrics and list of actions when moving into a new territory or market. This sales plan model is typically used with a target market that resides in a new geographical region. 

You’ll want to include a profile of target customers, account distribution costs and even time zone differences between your sales representatives. 

Marketing-alignment Plan

Creating a marketing-alignment sales plan is useful if your organization has yet to align both your sales and marketing departments. The goal of the sales plan is finalizing your target customer personas and aligning them with your sales pitches and marketing messages. 

New Product/Service Plan 

If your organization is launching a new service or product, it’s best to create a sales plan to track revenue and other growth metrics from the launch. You’ll want to include sales strategy, competitive analyses and service or product sales positioning. 

Sales Plan Template

4 additional sales plan templates.

Here are some additional templates you can use to create your own unique sales plan. 

• Template Lab 
• ProjectManager

5 Tips for Creating a Sales Plan 

Now that you’ve seen and read through a few examples and a sales plan template, we’ll cover some easy but useful tips to create a foolproof sales plan. 

• Create a competitive analysis: Research what sales strategies and tactics your close competitors are using. What are they doing well? What are they not doing well? Knowing what they are doing well will help you create a plan that will lead to eventual success. 
• Vary your sales plans: First create a base sales plan that includes high-level goals, strategies and tactics. Then go more in depth on KPIs and metrics for each department, whether it’s outbound sales or business development . 
• Analyze industry trends: Industry trends and data can easily help strengthen your sales approach. For example, if you’re pitching your sales plan to a stakeholder, use current market trends and statistics to support why you believe your sales strategies will be effective in use. 
• Utilize your marketing team: When creating your sales plan, you’ll want to get the marketing department’s input to align your efforts and goals. You should weave marketing messages throughout both your sales plan and pitches. 
• Discuss with your sales team: Remember to check in with your sales representatives to understand challenges they may be dealing with and what’s working and not working. You should update the sales plan quarterly based on feedback received from your sales team. 

When Should You Implement a Strategic Sales Plan? 

Does your organization currently not have a sales plan in place that is used regularly? Are you noticing your organization is in need of structure and lacking productivity across departments? These are definite signs you should create and implement a sales plan. 

According to a LinkedIn sales statistic , the top sales tech sellers are using customer relationship management (CRM) tools (50%), sales intelligence (45%) and sales planning (42%) .

Below are a few more indicators that you need an effective sales plan. 

To Launch a New Product or Campaign 

If you’re planning to launch a new service or product in six months, you should have a concrete marketing and sales strategy plan to guarantee you’ll see both short- and long-term success. 

The sales plan process shouldn’t be hasty and rushed. Take the time to go over data and competitor analysis. Work with your team to create objectives and goals that everyone believes in. Your sales plan should be updated formally on a quarterly basis to be in line with industry trends and business efforts. 

To Increase Sales

If your team is looking to increase revenue and the number of closed sales, you may need to widen and define your target audience. A sales plan will help outline this target audience, along with planning out both sales and marketing strategies to reach more qualified prospects and increase your sales conversion rate. 

Now that you’ve seen sales plan examples and tips and tricks, the next step after creating your sales plan is to reach those ideal sales targets with Mailshake . Connect with leads and generate more sales with our simple but effective sales engagement platform.

• Content Marketing
• Practical Prospecting Podcast
• Success Stories

Continue reading

Sales Operations: The Ultimate Guide [2024]

How to Build a Sales Playbook

Pitching at Sales Conferences and Events

Grow your revenue faster, automate all your sales outreach with mailshake..

• Mailshake Blog
• Cold Email Masterclass
• Cold Email Academy
• Prospecting Podcast
• Accelerate Newsletter
• Follow-Up Strategy
• Email Analyzer
• Live Training
• Data Finder
• LinkedIn Automation
• AI Email Writer
• Email Deliverability
• Lead Catcher
• Chrome Extension
• Integrations
• Affiliate Program

Learn new skills, connect in real time, and grow your career in the Salesblazer Community.

What Are Sales Goals? S.M.A.R.T. Strategies + Examples

Help your team succeed with sales goals that build confidence while increasing revenue.

Donald Kelly

Share article.

If you’re only thinking about how your reps can hit quota, you’re missing out. As a leader, you have to set broader sales goals, track your team’s progress, and keep your team accountable if you want to see real payoff. But setting goals that are both challenging and achievable is easier said than done. Start small with weekly or monthly goals, and build up your confidence to work towards bigger and more lucrative goals down the road. We’ll show you how to get started.

What you’ll learn:

What are sales goals, why sales goals are important, s.m.a.r.t. goals explained.

• 14 common sales goals with examples

How to track your goals

The biggest challenge when setting and tracking sales goals, attain quota faster and speed up sales ops .

Learn how Sales Performance Management helps you connect customer data to sales planning and execution. 

At their core, sales goals are objectives that a company wants to achieve over a set period of time. But sales goals aren’t just dry, impersonal measurements. If you don’t have any benchmarks for success, you’re going to encourage mediocrity and accept the status quo, losing team engagement. When your team sets concrete goals, it helps them hit their sales targets and gives them ownership over their success: They know what it takes to win.

As the CEO of sales training firm The Sales Evangelist , my role does not always allow me to do outbound sales. Most of my leads come directly from the podcast, website, referrals, and my deep network. However, I understand the power of outbound selling so I set a goal for myself to bring in $250,000 each quarter — driven in part by outbound efforts. During Q3 of last year, I beat this goal, clocking in at $300,000. Not only that, I was able to validate to my team that setting goals really works. If I can do it while running my business, they certainly can do it.

( Back to top )

Setting sales goals gives your team a north star — something to aim for. But that’s not the only reason why they’re important. Here are a few other things sales goal-setting does:

• Helps create forecasts: From a business perspective, sales goals give you a picture of potential sales revenue .
• Creates learning opportunities: If it turns out a particular sales strategy fails to accomplish a goal, this is valuable data. Failing to meet a sales goal offers a chance for reps to innovate and try different approaches. And if a goal is particularly challenging, it can improve focus and prompt creative problem-solving.
• Encourages teamwork: Group goals increase the stakes because they affect everyone. They can also spark competition, which can be motivating to reps.
• Sparks process development: A roadmap helps you get where you need to go, but only works. if you know where you’re going. Once you have your sales goals lined up, you can create a path to get there.

One proven way to set yourself up for success is to set S.M.A.R.T. goals. Let’s dive into that methodology.

S.M.A.R.T. is an easy-to-remember acronym for the five steps of effective goal-setting. If you want your goals to fuel success, makes sure they are:

• Specific: It’s easy to say to your team, “Let’s increase sales!” But after the cheers and high-fives die down, this vague statement doesn’t help anyone. Why? It lacks detail. Get specific. Deliver concrete numbers and explain how you plan to raise revenue with actionable guidance. For example, you might want to increase your monthly revenue by 5% over the next quarter using a consultative sales approach .
• Measurable: Numeric benchmarks can be helpful because they record progress while removing subjectivity. Remember those fundraising events that used a poster of a giant, old-fashioned thermometer? For each donation received, the thermometer would be filled with red ink to show that the organization was inching closer to its goal. You can do the same with your team by tracking progress to help them reach goals and motivate at the same time.
• Achievable: Ambitious goals are great, but you want to set your team up for success. You need to make sure that your goals are sensible and not totally out of reach. Review your team’s past performance data and be honest about what you can accomplish during a set period of time. Instead of setting a goal to double sales by the end of the month for example, a more achievable goal would be to make 10 more cold calls per week, which you could break down further into two per day.
• Relevant: When setting goals for your team, whether individual or team goals, you should keep three things in mind: Do they align with your reps’ existing goals, personal and professional? Do they align with your organization’s goals? How will the results matter? If goals resonate personally with reps, that could drive motivation. As an illustration, if a rep meets their goal of 100% subscription renewals for their existing accounts, they might receive a bonus or promotion, helping them meet a personal goal of earning a higher salary.
• Time-bound: When goals have a clear starting time and end date, it makes it easier for your team to plan how they’ll get to the finish line. Setting small weekly or monthly sales goals can help your team get focused, build confidence, and enjoy smaller wins. For example, you might set a goal for yourself to provide at least one week of one-to-one coaching per quarter to your sales reps.

Trending Articles

3 Ways Generative AI Will Help Marketers Connect With Customers

Learn AI Skills on Trailhead

14 common goals with examples.

Setting clear goals for your sales team can go a long way in improving the bottom line of your business. To illustrate these examples, we’ll look at the goals of a fictional roller skate company in Florida, SpinzFlip:

1. Grow revenue

Every company needs to grow their revenue to remain profitable. To do this, you’ll need to set a specific target for how much gross or net profit you want to see increase over a set period of time. Revenue targets are typically set monthly, quarterly, or annually.

Example: The sales team at SpinzFlip has ambitious goals for the new year. They want to increase year-over-year revenue by 100%.

2. Increase quota attainment

To understand how close your sales reps are to meeting their targets, you need to track their quota attainment , measured as a percentage of total quota achieved out of quota targets.

Example: The SpinzFlip sales team set an annual team quota goal of $3 million for last year. By the end of the year, they hit $2.5 million in sales for a quota attainment of about 83%, which shows them there’s room for improvement.

3. Acquire new customers

Another important sales goal is to increase the number of new customers purchasing your products or services. Gaining new customers over time will lead to a healthy and profitable business, ensuring that profits don’t slide backwards when you lose longstanding customers.

Example: SpinzFlip set a goal of increasing its customer acquisition rate by 8.5% monthly. This is to offset the customer attrition rate of 7% while still ensuring growth.

4. Increase market share

A company’s market share is the total percentage of the sales they control in the market for their products or services. Increasing market share is a clear indicator of a company’s competitiveness. As a matter of fact, when a business improves its market share, it often improves profitability.

Example: The global roller skate industry is worth about $600 million . SpinzFlip has $3 million in annual sales or about 0.5% of the market. If they want to double their market share, they need to set a goal to increase their annual sales to $6 million.

5. Increase unit sales

If you want to get a specific product into market faster, you might set a goal for the number of units sold. Increasing the number of units each rep needs to sell pushes them to pursue more leads.

Example: SpinzFlip currently sells 60,000 pairs of skates annually. They want to double their unit sales, so their goal this year is to sell 120,000 pairs.

6. Minimize customer churn

Reducing customer churn (aka customer attrition), or the number of customers who leave your business during a specific period of time, is a worthwhile sales goal as it ensures you don’t have to constantly replace your customer base with new leads. If your business has a low churn rate, you are more likely to experience growth. For example, a subscription-based company likely needs more new subscriptions than lost subscriptions in a given period to be profitable.

Example: In addition to selling roller skates, SpinzFlip also sells a podcast subscription. Its podcast currently has a churn rate of 20%. This year, SpinzFlip’s goal is to use listener insights to produce a more engaging podcast and lower its churn rate to 10%.

7. Increase customer upsells

Upselling is when a company offers a premium or upgrade for products or services. At the end of the day, setting a sales goal for upselling is a great way to increase the profitability of each sale.

Example: SpinzFlip offers a premium podcast with exclusive celebrity interviews for an additional monthly fee. Last year, SpinzFlip managed to convert 1% of its regular podcast audience to the premium service. The sales team wants to double that number this year by upselling 2% of SpinzFlip’s regular podcast audience.

8. Boost customer cross-sells

Cross-selling is when a company offers complimentary products or services in addition to its primary product or service. If you improve your cross-selling rate, you could see increased revenue and higher customer satisfaction rates.

Example: Roller skates are SpinzFlip primary product, but it also sells rollerblades. Last year, cross-sales of rollerblades were non-existent. According to an internal survey, 99% of SpinzFlip customers weren’t even aware that the company sold rollerblades. This year, SpinzFlip set a modest cross-sales goal of 0.25% to increase brand and product awareness.

9. Improve lead generation

Above all, lead generation attracts customers to your business. You can generate leads by collecting customer information like phone numbers and email addresses. If you want your business to grow, a meaningful goal would be to improve your lead gen process so you can identify more qualified leads who are ready to buy.

Example: Before this year, SpinzFlip was not capturing email addresses when customers purchased its skates at retail stores. Now, SpinzFlip offers a free, three-month subscription to its premium podcast to retail store customers. Consequently, they can capture the email addresses of customers interested in the podcast subscription. With this new offer in place, SpinzFlip hopes to improve its lead generation by 10% this year.

10. Improve sales forecast accuracy goals

Accurate sales forecasts are kind of like a crystal ball. They help you identify where you’re going — and where sales pitfalls might scuttle your target attainment. Businesses that can forecast their sales witt a +/- 5% accuracy enjoy the confidence that comes with being able to plan for the future.

Example: SpinzFlip needs to work on the accuracy of its sales forecast. Last year, it hovered around -15% (that is, they were 15% shy of their targets), but this year, they want to reach -10% accuracy. If SpinzFlip meets or exceeds that goal, they’ll join an elite group of sales organizations — just 21% manage to forecast sales within 10% accuracy, according to SiriusDecisions research .

11. Increase customer lifetime value (CLV)

This metric reveals the total revenue a company can expect to gain from a single customer over the course of their relationship with the brand. This is a keen interest for ROI-focus leaders: It is much easier to increase the value of a current customer than hoping to get the same value from a new customer.

Example: This year, SpinzFlip aims to increase customer CLV by 15% year-over-year by extending customer tenure and introducing add-ons and cross-sells.

12. Improve Net Promoter Score® (NPS)

NPS is an important metric used to gauge customer loyalty. NPS scores are measured with a single question:

“On a scale from 1-10, how likely is it that you would recommend [company, product, service] to a friend or colleague?”

After surveying some customers with that question, an NPS score is calculated from -100 to +100, with the higher number being a better score.

Example: SpinzFlip sells an awesome pair of roller skates. When customers were surveyed about the buying experience, they averaged a score in the high 70s. But when customers were asked about SpinzFlip’s podcast, it scored closer to 40. SpinzFlip clearly needs to set a goal to improve the NPS score for its podcast.

13. Reduce the length of the sales cycle

A sales cycle is the average length of time that it takes for a rep to convert a lead into a closed sale. Shortening the sales cycle can help sales reps close more and grow revenue.

Example: It takes a SpinzFlip rep three months, on average, to go through an entire sales cycle. This includes a discovery call with a prospect, a roller skate demo, proposal drafting, negotiation, and finally closing the deal. This year, SpinzFlip set a goal of shortening its average sales cycle from three months to two. This will give SpinzFlip’s reps an extra month to get more prospects in the pipeline.

14. Reduce the average number of touches

Touches are contacts with prospects — over the phone, online, or face-to-face. In my experience, it takes the average sales rep nine or 10 touches to close a deal. Ideally, you want to reduce this to five, six, or seven touches, and that takes finessing. You get there by doing more research and coming prepared with solutions and value prospects understand.

Example: SpinzFlips has never kept track of the number of touches required for a rep to close a deal. Once they started tracking, they were surprised the average was 12. They set a goal to get the average under 10 by the end of the year. To help facilitate this, managers told reps to tailor sales pitches to each prospect.

Get articles selected just for you, in your inbox

If you want your sales team to see success, tracking their progress toward a goal is essential. Technology is an effective way of doing just that: Sales Cloud offers sales management dashboards that provide team performance insights. These tools interpret raw data and transform them into insights that can help sales leaders identify top prospects and leads, evaluate marketing campaigns, and track the success of their team.

Here are the sales dashboards that every team needs :

• State of sales Designed for sales managers and executives, a state-of-sales dashboard provides a snapshot of all key metrics that affect team-wide sales targets.
• Forecasting Also designed for sales managers and executives, a forecasting dashboard provides a “weather report” for your sales team, forecasting whether or not you’re likely to hit your goals.
• Sales rep performance Useful for sales managers, a sales rep performance dashboard typically measures three key metrics: conversion rate, total revenue generated, and quota attainment percentage.
• Sales leaderboard This dashboard lets sales reps and managers see the entire team’s performance, encouraging healthy competition.
• Win/loss Helpful to sales managers and executives, this dashboard tracks win/loss trends over time.
• Sales lead Provides a closer look at sales reps and lead generation teams, whether or not leads are converting, and the effectiveness of prospecting and marketing efforts.
• Pipeline generation Offers managers, reps, and marketing teams insights into a pipeline value-to-sales ratio, which is critical for hitting sales targets.

A huge roadblock salespeople have when setting sales goals for themselves is a lack of accountability. You might set goals at the beginning of the year and not look back on them until the end of the year when your team is not performing well. Clearly, you need more checks. However, that doesn’t mean you need to be on top of salespeople, reminding them of their goals every single day.

Think back to the S.M.A.R.T. method. This is where the T, time-bound, becomes extremely important. If you set a goal that wraps at the end of Q2, you have to follow up with your team, individually or as a group, to see if it was completed. In other words, match the check-in to the time period set for the goal. Of course, you need to check in with them a few times before the goal’s deadline to gauge their progress and support them if they need help, but the big review should happen at the end. Did they hit the goal? If not, why? How can you help them next time?

Use S.M.A.R.T. goals to fuel success

By setting goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, you give your sales team an outline for success. Make sure that the goals you set not only align with the goals of your business but also with your individual reps’ goals. When the benefits of a goal aren’t clear or the path to achieve it is too complicated or unrealistic, motivation suffers. Set your team up for success with a clear roadmap that puts them in the driver’s seat.

Use AI to hit your forecast every time

Spot and address pipeline gaps that threaten your forecast. Discover how with Sales Analytics from Sales Cloud.

Just For You

What is BANT? The Way to Qualify Better Leads and Close More Deals

How to Use Sales Prospecting Tools to Sell Faster

Explore related content by topic

• Sales Cloud
• Sales Strategy
• Salesblazer
• Sales Fundamentals

Donald’s mission is to evangelize the effective selling method and motivate sellers of all levels to do big things. As a former top-performing technology sales professional who has successfully sold in public and private sectors, Donald cracked the code of helping teams thrive in B2B sales. He is ... Read More the author of several books and is a LinkedIn Top Voice in sales.

Get the latest articles in your inbox.

Customer Engagement in Sales: What It Is and Why It Matters

What Does Salesforce Do?

What Is Penetration Pricing? Strategies and Best Practices

Is Price Skimming Right for Your Business? Here’s How to Find Out

How to Start Selling Digital Products in 6 Steps

How to Use Business Proposals to Win More Deals

Inside Sales vs. Outside Sales Explained

What Is Net Profit Margin, and Why Does It Matter?

New to Salesforce?

• What is Salesforce?
• Best CRM software
• Explore all products
• What is cloud computing
• Customer success
• Product pricing

About Salesforce

• Salesforce.org
• Sustainability

Popular Links

• Salesforce Mobile
• AppExchange
• CRM software
• Salesforce LIVE
• Salesforce for startups
• América Latina (Español)
• Brasil (Português)
• Canada (English)
• Canada (Français)
• United States (English)

Europe, Middle East, and Africa

• España (Español)
• Deutschland (Deutsch)
• France (Français)
• Italia (Italiano)
• Nederland (Nederlands)
• Sverige (Svenska)
• United Kingdom (English)
• All other countries (English)

Asia Pacific

• Australia (English)
• India (English)
• Malaysia (English)
• ประเทศไทย (ไทย)

© Copyright 2024 Salesforce, Inc. All rights reserved.  Various trademarks held by their respective owners. Salesforce, Inc. Salesforce Tower, 415 Mission Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105, United States

• TemplateLab

Sales Plan Templates

32 sales plan & sales strategy templates.

People involved in sales usually depend on a specific plan. One which would set their sales goals and establish the strategies they need. With the help of a sales strategy, they can also establish the budgets they need.

They can identify sale market prospects; plan the requirements of their staff and adapt a timeline in reaching their goals. But the sales plan is just one aspect of business management and planning.

Table of Contents

• 1 Sales Plan Templates
• 2 Main parts and purpose of a sales plan template
• 3 Sale Strategies
• 4 The benefits of using a sales plan template
• 5 Free Sales Plan Templates
• 6 Tips for creating your sales plan template

The design of a good sales tracking spreadsheet could be costly in terms of time, money, and effort. To facilitate this requirement, you can just download a template here. This can provide efficiency and easy organization.

Then you can use the resources meant for the design in achieving your business goals . Sales and marketing personnel can use the template as a tool to communicate their ideas. A sales plan template can be part of your business.

But it would depend upon the nature of scope of your business.

Main parts and purpose of a sales plan template

A sales strategy will be helpful for any organization. This is especially true when planning their activities in a structured manner. This will ensure that they achieve all their objectives and goals.

It’s paramount that you design the plan with meticulous care. Make sure to include all the necessary parts. To have an inkling of what and how a sales template looks like, you can go online. To help you out, here are some main parts of such a plan:

• Executive summary
• Elevator pitch
• Mission of the organization
• Analysis details
• Objectives and goals
• Relevant performance indicators
• End users and target audience
• Analysis of advantages and the competition
• Marketing strategy

There are good reasons why businesses invest a lot of money and effort in formulating a sales plan. Fortunately, you can simply download a template to make things easier for you. Such plan will serve varied purposes which we shall briefly enumerate:

• Setting up goals for each individual and for the business too.
• Creating an effective operational plan.
• Setting up the business expenses/finances.
• Analyzing the business’s financial statements.
• Determining and analyzing the potential risks.
• Devising an efficient marketing strategy.
• Creating an actual profile of customers who patronize the business’s products or services.
• Identifying target audiences and would-be customers.
• Getting more familiar with the sales cycle.
• The plan will play an important role in determining the financial goals of the business.

It’s important to have an efficient and effective sales plan. Then you’re expected to meet all your company’s predefined objectives and goals.

More importantly, it will enhance the organization’s profits. If you prefer to create your own templates, consider the following tips. These will prove beneficial to your endeavor:

• The customers take first consideration when creating the plan.
• Do intensive researches work on market trends before starting to plan.
• Consider the weaknesses and strengths of the competition.
• Give particular attention to details when creating the plan.
• Include all the relevant angles that are essential to the sales plan.

Sales plan templates are periodically made by businesses. They can have them monthly or even seasonal. In the case of small businesses , a two-week period is best to provide a better insight into market trends.

Sale Strategies

The benefits of using a sales plan template

Have you ever tried to plan an event without a plan? It certainly is a winning formula for chaos and disorganization. Some people take for granted the use of a plan. They may find it difficult or expensive and would rather not part with their money.

This situation can be bad because they are missing the advantages of good planning. Consider these benefits:

• You’ll be able to stay on your strategy. A sales strategy will provide you a synopsis of the most important aspects of your plan. It will also remind you of issues that you need to include. Interruptions may happen when people don’t know what issues should to prioritize.
• Your objectives will be clearer. A good plan should incorporate specific objectives. You need to establish then manage these objectives. These can include sales, website visitors, margins or the launching of new products . Make the achievement of objectives the measure of success.
• You’ll make better-educated guesses. With the progression of the plan, you’ll be able to predict the outcomes of certain issues. These include potential markets, lead processing, sales costs, and other business processes.
• Your priorities will become more sensible. A business definitely has some other priorities aside from its sales strategy. You can plan the company’s management, its growth, and financial health. These should all be part of the plan. Set the groundwork for your priorities and make changes as the business develops.
• You’ll be able to understand independencies more. You can define the plan as a schedule of events that should happen chronologically. Use the plan to determine what activities should occur and in what order. The plan will prove its value in making you organized and on time.
• Setting milestones will keep you right on track. The plan will provide you with target deadlines and dates for the goals you need to accomplish. This will apply to either a solo enterprise or for a team in a company.
• You’ll be able to delegate better. The plan will define the responsibility of each team and individual. There will always be a member who will be in charge of some important task.
• Team management and results tracking will be a lot easier. Businesses usually set review time for their employees . This is to determine their performances, particularly as team members. Many hate these reviews but they’re a gauge of performance. You can use them to commend, improve or correct the employee’s work . These reviews should be part of the plan. Also, you should put them in writing as part of the member’s record.
• You can manage and plan the cash flow better. A business that mismanages their cash flow will definitely fail. There’s a need for a cash-flow plan. Educated guesses based on market trends will be important. Use it to bring together what assets you need to purchase and what debts you need to pay .
• Course corrections will help keep your business going. The presence of a sales plan makes the business more proactive than reactive. Planning ahead makes for lesser mistakes. Constantly tracking activities could help predict better results and make corrections when needed. A prediction based on nothing is a myth. But predictions can eventuate if based on trends and facts. The plan should define and set expectations and establish assumptions. You can better manage what comes next and make course corrections if they happen.

Sales tracking spreadsheets and plans aren’t only for giant corporations. They can apply to small enterprises as well. No need to delve into complicated matters regarding your business. It’s a fairly straightforward document but it’s powerful enough to do a big job.

Free Sales Plan Templates

Tips for creating your sales plan template

In a business, a sales strategy is also important as this serves as a guide to the sales team of the company. A sales plan is specifically for sales personnel. It will guide them in attaining their objectives and goals.

The plan can be long-term which could last for years or short-term, such as an annual plan. In either case, the common ground is that the plan steers the members to their goals through sales.

• Set definite sales goals. Businesses usually have financial goals. After all, they are in it for the money. It’s important to set specific goals. Those which sales personnel must attain within a certain period of time. Specific goals can help the employees break them down into quantifiable objectives.
• Define your sales objectives based on sales goals. Write them down. Specific achievements can help you meet your sales goals. You can have a sales objective which will include an increase in sales by a specific number of units. You can hasten to reach the objective by cross-selling products during a period of time. This will undoubtedly incur an increase in expenditures. This is inevitable when doing promotions or advertisements.
• You need to identify three important aspects of your customer’s sales focus. First, there’s the customer profile. Salespersons will need some information about their customers so they can make predictions. From this information, they can target the products they can sell to their customers. Then, there’s the organization profile. You will have to explain the kind of organization you’re targeting. Finally, there’s the sales territory. This will refer to the region that you will be operating in. A list of accounts of each salesperson would be helpful as each would focus on a distinct market niche.
• Identify your target sales market. The sales plan should have a target sales market. This will include the research you’ve done on market trends. Consider the industry sales data associated with the products and services you offer. You should be aware of current developments in the industry. This will be important for your sales projections which you based on sales figures of the industry. Also, make mention of competitors in the market. These competitors offer the same goods or services. Make comparisons on each other’s market shares, customer base, and competitive advantages. You’ll spend the most hours of research and work on this section of the plan. What you intend to do will define your strategies and the tactics to execute them.
• The next thing to do is to identify the tools and systems. Here, enumerate the things that you’ll need to successfully implement your plan. The main systems to outline consist of regular weekly meetings on sales progress. Also, you need a CRM system. Use it to execute your plan and come up with sales plan metrics. Finally, list the communication equipment too.
• After you have formulated the sales objectives, you’ll now work on measures. These would keep track of your sales objective’s progress as against achieving them.
• Create a pipeline that can identify each stage of development. You need to identify the stages of your newly acquired business leads. You can also source out more sales opportunities within your customer accounts on-hand. The important metrics that you need to measure are conversion rates for every stage of your sales process. Name the reasons why sales opportunities are being lost for each stage. The percentage or win rate of all new leads that which you’ve converted into sales.
• The next thing to plan is your team. This section of the plan will list the members of your sales team. Also, identify their roles and responsibilities. In case you have a separate marketing agency team, include them in this section. Describe also the proper roles of this team. They are an essential part of your sales performances.
• Design a target date to accomplish all your goals. Also, include the calendaring of all milestones, task, and activities. All those required for you to achieve such goals. Be specific about time management methods. These will provide assistance in prioritization, delegation, and scheduling.
• Based on your financial resources, create a budget plan. One that’s required to accomplish your sales objectives. The budget for your team will be part of the bigger budget for the company. You will need to develop a system. Use it to track down and monitor the expenditures that are specific to your sales objectives. Always be aware that your team doesn’t exceed the budget. Some items may have allocations in your budget. These can include increased production, labor, advertising, equipment, travel, and supplies.
• Make an outline of the strategies and tactics that you’ll need. Everything required to successfully executing your sales plan. A top-down strategy would be great. One which allows you to communicate the goals to every salesperson in your team. Mention the HR personnel who provided assistance to execute the plan. To strengthen the capabilities of your people, they may need more training. Include this as a component of the sales plan.

More Templates

Training Plan Templates

Work Plan Templates

Zero Based Budget Templates

Business Continuity Plan Templates

Behavior Plan Templates

Professional Development Plans

12 Examples of Smart Sales Goals to Guide Your Team

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

• SMART goals consist of 5 criterion to help ensure that goals are clearly defined and achievable within a timeframe
• Unattainable stretch goals are demotivating and can lead to employee churn
• Working through each step of creating a SMART goal can help you track progress and identify missed opportunities and how to course correct

Setting goals for the upcoming month, quarter, and year is a must for any sales leader. However, choosing long-term and shorter term goals that will actually motivate your team is tricky. You have to strike a balance between stretching your sales reps and staying realistic.

How do you set the best sales goals? We’ve got the information you need to work through the process.

What Are Sales Goals?

Sales goals are clearly defined targets designed to help individual salespeople and sales teams improve their performance. Done right, they can correct common mistakes and poorly executed strategies and provide a pathway to lift good sales numbers even higher.

But creating a sales goal that actually motivates your team isn’t easy. You can’t just say, “We need to sell more products” or, “Let’s make more money this quarter.” You need to set goals that fit your current situation and give your team a roadmap to get better results.

In other words, you need to follow the SMART formula.

What Are SMART Sales Goals?

SMART sales goals are objectives defined by sales managers and C-suite leadership to guide sales teams and departments. Following the SMART acronym, these goals use five criteria — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Based — to create a clear target for employees to work toward together.

Here’s how you apply the SMART style of goal setting:

• Specific : Don’t just say you want to grow your customer base or increase your sales revenue — explain how you plan to accomplish it. For example, you can say: We’re going to increase our core product’s revenue using a consultative sales approach .
• Measurable : Define the exact number you’re shooting for (i.e. increase revenue by $1M) so that you can benchmark your performance, and have your tools and software set up to track your progress toward the goal (i.e. new deals closed, repeat purchases, and customer churn).
• Achievable : While stretch goals are a great way to push yourself and your employees, you don’t want to set objectives that are impossible to achieve. If you only brought in $700,000 in revenue last year, you shouldn’t set a goal to bring in $5M this year. Instead, you should set a target that you and your team know is achievable.
• Realistic : Goals need to fit your current situation and sales strategy . If your company has never done social media selling and your customers don’t bother with Instagram, you shouldn’t set a goal to generate 100 new clients via Instagram selling. As with all other types of goals, context matters.
• Time-Based : When you set sales goals, you need to make sure there’s a finish line. Otherwise, you can wind up plodding on for years without much change or growth. In the case of sales goals, quarterly and yearly markers are the easiest to set since they naturally follow fiscal start and stop dates.

Why Do Sales Goals Matter?

Sales goals work a lot like Google Maps. Once you figure out where you want to go, they chart a path for you to reach your destination. And with the right amount of detail (i.e. the SMART goal formula), you can estimate your arrival time as well.

On the other hand, without a clearly defined objective, you risk taking wrong turns, traveling the long way, or even heading in the wrong direction. This can make a big difference to your business growth, annual revenue, and customer acquisition and retention.

12 Examples of Sales Goals

Sales teams have lots of options when it comes to setting sales targets. Looking for some inspiration? Here are a few types of sales goals to kick off the brainstorming process.

1. Increase Sales Revenue

Revenue goals are among the most valuable targets for measuring sales performance. And since revenue is both quantitative and aggressively tracked against monthly, quarterly, and annual benchmarks, they’re also easy to set.

For a SaaS (software-as-a-service) company, revenue goals might look like this:

Increase our MRR (monthly recurring revenue) by 15% within 6 months by improving our cross-selling tactics and customizing our sales pitch to each of our buyer personas.

How to Calculate Sales Revenue

Most of the time, businesses have tools in place to calculate revenue KPIs and sales goals automatically. But if you find yourself doing it by hand, here’s the formula you should use:

Number of Product Sales x Unit Price of Each Product Sold = Revenue

Just be aware that if you sell multiple products at different price points, you will need to add up the total revenue for each one to get the overall sales total.

How to Achieve a Revenue Goal

Achieving a new revenue goal is all about finding creative ways to make more money. You can do that by funneling more leads into your sales cycle — via cold calling and emailing — or increasing your conversion rates. No matter your approach, there’s a strategy out there that will work for you.

2. Close More Deals

If you want to increase win rates, you have a few different options to choose from. You can track the number of deals your sales team closes overall, or you can see how many each sales rep closes individually. If you want a clear picture of your team’s success, though, it’s best to do both. Here’s what the combination of team and personal goals might look like:

As a team, close 15 deals per month by the end of Q2, using a consultative selling approach. Individually, use sales best practices to close 3 deals each month by the time we start Q3.

How to Calculate Deals Closed

Deals closed is an easy KPI to calculate. Here’s a simple formula you can use:

(Number of Deals Closed ÷ Number of Leads) x 100 = Deals Closed Rate

How to Achieve a Deals Closed Goal

There isn’t just one way to increase the number of deals you close. For some businesses, the trick may be qualifying leads more thoroughly, and for others, the solution could be your sales pitch presentation or sales strategy. With this one, it’s up to you to figure out what’s working and what isn’t.

3. Boost Booking Rate

To turn leads into new customers, you need to talk to people in person. Naturally, this makes your booking rate extremely important. By boosting your meeting scheduling success, you can increase your conversion rate and decrease lead drop-off during the sales cycle too. Here’s an example of what a monthly sales goal in this category might look like:

Double our team’s monthly booking rate from Q4 2021 in Q1 2022 by optimizing all sales email campaigns.

How to Calculate Your Booking Rate

Keeping tabs on your booking rate takes a little more effort, since you have to measure the ongoing conversion rate for individual emails that your sales people send out (not a dedicated campaign). But you need to do it if you’re going to increase the number of sales conversations your team has. Here’s how to calculate it:

(Meetings Booked ÷ Meeting Invites Sent) x 100 = Booking Rate

How to Achieve a Booking Rate Goal

Your booking rate really boils down to two things: how well you’ve qualified the leads you send invitations to and how well you write your invite. By optimizing both, you can increase the number of meetings you schedule.

4. Boost the Number of Cold Calls

Motivating your team to make lots of cold calls is difficult to do — especially if sales reps are constantly getting yelled at or hung up on. As a result, setting a goal with an incentive can help you increase the number of outbound calls your team makes. Like so:

Make 100 cold calls each day this week [500 total] using the contact sheets we’ve put together for potential leads, and get a $50 gift card to [restaurant] when you reach 500.

How to Calculate a Reasonable Number of Cold Calls

Calculating cold calls is simple. All you need to do is figure out the average length of each cold call. Then you can divide it by 60 minutes to get your hourly cold call rate. Here’s how it might look:

60 Minutes ÷ Average Call Length = Number of Calls Per Hour

That being said, not all of your reps will be maxing out their phone calls per hour, so you may need to do some quick counting to figure out what your sales reps are actually averaging.

How to Achieve a Cold Call Goal

When you’re trying to up the number of cold calls you make, you need to do three things: 1.) Give your reps the time to be on the phone, 2.) Give them a clear script to walk through with leads, 3.) Offer incentives (like gift cards or bonuses), so they’ll be motivated to meet or exceed the quota. If you do all of them, you can let your reps take it from there.

5. Increase Average Deal Size

Closing a lot of deals isn’t enough to keep your business afloat if all the deals are small. If you’re in this position, it’s a good idea to set a team goal to increase your deal size and average order value. Here’s how a small business might do that:

Increase the average order size to $350 by the end of the year by adding at least one upselling or cross-selling pitch to every customer interaction.

How to Calculate Average Deal Size

To calculate the average deal size, you need the revenue total and the number of deals closed in a specific period of time. (The period of time doesn’t matter as long as it’s the same for both values.) Once you have both numbers, you divide the revenue amount by the number of deals closed, like this:

Total Revenue Generated by Deals ÷ Number of Deals Closed

For example, if you made $5,000 this quarter between 10 deals, you would divide $5,000 by 10 to get a $500 average deal size.

How to Achieve a Deal Size Goal

There are a lot of effective ways to increase your average deal size. You can target larger clients, capitalize on more upselling and cross-selling opportunities, or incentivize larger purchases by throwing in extra features or products if your customers spend over a certain amount.

6. Reduce Customer Churn

If your churn rate is higher than it should be, you should take steps to lower it. Setting a goal is one way you can focus your reps’ attention on important sales activities that may otherwise fall through the cracks. Here’s how a goal in this category could look:

Increase our customer retention rate (i.e. decrease our churn rate) by 20% in the next two quarters by improving our hand-offs to the customer service team.

How to Calculate Customer Churn

To calculate customer churn, all you do is divide the number of customers you lost in a certain period of time (i.e. month, quarter, or year) from the total you had at the start of that time period. Then, you multiply the answer by 100 to get the percentage.

(Customers Lost ÷ Total Customers) x 100 = Churn Rate

How to Achieve a Customer Churn Goal

Sales teams are the first line of defense in customer churn. By thoroughly qualifying leads before wasting the time and resources to win them over, you can increase your odds of landing customers who will stick around for years to come.

7. Increase Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

Many factors impact your customer lifetime value, such as prospecting, qualification, upselling and cross-selling, and retention. So, if your CLV is lower than it should be, you need to figure out what’s impacting it the most and set a goal (or two) to improve. Here’s an example of an annual sales goal:

Boost our customer lifetime value to $3,000 over the next 12 months by decreasing our customer acquisition cost (through better lead qualification) and aggressively pursuing cross-selling opportunities.

How to Calculate Customer Lifetime Value

Calculating your customer lifetime value is complicated. First, you have to average each customer’s transaction value. Then, you have to multiply it by the number of orders they place annually, and number of years they’ve stayed with your brand:

Customer’s Average Transaction Amount x Number of Transactions Per Year x Number of Years With Your Business = CLV

Keep in mind that if you want an accurate picture of several (or many) customers, you will need to do the same calculation for each one — and that can take a while.

How to Achieve a CLV Goal

This will probably come as no surprise, but customer lifetime value boils down to a few simple things — the amount of money your customers spend with you every year and the amount of time they stick around. So if you want to boost your CLV, you should choose an important activity that will boost your customer retention rate, increase their spending, or both.

8. Lower Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

The longer it takes to convert a lead into a customer, the more money it costs you in ad spending, customer outreach campaigns, and employee time. To decrease your CAC, you need to set sales goals to streamline and optimize your sales process, like so:

Slash our CAC by 15% next month by adding more potential entry points into our sales funnel that would eliminate redundancies and wasted time.

How to Calculate Customer Acquisition Cost

CAC is one of the most well-known KPIs out there for sales and marketing teams. Here’s a quick refresher on how to calculate it:

Total Cost to Acquire Customers (from certain campaign or time period) ÷ Total Number of Customers Acquired = CAC

You can also compare this number with the CLV to see if you’re earning or losing money by acquiring customers. Just make sure you consider the amount of time they’ve been your customer.

How to Achieve a CAC Goal

Achieving a CAC goal is tricky, since there are so many factors involved. But a few ways you can move closer to reaching it include using less expensive (but more skilled) methods to win customers, making sure your product matches your customer’s needs and situation, and optimizing your sales processes.

9. Shorten Time to Close

Time is money. The longer you spend trying to close a deal, the fewer opportunities you can create and capitalize on. On the flip side, the more streamlined your sales cycle is, the fewer opportunity costs you have to deal with. Here’s a goal you might set to accelerate your time to close:

Decrease time to close by 15% next quarter by vigorously weeding out unqualified leads and simplifying and personalizing sales pitches for qualified leads.

How to Calculate Time to Close

It’d probably be easier to use sales software that automatically calculates your average time to close. But you can count the months and days between the first contact and customer payment by hand if you’d prefer to go that route.

How to Achieve a Time to Close Goal

To shorten the sales cycle, you really only need to do one thing: persuade leads to buy from you sooner rather than later. But you can do this a few different ways. You can qualify your leads early on and weed out the ones that aren’t a good fit for your business, or you can streamline your pitch to get lead commitment faster.

10. Raise Sales Email Response Rate

If you use sales emails to create opportunities, your open and reply rates need to be high. Setting a target for email responses, whether you measure raw amount or percentage, helps you hone in on salespeople who need more coaching and find shared campaigns that need improvement. Here’s how this might look:

Increase each sales reps’ email response rate this month by pairing top performers with bottom performers for one-on-one mentoring.

How to Calculate Email Response Rate

Like many other KPIs on this list, calculating your email response rate is easy. Here’s how you go about it:

(Unique Email Responses ÷ Total Number of Emails Sent) x 100 = Email Response Rate

How to Achieve a Customer Response Rate Goal

In this case, you should take a leaf out of the marketing playbook. Certain email subject lines will certainly get you better open rates, but if you want people to respond, the email copy and call-to-action (CTA) need to be persuasive too.

11. Speed Up Response Time

You don’t want leads sitting around waiting for a response — not just because it hurts your brand image, but because it encourages potential customers to turn to your competitors instead. So, if you notice unanswered emails, phone calls, and social media direct messages sitting for days on end, it might be time to set a goal to speed up your response time. For example:

Respond to all warm lead communication (i.e. emails, messages, phone calls) within 3 hours of receiving it by creating a daily customer response schedule.

How to Calculate Average Response Time

To calculate your reps’ response time, you need to average the amount of time it takes for them to reply to emails. You can do this by dividing the time they spend responding to emails by the number of responses sent out in that timeframe. To see exactly how fast each customer gets a response to their specific message, you’ll need to look at responses one by one.

How to Achieve a Response Time Goal

There are a few reasons why emails and phone calls go answered. One is lack of time to respond, and the other is confusion about who should be responding. By solving these issues, you have a solid chance of improving your response time significantly.

12. Deepen Lead Engagement

Sometimes, the best way to share information with your leads is through content. But if you can’t get prospects to read or watch it, you’ve got a problem. That’s where setting a goal to use content more strategically in sales conversations is helpful. Here’s what that might look like:

Deepen customer engagement with our content by 30% in Q3 by training our sales professionals to select the right content and weave it into their sales conversations naturally.

How to Calculate Lead Engagement

Here again, the formula is incredibly simple. It looks like this:

(Number of People Who Read Your Content ÷ Number of People You Sent it to) x 100 = Lead Engagement Rate

How to Achieve a Lead Engagement Goal

To increase lead engagement, all you have to do is create useful, enjoyable content and work it into your sales conversations seamlessly. If you can do that, the content will do the rest of the heavy lifting.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Improving Your Sales Process

How to Write a Sales Goal

Now that you’ve got an idea of what a great sales goal looks like, it’s time to start writing your own. Below, we’ve got a three-step guide to help you get started. Plus, we added a few helpful pointers to make the process a little easier.

Identify Areas of Improvement

The first step to solving any problem is recognizing there is one. So, if you want to make noticeable improvements to your sales plays, you need to pinpoint the problems each team member is having. Here are a few ways you can do that:

• Review key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Measure the gap between your bottom and top performers and between your team’s current performance and desired performance
• Pinpoint areas in the sales cycle where your leads drop off and deals are lost
• Find the root cause of underperformance (it’s not always what it seems on the surface)

The faster and more accurately you can collect insights on your sales plays , the better able you are to set specific goals for your sales department and team and help your individual reps improve their performance .

Decide on a Reasonable Target

Once you’ve picked a KPI to work on, it’s time to set a clear target for your team to shoot for. Part of this process involves calculating your sales goals and determining a sustainable timeline for achieving them. As you go about it, you’ll decide on details such as:

• Whether you’ll use a percent or a simple number (i.e. 15% vs. 10 leads)
• What the target number should be (i.e. $20K or $35K)
• How much time it will take to reach the goal (1 month or 1 quarter)

Depending on how wide the gap is between your current performance and desired target, you may need to set small goals and slowly raise the bar. Too large a jump will demotivate your team and can slow progress to a stop.

After you have all these details worked out, you can start thinking about the action plan you will take to achieve your new sales target.

Make It SMART

From here, you can write out your SMART sales goal in a clear, concise statement. Just remember to include all the relevant details you fleshed out above so that you can measure your progress and assess your goal regularly. Here’s a sales goal template you can steal to create your own SMART goals:

Improve [KPI] by [number or percent] within [time period] by [strategy or action plan you’ll implement to get it done].

Don’t forget to set up your analytics platform to track your desired KPIs as well so that you can measure your performance as you progress toward your sales objective.

As any sales leader worth their salt will tell you, setting effective sales goals for your team is hard. It takes a lot of careful planning and you have to find a delicate balance between the company’s needs and your sales reps’ capacity. But when you’re “SMART” about it, you can pin down the right goals for your organization. This, when coupled with solid coaching and training , can make all the difference for your performance and long-term success.

The Highspot Team works to create and promote the Highspot sales enablement platform, which gives businesses a powerful sales advantage to engage in more relevant buyer conversations and achieve their revenue goals. Through AI-powered search, analytics, in-context training, guided selling, and 50+ integrations, the Highspot platform delivers enterprise-ready sales enablement in a modern design that sales reps and marketers love.

Related Resources

• Why You Need a Sales Enablement Platform
• What Customers Say
• Why Choose Highspot
• Calculate Your ROI
• Guiding Principles
• Highspot Terms
• Privacy Policy
• Privacy Settings
• Trust Center
• Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
• Sales Content Management
• Sales Plays and Playbooks
• Buyer Engagement
• Sales Training
• Sales Coaching
• Conversation Intelligence
• Integrations
• Sales Enablement
• Partner Enablement
• Financial Services
• Manufacturing
• Healthcare & Life Sciences
• Ebooks, Guides, and More
• Highspot in Action Videos
• Strategic Enablement Framework
• Definitive Guide
• Success Stories
• Events and Webinars
• Spark Community
• Highspot Marketplace
• United States (English)
• Canada (English)
• Deutschland (Deutsch)
• France (Français)
• United Kingdom (English)
• Australia (English)

Copyright © 2024 Highspot

• Highspot Privacy

No results found.

How to set sales goals that improve team performance (with examples)

If you want your company to grow and stay competitive, you need effective sales goals and a motivated sales team . The best sales goals motivate reps to perform in the moment and improve over time. Gartner research shows that when salesperson goals align with business needs, they improve individuals’ performance by up to 22% .

However, poorly planned goals have the opposite effect. They can disengage reps, slow your sales process and hurt your bottom line.

Finding the perfect balance between ambition and realistic expectations takes practice.

In this article, you’ll learn what separates good goals from bad and how to set smart sales goals to optimize team performance. We’ll also provide some sales goal examples to get you started.

What are sales goals and how do they impact performance?

Sales goals are outcomes a sales team or organization aims to achieve within a set time frame. For example, you could set a goal to increase your conversion rate by 10% over the next 12 months.

While a sales goal’s impact is typically broad, its results should be measurable:

✅ Increase the conversion rate by 10% over the next 12 months ❌ Increase the conversion rate

Who sets and tracks sales goals?

Sales managers should set goals for individual salespeople and groups as part of their responsibility to optimize team performance. They should then use performance data to guide follow-up actions (e.g. adjust the strategy, reallocate resources or set the next round of goals). These sales manager goals should align with the broader objectives of the organization.

As well as taking ownership of rep and team targets, the sales leader will likely have their own goals set by a sales director. The two levels should be aligned to ensure the team’s work contributes to the sales leader’s goals, which contribute to the wider business objectives.

Recommended reading

Turn your data into sales with this free sales tracking template and spreadsheet

Goals vs. objectives: what’s the difference?

Sales goals and sales objectives are different, but both are key to optimizing performance. Understanding the difference will help you form a cohesive growth strategy and explain it clearly.

Sales objectives are the specific, measurable actions teams and employees take to achieve broader, long-term sales goals .

For example, if your goal is to increase your conversion rate, your objectives could be:

Register 20 sales reps for a sales negotiation training course in February

Upsell on 15 deals over the next quarter

Survey 200 existing customers on their buying experiences before March 31st

Alone, these objectives’ impacts are helpful but minimal. Together they’ll help you hit your sales goal of converting more leads.

Sales training: Create the perfect training program for your team

How to set sales goals that bring double-digit growth

Your goal-setting process will differ from those of other teams and businesses. For example, you might hold just one planning meeting while another group needs five.

That said, the most effective goals all have robust structures, are fueled by data and can be broken down into smaller actions when necessary.

How to set data-driven, smart goals

Use the SMART methodology to guide your strategy when creating sales objectives.

S pecific: A clear definition of what the goal is and how you plan to achieve it

M easurable: Make sure you can actually measure the goal

A chievable: Ensure it’s not overly challenging or stressful to reach

R ealistic: Confirm it aligns with your organization-wide business goals

T ime-based: Set up realistic time frames in which you want to reach them

Use these factors as a checklist to validate your planned sales goals and targets. Ultimately, you want these goals to motivate your team to exceed expectations and drive your business towards new levels of success.

These criteria eliminate guesswork and generalities. Other frameworks should help you similarly, as many emphasize achievability, time constraints and measurability. For example, the PACT framework stands for P urposeful, A ctionable, C ontinuous and T rackable.

Let data guide your goal-setting

Use past sales performance to see where your team lacks motivation or direction. Then you can address shortcomings directly. You’ll need a handle on some basic sales metrics to do this.

For example, if your conversion rate is high but your customer lifetime value (CLV) is low, your reps might be selling too many small-ticket products or targeting customers who aren’t likely to make repeat purchases.

If your company wants to grow sales revenue, you could use these metrics to set a measurable sales goal. For instance, that you’ll reduce the customer churn rate of three big-ticket products by 10% within 12 months.

You can then determine the sales objectives that will help you achieve the goal:

Challenging each rep to conduct 10 after-sales service calls per month

Building three email templates for post-purchase outreach

Refining lead qualification criteria to ensure reps target high-value buyers

How to track, measure and improve your team’s sales performance

Set smaller targets to achieve bigger goals

Results-oriented goals can intimidate reps who struggle to see past their immediate to-do lists. Empower your team to take charge of their actions with practical daily activities.

For example, rather than telling a rep they need to close 50 deals this year, set lead generation activity goals to make 10 cold calls and send five follow-up emails per week.

Achievable mini-goals can boost morale, motivation and confidence by giving team members more control.

All sales reps have different strengths and skill sets. Keep this in mind when working with team members to set attainable goals. Unrealistic targets will just dampen motivation and slow productivity.

How to use performance objectives to achieve business success

Communicate openly to motivate and enable team members

Revenue targets aren’t the only information your salespeople need to help them understand and support your sales goal. Communicate with your team members about the resources and skills that will help them sell better.

Speak to them about their personal and professional goals and set targets for improvement. It could be as simple as enhancing product demonstrations or building confidence with executive conversations. It could also mean coaching them in skills that will help them achieve their objectives.

Ensure your team understands your product, the sales plan , the average sales cycle and the sales strategy . Include team members in discussions when considering objectives, as they’re on the front lines talking to prospects daily. Their feedback will help you set better goals and using it should inspire a culture of collaboration.

Your reps want to know you value them enough to invest in them. Encouraging your team to develop and taking their opinions on board will result in a stronger performance.

Sales coaching 101: Improve process and performance

How to track progress toward sales goals (and why you should)

Tracking progress toward individual and collective goals will allow you to hold reps accountable and offer help when necessary.

Say you expect one team member to cross-sell on six deals before the end of the quarter. You find they’ve only completed two with three weeks left. If you’re not monitoring performance, you won’t learn of the failure until after the deadline passes. If you are keeping track, you can discuss their challenges, suggest solutions and motivate them early so they’re more likely to succeed.

With that in mind, here are three tips to help you measure ongoing performance:

Plan your metrics early

To get a clear picture of sales performance, you must know which data to track.

Instead of figuring that out as you go, take time to identify the most relevant metrics during the goal-setting process. These are your key performance indicators (KPIs).

20 most important KPIs for sales teams to track

The sales metrics that matter most to you could mean little to another business and vice versa. However, some metrics naturally fit well with certain types of sales goals. For example:

Activity goals

Emails sent

Social media interactions

Proposals sent

Sales demos held

Number of deals in the pipeline

Performance and revenue goals

Quota attainment

Closed deals

Conversion rate

Average deal size

Number of cross-sells

Number of upsells

Customer acquisition cost (CAC)

Annual revenue

Customer relationship goals

Customer satisfaction scores (CSAT)

Net promoter scores (NPS)

Customer lifetime value (CLV)

Customer retention rate (CRR)

Choosing KPIs early allows you to plan for collecting and sharing information. As a result, you can focus on performance rather than data management going forward.

Use your CRM’s reporting capabilities

A customer relationship management (CRM) tool with reporting capabilities provides an easy way to visualize and track sales goals data, often through a sales dashboard .

With access to a real-time view of your team’s activities, you’ll understand:

How well team members perform against individual sales goals

How effective team goals are from a business perspective (i.e. the collective impact of your reps’ work).

Choose a CRM with automation and customization capabilities to make reporting faster.

Pipedrive generates reports based on your custom fields and presents data in charts, graphs and interactive tables. You can quickly see the metrics that matter most in the format you find easiest to digest.

9 sales reports: Templates and examples of a sales report to keep you organized

Share progress with the whole team

While all sales professionals should have their own goals, each one must know they’re part of a team.

Be sure individuals understand how the objectives they’re working toward support the broader sales goals. Then share the metrics that allow them to follow team progress as they work toward their targets.

The team at Mind Tools draws on Daniel Pink’s book Drive to explain how this kind of alignment aids performance:

Use a CRM to gather performance data in one place. This ensures team members can see the impact of their efforts.

Not all users will need a sales leader’s level of detail on each individual’s work. Use custom fields to create a report that paints a clear picture of group performance. Reports like this are helpful for giving sales directors and business owners quick updates too.

Sales team structure: Organizing your team to scale quickly

4 smart sales goal examples for inspiration

If you’re almost ready to set goals but unsure where to start, the following examples should help. Each shows a broad sales goal and the types of specific, practical objectives a team could set to help them achieve that goal.

Online sales are becoming increasingly important for many businesses in today’s digital landscape. You might wonder what’s an example of an online sales goal?

An effective online sales goal for businesses focusing on e-commerce could be to increase your website conversion rate by 5% over the next quarter. You can achieve this by optimizing your website’s user experience, implementing targeted digital marketing campaigns and improving the checkout process.

Goal example 1: Grow monthly revenue by £150,000

This monthly sales goal is an easy one to track and, with the right figure, can suit any large or small business. It’s a prime example of a broad, high-level target that you should break into smaller goals.

For instance, the company calculates that each new customer for their top-priced products adds an average of £30,000 in revenue. They’ll need to onboard (or upsell) five customers per month to reach their goal.

Knowing that cold calling has a success rate of 2%, and each product demo they do has a 25% success rate, the company comes up with helpful objectives.

Example objectives:

Complete 50 cold calls to contacts who fit the “high-spending” buyer persona each month (to land one client each month)

Work with marketing to create fresh sales enablement content around two high-value products

Conduct 4 product demos per week (to land four clients each month)

Goal example 2: Increase average deal value by 15% from last year

If your reps prioritize smaller deals to hit quotas, set a team-wide goal to increase average deal value. This should help restore balance by motivating them to pursue bigger deals.

Close 15 deals with a value above £20,000 over the next quarter

Upsell to 10% of all new customers

Cross-sell a specific product to 10 customers per month

Goal example 3: Reduce customer churn to 2% or less

Keeping customers on board and happy will reduce your customer acquisition costs (CACs) so reducing churn is a worthy goal. This one’s most relevant to software as a service ( SaaS ) and other subscription businesses.

Call 20 existing customers per month to gauge happiness and offer advice

Build and distribute a customer satisfaction survey with incentives for participation

Email reminders to all customers whose payment details are due to expire within three months

Goal example 4: Increase the number of qualified leads by 15%

To keep closing deals you must stock your sales pipeline with high-quality leads . Set a goal focused on qualified leads to positively influence other metrics like deals closed, average deal value and churn rate.

Redefine lead qualification criteria with input from marketing and customer support teams

Spend one hour per day scoring marketing-qualified leads (MQLs)

Establish a process for sharing customer data with marketers to enhance ideal customer personas (ICPs)

7 more sales goals to inspire you in 2024

The most important sales goals are focused on closing deals and driving revenue. However, it’s also important to have achievable goals based on your sales activities that contribute to your ultimate objective of making sales.

Here are 10 more sales reps goals to help you stay productive, keep your team motivated and grow your business:

Increase the number of cold calls you make in a week by 10%

Reduce the time the team spends in sales meetings by 20 minutes a day

Cut down sales demos from 1 hour to 45 minutes, so you can run more in a day

Contact 10 fresh leads a day by phone or email

Get an open rate of 50% with your follow-up emails

Spend 2 hours a week researching the latest sales trends

Remove the 10 coldest leads from your sales pipeline at the start of every week

Setting yourself and your reps achievable goals will boost morale and productivity. It’s then time to review the results so you can discover which actions have the biggest impact on company revenue.

The Ultimate Guide to Activity-Based Selling: What, Why, and How

How to smash your sales goals

Firstly, take time to build your strategy and, importantly, plan for failure. No sales manager sets out to fail, but roadblocks are an inevitable part of business.

Meticulous planning involves examining the resources you have in place to achieve your goals, as well as the gaps and obstacles.

Developing a proactive plan to deal with setbacks puts you in a powerful position to troubleshoot quickly. Your plan doesn’t have to be exhaustive, just follow this quick process.

Identify barriers to success: Figure out what can hold you back from reaching your goals (e.g., restrictive budgets that don’t allow for new sales hires or a lack of comprehensive tools like a CRM platform to streamline your workflow)

Evaluate your team: Do they have the right skill sets, abilities and systems in place to meet their targets? Do they require further sales training , and if so, do you have the resources to provide it?

Conduct market research: You must also have a solid understanding of the market, your target audience, demand for your product or service and the competition.

Once you’ve acknowledged your biggest potential obstacles, both internal and external, you can more easily establish a strategy to tackle them to put yourself and your team in a position of control.

Final thoughts

It’s easy to forget the many milestones and sales activities that contribute to growth when you’re obsessing about revenue.

By setting smarter sales goals , you’ll ensure all reps and teams are working in ways that benefit the entire business.

You can use goals to give a new business direction, refocus an established company or help your team improve core selling skills . Whatever your motive, use data for inspiration, track performance and see every outcome as a learning opportunity.

Driving business growth

Full access. No credit card needed.

Recommended

Organizational strategies: definition, types and how to create your own

Your business needs organizational strategies to achieve long-term goals. Learn six different types and how to create one with tangible benefits.

Creating product guides for beginners: how to engage customers

Learn how to create engaging product guides. Follow our step-by-step process to enhance customer satisfaction and streamline your product journey.

6 best reporting tools (and how to choose the right one)

Reporting tools turn your business data into better decisions. Learn which types are most valuable and find the best software options for your company.

We use essential cookies to make Venngage work. By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.

Manage Cookies

Cookies and similar technologies collect certain information about how you’re using our website. Some of them are essential, and without them you wouldn’t be able to use Venngage. But others are optional, and you get to choose whether we use them or not.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are always on, as they’re essential for making Venngage work, and making it safe. Without these cookies, services you’ve asked for can’t be provided.

Show cookie providers

• Google Login

Functionality Cookies

These cookies help us provide enhanced functionality and personalisation, and remember your settings. They may be set by us or by third party providers.

Performance Cookies

These cookies help us analyze how many people are using Venngage, where they come from and how they're using it. If you opt out of these cookies, we can’t get feedback to make Venngage better for you and all our users.

• Google Analytics

Targeting Cookies

These cookies are set by our advertising partners to track your activity and show you relevant Venngage ads on other sites as you browse the internet.

• Google Tag Manager
• Infographics
• Daily Infographics
• Popular Templates
• Accessibility
• Graphic Design
• Graphs and Charts
• Data Visualization
• Human Resources
• Beginner Guides

Blog Business How to Create a Sales Plan: Strategy, Examples and Templates

How to Create a Sales Plan: Strategy, Examples and Templates

Written by: Aditya Rana Mar 25, 2024

The difference between a company struggling to drive sales and one that’s hitting home runs often boils down to a well-crafted sales plan.

Without knowing how to write a sales plan , your sales reps will lack vision, not understand the market, and be ineffective at engaging potential customers.

Most businesses fail in sales planning because they don’t focus on their unique value. If you’re struggling with sales, here’s what you need to do: define your goal(s), create customer personas, and create an action plan for success.

One of the best ways to organize this information in one place is to use sales planning templates . In this post, I’ll show you how to write a sales plan (…with plenty of template examples included of course!).

Click to jump ahead:

What is a sales plan?

Benefits of a sales plan, how to create a sales plan, sales plan example, sales plan templates.

A sales plan is a strategic document that outlines how a business plans to convert leads into sales. It typically details the target market, customer profile, and actionable steps that must be taken to achieve revenue targets.

Here’s a great example of a sales plan that includes all these elements neatly packed into one document.

Every company needs a sales plan, but have you ever wondered why?

Why should businesses invest time and resources in creating sales plan when they could…well…be focusing on sales?

Sales plans are worth it because they tell sales employees what to do.

Without a sales plan, your sales efforts will end up becoming a disorganized mess. Let’s explore the benefits of sales plans in detail.

Help you identify and target the right market

A sales plan helps you figure out the target market that’s most likely to be responsive to your messaging.

I mean do you really want to waste your time trying to sell to someone who has no need for your product or isn’t interested in your offering?

But if you know who your customer is, you can target their pain points.

Help you set goals

All great sales plans require you to set goals that are actually attainable and budgeted for.

Without goals, your sales team essentially operates in the dark unsure of what success looks like and how to achieve it.

One of the best ways to set goals is by conducting a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) to understand the market landscape.

Help you forecast sales

Since sales plans require you to study historical sales data , you have the ability to understand trends, seasonality, and customer buying patterns.

This information can be used to accurately forecast future sales performance.

And when you chart it out visually like in this example, you can make data-driven decisions to optimize your sales strategy.

Help you identify risks

Because sales plans require you to study the market, you’ll be able to uncover risks such as market saturation, competitors, and shifting customer needs.

With this knowledge, you have the ability to be flexible in your approach.

Besides market risks, sales plans also help you pinpoint risks within your company such as a lack of qualified leads or unclear communication between departments.

Improve customer service

It may sound counterintuitive but creating a sales plan also actually improves your customer service.

Researching and trying to understand customer needs means new insights that you can share with the customer service team which allows them to tailor their approach.

Incorporating tools like a VoIP phone service service can enhance communication, enabling sales service reps to anticipate questions and concerns so that they can communicate effectively. You can work with your existing team and systems, but implementing customer service apps and exploring options like working with a virtual call center business can streamline processes, enhance efficiency, and ultimately improve customer satisfaction.

Increases sales efficiency

Sales plans help standardize sales tactics and ensure sales reps follow the same best practices to reduce inconsistencies and improve effectiveness.

One of the best ways to standardize practices is to use a flowchart like in this example to make sure everyone knows what to do when facing a decision.

Increases your profits

Sales plans generally guarantee a boost in profits because it allows sales team to laser-focus on high-value opportunities instead of being headless chickens.

Reducing wasted effort and a higher frequency of closed deals is a win in my book any day.

One of the best ways to measure changes in profits is to use a simple template to review performance like in this example.

Help you understand customer needs

Contrary to what you might think, sales plans aren’t just about selling but also about understanding customers at a deeper level.

The process of creating a plan forces you to analyze customer data, buying habits, and pain points, all of which will help you understand what makes your customers tick and build trust and loyalty.

Here’s a great example of a customer persona you can edit to include in your sales plan.

A sales plan is a document that helps you maximize profitability by identifying valuable segments and outlining strategies to influence customer behavior.

Common elements most sales plans include:

• Sales goals : Information on revenue, market share, and more.
• Sales strategy: Information on how to reach potential customers and convert them.
• Target audience: Information on ideal customers and their needs.
• Metrics : Methods to track progress.
• Resources :  Tools, budget, and personnel needed to achieve sales goals.

Let’s take an in-depth look at how to create a sales plan.

( Note : You don’t need to include each of these points in your sales plan but I recommend you cover most of them to build a plan that’s well-rounded).

Define your business mission and positioning

Before you jump into tactics, build a strong foundation by defining your company’s mission and positioning.

Here’s why this step is a must-do:

• Your mission statement defines your company’s purpose and values and gives your sales team and customers something to relate to.
• Your positioning statement defines how your product or service meets a specific need and sets you apart from the competition.

Trying to sell without any alignment to company values will lead to inconsistent messaging and damage your brand reputation.

Here’s a great example of a sales plan template you can customize with your own brand’s mission and positioning statements.

Define your target market

Unless you think you can sell to every person possible, you’ll need to define your ideal target market.

Study your customer base and ask questions like: do most of the customers belong to a specific industry? Or do they all face the same pain point?

Also, keep in mind that target market can change over time due to changes in your product, pricing, or factors out of your control, so it’s important to review and update your target market frequently.

Understand your target customers

This step often gets mixed with the previous one, so pay close attention.

Your target customers are those who your business wants to target because they’re most likely to make a purchase.

You can figure out who your target customers are by creating customer profiles by breaking down your target market into smaller groups based on geography, behavior, demography, and more.

Here’s a great sales plan template where you can edit in your own customer persona.

When making your buyer personas, make sure you answer the following questions.

• Motivations and challenges:  What are customer pain points? What drives purchasing decisions?
• Behaviors and preferences:  How do customers research products? What communication channels do they prefer?
• Goals and aspirations:  What are your prospective customers trying to achieve? How can your product or service help them get there?

Define sales objectives and goals

Setting clear, measurable goals gives you a method to measure performance of your sales strategies. To further refine your approach and ensure that your sales goals align with broader strategic imperatives, consider integrating the MEDDPICC methodology into your planning process

More importantly though, they give your sales team targets to aim for which then allows them to work in a structured and focused manner.

Your sale goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). This is to make sure they’re realistically achievable within a set timeframe.

Here’s a comparison of good sales goal setting vs a bad one.

• ✅Drive $100,000 in sales of product X by Y date using Z tactics
• ❌ Increase overall sales in each product line

You can organize this information using a template like in this example, especially if you have multiple product lines.

Define your value proposition

Your value proposition is a concise statement that explains why a customer should choose your product or service over the competition.

Here’s an example of a value statement:

“For busy small business owners, we provide a user-friendly accounting software that saves you time and money, allowing you to focus on growing your business.”

Then, it doesn’t matter if you own a restaurant, have developed a bike rental service, run a gym, or created hotel management software . Your value proposition must clearly convey unique benefits and show how your product stands out.

Here are some tips on defining your value proposition:

• Identify customer needs:  What are the core challenges and pain points your ideal customer faces? Understanding their needs allows you to position your offering as the solution.
• Highlight your unique benefits:  What sets your product or service apart? Focus on benefits you deliver that address the customer’s needs.
• Quantify the value:  When possible, quantify the value you offer. Can you demonstrate a cost savings, increased efficiency, or improved outcomes?

Map out the customer journey

Unless you’re extremely lucky, no one is going to purchase from you during the first interaction.

That’s why it’s crucial for you to know the steps a customer takes from initial awareness to purchase. Mapping out their journey allows you to personalize messaging and influence behavior.

Here are some tips on how to create a customer journey map:

• Identify the stages:  Break down the journey into distinct stages, such as awareness, consideration, decision, and post-purchase.
• Define touchpoints: Pinpoint the different touchpoints where your customer interacts with your brand (example: website, social media, customer reviews).
• Understand customer needs at each stage: What information are they looking for at each stage? What are their concerns and motivations?
• Identify opportunities to engage:  Identify opportunities to engage with your potential customers and move them along the buying journey.

Want some help creating customer journeys?

This customer journey map template is an excellent way to bring customer journeys to life.

Gather existing sales data

This step involves collecting and analyzing all available data on past sales performance.

This data is critical in helping you spot trends, patterns, and areas for improvement in your sales operations.

Perform sales forecasting

Sales forecasting is the practice of estimating future sales which can be presented as a report highlighting expected sales volume weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually.

Though not always 100% accurate, sales forecasting is key to writing sales plans because it’ll provide you with a clear picture of the ground reality which leads to better decisions on budgeting.

Here’s a template you can use to perform sales forecasting to makes the sales planning process effective.

Define your sales KPIs

KPIs are a fancy way of saying that you need to set metrics to track effectiveness of your sales strategy and team’s performance.

Some example KPIs you can include in sales plans are:

• Number of sales
• Sales revenue
• Average deal size

This sales report template is a great example of how you can include KPIs in your meetings to test performance and adjust strategy.

Identify gaps in the sales process

This step is all about analyzing your current sales process to figure out gaps and/or potential obstacles preventing you from achieving goals.

When you identify a gap, brainstorm potential solutions so that you can create a specific action plan.

Understand the sales stages

When writing a sales plan, make sure you cover each stage of the sales cycle. If you’re unsure of what the sales stages are, here’s a quick recap.

Prospecting

This is the foundation of the sales process where you identify potential customers who might be a good fit for your product or service.

Preparation

Once you have a list of prospects, you need to research their needs, challenges, and buying habits.

This is all about how you contact and communicate with prospects.

Presentation

This section is your opportunity to showcase the value proposition of your product or service. Tailor your presentation to address the prospect’s specific needs and demonstrate how your offering can solve their problems.

Handling objections

Identify common objections your sales team might encounter related to price, features, competition, or need. Develop clear and concise responses to address these concerns proactively.

Equip your sales team with effective closing techniques to secure commitments from prospects who are interested but might hesitate.

Plan your follow-up strategy based on the prospect’s decision timeline and the stage of the sales cycle. For longer timelines, periodic updates and information sharing through digital sales rooms can maintain engagement and provide valuable resources conveniently.

Organize the sales team

Organizing the sales team entails defining roles and responsibilities clearly to cover all aspects of the sales process effectively.

This might involve segmenting the team based on product lines, customer segments, or territories.

Here’s an example of how it might look:

Sarah — Sales Director — will lead the sales team, set overall strategy, goals and direction. Michael and Jessica — Business Development Executives — will focus on prospecting new leads. They will research potential customers, identify those who might be a good fit for the product, and qualify leads by gathering information and assessing their needs. William — Sales Development Manager — will manage the business development executives and ensuring they follow best practices. Chris and Lisa — Account Executives — will handle qualified leads. They build relationships with potential customers, present product demos, address objections, and close deals.

Using an org chart like in this example is a great way to visualize this information.

Outline the use of sales tools

Sales tools play a crucial role in streamlining the sales process and enhancing productivity.

For example, incorporating digital account opening and  mutual action plans  into your sales strategy can simplify the onboarding process for new customers, reducing friction and increasing conversion rates.

Make sure you outline the tools your team will use, how they fit into different stages of the sales process, and any training required to maximize their utility.

This ensures that your team has the resources needed to engage effectively with prospects and customers.

Set the budget

Setting the budget involves allocating resources efficiently across various sales activities to achieve your objectives without overspending.

This includes expenses related to personnel, marketing initiatives, customer entertainment, and tools like CRM software , automation, cybersecurity solutions, and even a corporate travel platform .

A well-planned budget balances investment in growth opportunities with the overall financial health of the business.

Create a sales strategy and action plan

Now that you’ve laid the groundwork of what you want to achieve and how you plan to achieve it, it’s time to bring it all together into a single view.

Create an action plan which not includes your strategy but also concrete steps.

Your action plan should outlines specific activities for each stage of the sales funnel from prospecting (lead generation channels) to closing (structured process and follow-up strategy with timelines) and everything in between.

Performance and results measurement

Last but not least, your sales plan should present a clear and quantifiable means to track the effectiveness of sales activities.

How are you going to measure outcomes against predefined targets?

Performance measurement is key because it builds accountability and allows you to always have a pulse on customer behavior, preferences, and trends that’ll help you make decisions based on data.

If you’ve made it this far, give yourself a pat! I’ve covered A LOT on elements that you can include in a sales plan.

However, in most cases, you don’t always need to go that in-depth and instead should aim for brevity so that anyone in your team can stay up-to-date without having to worry about the nitty gritty details.

Here’s a sales plan example that’s brief but highly effective. It includes a summary of all you need in one document, a target market analysis, a customer profile, and an action plan.

Want even more sales plan templates for design inspiration or to customize and make your own?

This 30-60-90 day sales plan provides a great way to organize goals, priorities, performance goals, and metrics of success over three three timeframes: first 30 days, first 60 days, and first 90 days.

This sales plan is structured around key components that drive the sales process: objectives, strategies, tactics, and key metrics. It emphasizes a multi-channel approach to sales,, with a strong focus on measuring performance through metrics.

This sales roadmap is a great way to visualize activities such as defining strategy and generating leads to more advanced steps.

Conclusion: Save time on designing and updating sales plans and focus on growing your business with Venngage templates

Though there’s no secret formula for effective sales plan design, it’s good practice to include the basics or information on the target market, a customer persona, and a strategy on how you plan to sell.

What you definitely shouldn’t do is write a sales plan and then never look at it again.

And trust me, I know how time-consuming and frustrating it can be to edit your sales plan especially if you don’t have design skills. One small change might make the icons or numbers go all out of whack.

That’s why I recommend customizing our sales plan templates instead so that you can focus your energy on strategy.

Discover popular designs

Infographic maker

Brochure maker

White paper online

Newsletter creator

Flyer maker

Timeline maker

Letterhead maker

Mind map maker

Ebook maker

• Design for Business
• Most Recent
• Presentations
• Infographics
• Data Visualizations
• Forms and Surveys
• Video & Animation
• Case Studies
• Digital Marketing
• Design Inspiration
• Visual Thinking
• Product Updates
• Visme Webinars
• Artificial Intelligence

9 Stunning Sales Business Plan Templates to Close Deals

Written by: Orana Velarde

When sales and marketing teams work together, amazing things can happen for a business. Take, for example, the creation of an integral sales business plan that covers not only the goals the team aspires to but also all the data to support the actions, timelines, roadmaps and org charts.

Your business plan for sales and marketing activities is the guideline by which both teams undertake their tasks, aiming for a common goal. Creating a sales business plan collaboratively can help the teams see the big picture faster and be ready for any eventuality along the way.

In this guide, we will share nine business plan templates to help you build the perfect plan for your teams to work with. Share it digitally with your sales and marketing teams; they will be more productive and close more deals.

Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

What is a sales business plan, what is the sales business planning process, what goes in a sales business plan template, 9 business sales plan templates, sales plan faqs.

• A sales business plan is a document that outlines the goals, strategies and tactics of a company’s sales department, including current state and future plans.
• The sales business planning process includes figuring out the scope, organizing the team and assigning roles, collecting critical information in a centralized location, setting up branded templates, customizing the templates and collaborating with the team to finalize the document.
• The five different types of strategic sales planning are goal-oriented planning, account-based planning, product planning, relationship planning and sales process planning.
• Explore the nine templates provided according to sales business plan examples and choose the one that matches your sales goals.
• Sign up for Visme to create your sales business plans and all your sales and marketing collateral without needing any design skills.

A sales business plan—sales plan for short—is a document or presentation that defines the strategies your team will undertake to close deals, retain clients and bring in new leads. With a business plan , sales are contrastingly better overall.

Each section defines the steps toward hitting milestones and achieving goals. It lays a forecast for all activities that have to do with selling and hitting sales targets. The team members who benefit the most from a sales business plan are the sales reps and marketing strategists. It gives them all a vision of the big picture, a mission to aim for and a roadmap to achieving the goal.

Overall, a well-crafted sales business plan is crucial for optimizing the sales cycle and achieving success in the competitive world of sales.

To create a business plan for sales activities, follow an industry-standard format and add your team's unique content plus the company’s branded elements. Build a sales action plan based on your strategies and goals, backed up by your chosen sales plan template .

Here’s the path to take:

1. Figure out the scope

First, you need to know the scope of possibilities for the sales business plan you’re working on.

To figure this out, you need to answer these questions:

• What do you intend to cover in your sales plan?
• What aspects of the business will the sales plan cover?
• How far can this plan take you?
• Will it span weeks, months, a quarter, or an entire year?
• How many people will need to work together from how many teams?

This is the perfect opportunity to use mind maps . Visualizing your scope with mind maps makes it easy for you to organize the information and communicate it with everyone. And if you want to gather ideas from your sales team, brainstorming is the way to go.

Read this article to learn how to maximize your brainstorming meetings using online whiteboards.

Brainstorm the sales plan with your team using Visme’s infinite whiteboard . Our infinite whiteboard supports real-time collaboration and has more than enough space for you to lay out all the information.

Once you’ve mapped out your scope, create an outline for the overall plan. The outline will be the foundation for the pages and sections in your sales business plan. The next section, “What goes in a business plan” includes a list of essential sections that will help create a business plan for sales.

2. Organize the team and roles within the team

Part of the planning includes organizing a group of people who will work together to meet the goals laid out in the plan. Create a branded org chart visualizing team roles and responsibilities. Include this chart on a page in your sales plan; make it part of the process.

Using hotspots and hyperlinks, connect each team member's photo to their task list on monday.com or your favorite productivity platform.

Do you need more people to achieve the goals you’re pitching? Use this template to assign roles and tasks to team members.

3. Collect all information, analysis and data in one digital location.

No plan gets anywhere without data. Research, analysis, and investigation are your best friends at this point. Collect all the data you need and organize it in an accessible way. This will help immensely when building the sales plan .

Gather raw data about your current sales activities and performance, competitors, user persona, target market, industry analysis and more. Keep all visual documentation and relevant research samples inside a folder in your Visme workspace and name it accordingly.

Give access to those folders only to people involved in the project. The permission settings are in the brand controls for your workspace.

When you take advantage of the workspace organization features in your Visme account, you can plan your team's activity productively.

4. Set up a branded template

Are you regularly creating the same document more than once to share with different people? Branded templates are your secret weapon for any visual asset creation task. It saves time and serves as the guideline for all future versions of that document.

Applying your brand to industry templates is simple. First, pick one of our professionally designed templates, and then use our intuitive editor to change the color scheme, fonts and other design elements. You can also create a master layout to control fonts and logo placements.

Better yet, try Visme's Brand Wizard feature . Input your website URL and follow the steps. In the end, you’ll have a full set of templates with your brand colors and fonts.

5. Create each page in the document/slide in the deck

Transfer content from the outline to the document, section by section. Analyze and customize the visualization of each slide or page so it's optimized for the story you will tell. Yes, even sales plans can use storytelling techniques to be functional and effective. It’s the single most important communication tool in your arsenal.

Customize the sections, pages and slides with all the design elements available inside your Visme editor. Tap into all the interactive features to create an interactive sales business plan experience or make your digital PDF more engaging.

Take note of all the pages and slides as you create them to help you build the "table of contents" page. Use hyperlinking to let readers navigate the sales business plan however they wish.

6. Collaborate with the team

Involve the teams from the start. Task them with providing information or creating sections of the plan that pertain to their sector. Create the pages together, tag team members and leave comments to share information.

Ask managers for feedback through the Visme workspace; send them a live link to the project where they can leave notes and comments for edits.

Use a template to create an org chart that explains and details everyone’s role in the plan moving forward. When you make the process, plan and action collaborative, the team culture is strengthened. It’s a win-win in all directions.

7. Finalize and Share Your Plan

Take care of the last edits and proofread all the content. Double-check all image permissions and finalize all the layouts. Now that all the slides or pages are ready, it’s time to share and present the finished project. Use Presenter Studio to add a personalized message to the sales plan presentation, which is ideal for remote teams.

How do you wish to share the sales business plan with your team?

If there's any degree of interactivity in your plan, digital is the way to go. In the settings tab, publish your Visme project to the web and generate a live link to share with anyone you wish.

Download or share your sales business presentation as a video, a flip book, an interactive PDF or an interactive digital experience. All of these and more are possible with Visme.

There are templates, and then there are branded templates. A regular template has a color palette chosen by our designers for anyone to use. A branded template has all your company colors and fonts ready to fill up with content and finalize.

Here's a comprehensive list of the actual slides or pages in a sales business plan template. These apply to the document or presentation format of a top-down sales business plan.

Made with Visme Infographic Maker

 Start with the stunning cover page, then follow up with an interactive table of contents and other pages such as:

• Executive summary. Summarize your company goals, sales objectives, revenue targets, and top-level strategies. This lays the foundation for the rest of your document.
• Business goals (SMART goals & KPIs). Provide clear goals that you'll use to guide your sales plan activities and resources. 
• Current sales performance.  Use data visualization to present an overview of your current sales performance. 
• Industry and market overview.  Provide actionable insights on data or trends to support your sales plan.
• Description of sales strategies and tactics.  Break down the sales techniques that will be used to execute your plan.
• Customer segments.  Define your customer persona , target audience or segmentation, answering the question, "Who do you plan to sell to."
• SWOT Analysis.  Take a look at your sales team or brand's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and potential threats. 
• Resources and team capabilities. Using the organizational chart , visualize the team roles and list resources to accomplish your goal.
• Timeframe for execution.  Provide an estimated timeframe you'll need to execute your sales plan. 
• Budget.  State how much you plan to spend or need to accommodate your sales plan's resources.  

Here’s the collection of sales business plan examples you’ve been looking for. They are available in different selling styles, covering an array of industries. Simply add your brand content with elements of storytelling to make it unforgettable.

If time is running out or you need a speedy start for your sales business plan, Visme's AI business plan generator can get it done in just a few minutes.

These business sales plans are a great starting point for sales managers looking for more templates to use with their team.

1. New Product Sales Plan

Plan the sales strategy for a new product with a new product sales plan template. Put together a strategy to promote the new product to existing clients and new prospects. Look at the data from previous campaigns and use it as the foundation for future product launches and sales plans.

The document-style sales business plan template below has all the pages you need to share information about the products, the goals, the KPIs to follow and the team in charge of getting it done. Finally, there are data pages for the budget and market analysis.

2. SaaS Sales Plan

SaaS companies need effective sales plans to grow their client base and increase quarterly revenue. A comprehensive sales plan for a SaaS company needs specific sections for each item and clear strategies for reaching team goals. Link to the materials the sales team will use, like sales playbooks and surveys .

This sales plan sample template, designed especially for SaaS companies, concentrates on the strengths, opportunities and unique selling points. The color blocks and data widgets offer a quick overview of the foundation, goals and team in charge of taking care of it.

Beyond creating a sales plan, you want to visualize your sales pipeline to see where your sales prospects are in the purchasing process.

3. 30-60-90-day Sales Plan

Maximize the efficiency of your sales team by utilizing this comprehensive sales action plan template. This 30 60 90 day sales plan example template is based on the idea of time. The strategies in the plan are laid out in three sections of one month each. Roadmaps have a timeframe, and there are three sets of goals. The purpose is to integrate new technology better or train a new sales rep into the team.

Get the most from your 30-60-90 sales business plan with the template below. Each page concentrates on the dedicated time period, explaining everything expected from the employee or the team.

4. Territory Sales Plan

Territory sales business plans are based on a specific geolocation or localization where the sales will occur. You need this type of sales plan if your company has client bases in different areas of the country or world. Culturally, each location can have different approaches and sales tactics. Use the dynamic fields feature to reuse territory sales presentations and easily change the location information.

Across nine pages in a purple color scheme, this territory sales plan is ready for your team’s detailed strategic planning. Create a document per location, or use interactivity to create hotspots that change the data or information according to the reader’s choice.

5. Business Development Sales Plan

Strategic business development can mean increasing client reach, improving business partnerships and many other business activities that increase revenue. Using this business development sales plan, your team can strategize different approaches to achieve positive goals.

In the business development sales plan template below, you’ll find all the graphic organizers to help your team see the big picture across different factors. Create timelines , Gantt charts and roadmaps to organize tasks and measure goals.

6. Market Expansion Sales Plan

Expanding the market is a large part of many sales strategies. And it also needs a solid sales business plan for the team and higher-ups to know what they can expect. To expand your target market efficiently, you’ll need to do a lot of research. All the data you collect goes on the pages of the market expansion sales plan in attractive data visualizations and infographic layouts.

Get inspired to set bold market expansion goals with this colorful and clean-cut template design. Each page has a specific function and purpose, and charts and data visualizations grace the pages without visual obstacles. This template is great for fast and easy information sharing.

7. Revenue-based Sales Plan

The name of this sales plan says it all. The entirety of this plan stems from revenue-how much there is, how much the company wants, and how to get it. These are ideal for sales teams that separate the big picture into actionable parts.

With the template below, your team can create an actionable sales plan that moves the needle forward. The angled leading lines on each page take the reader on a visual journey across goals and timelines to success. Part of the plan is to inspire the team members and stakeholders to believe in the process and work together.

8. Real Estate Sales Plan

In real estate, you’ll have to plan strategies for your agents and teams to follow together. Real estate agents must work with the marketing team to be on the same page about messaging, strategies and goals. With a sales plan, you can put it all together into one.

In this template, all the marketing, prospecting, and target market calculations work together to improve your sales strategies. Strategic planning can improve revenue for the agency, the agents, and the homeowners.

9. Sales Training Plan

New sales reps perform better when their onboarding and training are inspiring and motivating. Use this template to plan your training and onboarding strategies and create a better company culture. Instruct new hires in the systems and explain timelines of expected performance during the probation and orientation phase.

The choice of color palette and design elements is important for telling the story of your sales training plan. Cover both high and low levels of the sales process by training efficiently. Plan how to train and get results.

After personalizing your preferred sales business plan template, the next step is to download and share it with your team and stakeholders.

With Visme, you have complete freedom over how you use your documents. You can download the design in various formats, such as PDF, JPG, PNG, and HTML5, or share it online via email or a shareable link.

You can even publish your content anywhere on the internet by generating a snippet of code from the Visme app.

One of our satisfied customers, shares their positive experience with Visme's templates and sharing options.

Matt Swiren

Manager of Partnership Marketing

Q. What Are the Different Types of Strategic Sales Planning?

As a sales leader, it is crucial to avoid poor planning, as it can result in missing up to 10% of annual sales opportunities . Your responsibility is to ensure that your company does not experience this setback.

To help you avoid this pitfall, here are five distinct approaches, each with its own unique flair.

1. Goal-Oriented Planning: This approach begins with setting ambitious yet achievable revenue targets, followed by reverse-engineering your sales process to identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) necessary to reach those targets. Sales activities are then meticulously aligned with the overarching goals to create a cohesive roadmap to success.

2. Account Planning: It focuses on developing a comprehensive strategy for managing individual accounts. This type of planning involves researching the account, identifying key stakeholders, and creating a plan to engage with them. Account planning benefits businesses that rely on a small number of large accounts for their revenue.

3. Product Planning: Product planning involves the development of a strategy for selling a particular product or product line. This type of planning focuses on understanding the market for the product, identifying key features and benefits, and developing a plan for promoting and selling the product.

4. Relationship Planning: Relationship selling is a long-term approach focusing on building strong customer relationships. It involves understanding the customer's needs, building trust and providing ongoing support and value. This approach requires excellent communication skills, a customer-centric mindset and a commitment to delivering exceptional service.

5. Sales Process Planning: This involves developing a comprehensive plan for managing the sales process, from lead generation to closing the sale. This type of planning involves identifying the critical steps in the sales process, developing a plan for each step, and establishing metrics to measure the effectiveness of the process.

Q. How Do I Write a Sales Business Plan?

After learning about the various types of sales planning and their advantages, as well as the components of a sales business plan, it's time to delve into the process of drafting one. Let's explore some tips for writing a successful sales business plan.

• Define Your Sales Objectives: Start by defining your sales objectives. What are your revenue goals? What products or services do you want to sell? Who is your sales ICP ? Defining these objectives will help you create a clear roadmap for achieving your sales goals.
• Conduct a Market Analysis: Conduct a market analysis to identify opportunities and threats in the marketplace. Analyze your industry, competitors, and target audience. This will help you understand how to position your product or service in the market.
• I dentify Your Unique Selling Proposition: Identify your unique selling proposition (USP)—what makes your product or service different from your competitors? What are the benefits of your product or service? Understanding your USP will help you market and sell your product or service better.
• Develop a Sales Strategy: Develop a sales strategy that aligns with your sales objectives. This should include a plan for lead generation, lead qualification and the sales process. You can revisit the types of strategic sales planning sections to choose the one that fits your sales goals. Consider the sales channels you'll use, the sales team structure and the sales tools you'll need.
• Define Sales Metrics: Define sales metrics that will help you measure your progress toward achieving your sales objectives. This could include revenue, sales growth rate, conversion rate and customer acquisition cost.
• Develop a Sales Budget: Develop a sales budget that aligns with your sales strategy and objectives. This should include expenses related to lead generation, sales team compensation, sales tools, and marketing.
• Review and Refine: Review and refine your sales business plan regularly. This will help you stay on track toward achieving your sales goals and make adjustments as needed.

Additionally, you can read this article on creating a strategic sales plan to get more help writing your own sales business plan.

Create Your Sales Business Plan With Visme

Jumping right into a project isn’t always the best idea; you won’t be prepared for the obstacles and hurdles. Every layer of your sales stack should be potentially planned and brainstormed for optimal results.

This is where sales business plans come into play. With well-designed and personalized plans, you create meaningful connections with prospects, turning them into loyal clients.

Create an interactive sales business plan to engage your team in a shared journey toward a common goal. Designate roles and link them together in the sales plan and your productivity platform so everyone is always on track.

Visme has plenty of features to help you and your team close deal after deal. Not only can you create a sales business plan collaboratively, but you can also brainstorm, create other content, share it online, track performance and keep all assets organized within your workspace. Make your team more efficient at creating visual content at every level of your organization using our third-party integrations .

Ready to up your company's sales game and close more deals? Book a demo or sign up today to see how we can help your sales team succeed.

Easily put together winning sales business plans in Visme

Trusted by leading brands

Recommended content for you:

Create Stunning Content!

Design visual brand experiences for your business whether you are a seasoned designer or a total novice.

About the Author

Orana is a multi-faceted creative. She is a content writer, artist, and designer. She travels the world with her family and is currently in Istanbul. Find out more about her work at oranavelarde.com

How to Set Sales Goals Your Team Can Actually Reach (+ 14 Sales Goal Examples to Swipe)

Setting sales goals can feel like making a New Year's resolution—the perfect opportunity to give your business a fresh start and a clear direction for the year ahead.

But as the stupor of the holiday season wears off, that initial excitement wanes. That burst of optimism that accompanies the New Year might start off strong—like the people who start going to the gym five days a week and posting on LinkedIn every day.

But as January turns to February and Q1 leads to Q2, those ambitious sales goals you set for the team can become sidelined, forgotten as easily as many New Year's resolutions.

Sound familiar?

As a founder or sales leader at your company, it’s your responsibility to set realistic sales goals that pave the way for long-term success.

But that’s easier said than done.

The right goals are at the intersection of achievable and challenging —they keep your team motivated, your momentum strong, and your leadership satisfied. They aren’t just a fleeting New Year’s promise you make at the start of January—they’re a year-long commitment, a guiding star that you keep in front of your team for the entire year.

Let’s look at some killer sales goal examples and discuss actionable steps you can take to set sales goals that will help your team grow, grow, grow.

Setting SMART Sales Goals Can Help Maximize Performance: Here’s Why

SMART sales goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. That means they motivate your team by giving them specific work to do, and a clear finish line they can celebrate once they’ve crossed.

Here’s how SMART goals work in practice for your sales team:

• Specific: Define your sales objectives clearly from the get-go. Make it real numbers.
• Measurable: Define how you’re going to benchmark progress along the way and identify the point where you’ll know if you’ve achieved your sales goal.
• Achievable: Goals are only motivational when your team knows they can reach them. Push your team to success but within their reasonable limits.
• Realistic: Evaluate historical performance data and get real about what your team can actually accomplish in the market or time period. For example, don’t expect to increase sales by 50 percent in December—that’s just a recipe for disaster.
• Time-bound: Every good sales goal has a fixed deadline. Results are good—results by X date are better.

Why does this work? Because when you set goals that are specific and challenging, science tells us you’ll get higher performance 90 percent of the time. Plus, a study by the Journal of Applied Psychology shows that presenting weekly progress reports of your goal increases your success rate by 40 percent. 

The point? Specific goals that you can measure are more motivational to your team.

14 Sales Goal Examples You Can Swipe for Your Team

According to our very own Nick Persico , Director of Sales and Marketing here at Close, there are three main types of sales goals:

• Results goals are based on output and should be set for the whole team. New revenue or customer growth—or new MRR for SaaS companies—are great sales goal examples you can reach for.
• Activity goals are great for your sales development teams and might include increasing the number of meetings booked or leads contacted.
• Efficiency goals focus on a specific part of the funnel that helps the team's activity or results goals. Nick explains, “These are the sales metrics we use to figure out where improvements could be made to increase the overall numbers.”

Let’s talk more about specific sales goals examples you can set for your team.

Results-Based Sales Goal Examples

Your main sales KPIs will set how you track your results-based goals. What results matter to your business? 

When you determine this, you’ll know how to set results-based sales goals for your team. These goals should be your guiding principles, the finish line that you’re all working towards. Everything you do should be pushing these results-based goals.

Here are some examples of results-based goals:

• New customer growth: Especially for companies that sell one product or service, new customer growth can be a major metric to track—and increasing that number is a great goal to set for overall business growth. “If you sell one $5,000 package, and that’s all you sell, you care more about the number of packages you sell,” explains Nick. 
• New revenue growth: Sales revenue is the total amount that you sell from any type of product, service, or package. “For example,” says Nick, “At Close, we care about annual revenue growth because people can buy multiple things, they add multiple users, and we want that overall number to go up over time.” In this situation, setting clear revenue goals is a great way to measure growth.
• New MRR growth: SaaS and subscription companies will monitor MRR growth like their life depends on it, and their sales goals and incentives will likely revolve around MRR growth and customer retention. These revenue targets will help teams think not just about closed deals, but about the customer lifetime value .

There are plenty of other results-based business goals you might set, such as reducing customer acquisition cost and customer churn rate , but these are less related to sales and more related to the teams working with your existing customers, such as the customer success and support teams.

Activity Sales Goal Examples

Your sales development team is working hard to create new leads and get them qualified to hand them over to account executives. In most cases, your SDRs are paid commission based on their sales activities—which is why activity goals are especially important for these individuals.

Here are some sales goals examples based on activity:

• Leads contacted: How many new leads are your sales reps contacting every week? How about every month? If you set the goal to increase that number, how will that affect your bottom line?
• New meetings: Every new meeting that your SDRs book is a step towards a sale. So, an effective sales goal that will help generate new customers is increasing the number of new meetings booked.
• Opportunities created: An opportunity is created when a lead expresses interest in buying your product or service. So, set the goal of increasing the number of opportunities your reps create in the CRM.
• Outbound call length/number of outbound calls: Every sales rep makes calls, whether through outreach to new inbound leads or cold calls to new outbound leads. The length of those sales calls can tell you a lot about how interested your leads are—so setting a goal for outbound calls can help encourage more communication with prospective customers.
• Discovery calls completed: Discovery is an essential part of your sales process, making sure that you and your potential customers are a good match. You can track and set goals around the number of discovery calls that are completed by your sales team, bringing in new qualified leads.

Efficiency Sales Goals Examples

Finally, we have efficiency goals, the goals that help you measure and improve sales performance. “These goals are set around the deals your team is working on,” says Nick. “Are you squeezing the most out of these opportunities? Where can you improve?”

Here’s how he explains the separation of efficiency goals from results and activity-based goals: “Your whole sales team and individual team members should have results-based goals. Then, the folks generating new meetings at the top of the funnel should have activity goals. And then, everyone should have a spread of efficiency goals.”

Want to make your sales process more efficient? Here are some sales performance goal examples you can swipe for your team:

• Increase contact to opportunity creation conversion rate: When your team contacts a new lead, how often does that new lead become a qualified opportunity in your sales pipeline ? Setting this goal can help your team be more conscious of how they qualify new leads.
• Increase opportunity creation to closed-won conversion rate: Setting sales goals around win rate and conversions can help you see whether your team is effective at closing potential deals and encourage them to improve their skills around the later stages of the sales cycle.
• Increase new leads to new customer conversion rate: This goal measures the success of your overall sales process, from the time a new lead is created to the time they become a customer. Setting the goal to increase this overall conversion rate will help your team focus on all the smaller actions inside the sales process that make a big difference in the outcome.
• Increase meeting attendance rate: Setting meetings is great, but it doesn’t mean anything if people don’t attend . If you’re seeing a low attendance rate, setting a goal around increasing attendance can help your team think about the specific things they can do to make sure people show up. (Just remember, 100 percent meeting attendance isn’t a realistic goal.)
• Reduce average number of touches: How many touchpoints do you need to go from new lead to closed customer? The lower this number, the shorter your sales cycle. Set this goal to help your sales team focus on making each touchpoint count.
• Increase average deal size: If you want to increase overall revenue growth, then this is an interesting efficiency goal to set. Try to increase deal size with upsells , cross-sells, or longer contract terms, and you’ll increase revenue.

Setting efficiency goals helps your team find new ways to improve sales performance, maybe by using automation or improving follow-ups.

How to Set Sales Goals That Actually Motivate Your Team (Step-by-Step)

So you’ve got some great examples of sales goals to set—but how do you set goals for your team? How do you decide which goals are important and which ones are attainable?

And, most importantly, how do you make sure your reps are motivated to actually achieve those team goals?

Let’s dig into how to set the best sales goals step-by-step.

1. Set Your North-Star Results Goal

Setting results-based goals is like setting that north star in the sky for your whole company—when you know the overarching goals you’re trying to achieve; everything else will fall into place.

So, start with what you know. What are your company's overall goals? Get a little deeper than "make more money" or "increase our bottom line" in a certain time frame.

For example, let's say your goal is to increase MRR (monthly recurring revenue) by 14 percent by the end of the next quarter. Sales goals like increasing new customer growth and average order value will help you get there.  

Even if you’ve only been in business for one year, you have enough data and insight to predict how things should progress in the next 12 months.

Review the number of new customers who bought your product or service last year to determine the product-market fit . How much revenue did they bring in on average? How quickly is your customer base growing? What’s your best-case scenario? Worst?

Look backward to get a baseline of where you (realistically) want to go in the future. (This is called sales forecasting—grab templates to do this here .)

2. Set Activity Goals for Your Sales Team

No matter what you do, you can’t force a lead to convert. Likewise, you can’t control all the results on the way to reaching your sales goals. But you can control your actions.

Your team can still get amazing results by focusing on what they do—instead of just obsessing over results. These are called activity goals—where you focus on the repeatable actions your team takes that can land sales.

An example: A quarterback is playing in the Super Bowl. When they throw the football, their goal isn’t to win the game. Their goal is to complete the pass.

The trophy may be the motivation, but when they run onto the field, their focus is solely on making every right move. If they do that, they’ve done everything they can to ensure success.

If your team has this same mentality, they can hit their monthly sales goals, annual sales goals—and beyond.

So, going back to our example above, let’s say you want to increase MRR. An important activity goal that will help you reach your overarching goal is for your SDRs to book more meetings. 

Always show your sales reps how their individual activity goals relate back to the larger goal—this will help them feel more motivated to reach their goals.

3. Focus on Improving One Efficiency Goal per Month or Quarter

Lastly, it’s time to work on sales performance goals, improving efficiency within your sales process.

Again, these efficiency goals always relate back to your main North Star results goal—they’re the smaller actions that get you closer to reaching those bigger goals.

Nick walks us through an example: “Let’s say your sales team has booked a ton of meetings, but nobody is showing up. You want to look at meeting attendance rates and increase that. Then, your sales development reps will focus on what tactics they can use to increase the meeting attendance rate.”

But there’s a caveat—efficiency goals are only attainable if you focus on one at a time.

As Nick says, “There’s always an opposite reaction to something you’re trying to improve. If reps focus on improving meeting attendance rate, they’re probably going to book fewer meetings because they’re focusing on getting those individuals to show up.

“What you do is focus on one goal each month or quarter and make that better. As you go through this cycle, the overall numbers will increase over time because the behaviors of those previous goals will stick.”

So, look at your sales funnel and see where you need to make improvements. Then, choose one efficiency goal for your team to work on and improve their sales performance.

4. Give Your Team the Right Incentives to Smash Their Goals

In the ultra-accountable, totally transparent, and excessively experience-driven world of startups, being "sales-y" gets a bad rap.

Now, we’re not advocating returning to the days of sleazy, fast-talking salespeople undercutting prospects and colleagues alike. Instead, foster a culture of friendly competition—where it’s in everyone’s best interests to bring in as many sales as possible.

Pair that competition with the right incentives —so everyone knows what the prize is for coming out on top—and you’ll build a sales team that not only respects each other and enjoys working together but who constantly strives to improve performance.

Here are a few ideas of when to reward your team:

• When the customers they sign hit an anniversary: Base bonuses off of when clients hit a 6- or 12-month anniversary. This way, sales isn’t just about signing new customers—but emphasizing customer retention.
• When their customers upgrade to a higher plan: Providing enough value to turn a casual user into a die-hard fan is every entrepreneur’s dream. Why not compensate your sales team when they do just that?
• When past customers become repeat customers: Sometimes, the nature of your business means you won’t have customers signed on for long periods of time (like with a one-off product or service). Instead, reward your sales team when they bring that warm lead back and sell them a new product or service.

As much as you think your company culture and perks are enough, the truth is: Your salespeople need a reason to bust their butts and hit those sales goals. Making some component of their compensation scale with the number of new customers they sign or milestones, they hit is a great way to boost performance.

Final Thoughts: Achieving Sales Goals Can Be Hard—Here are 6 Tips to Set Goals Your Team Can Reach

If you’re a new sales manager or a business owner just setting up your first sales team, it can be hard to know if the goals you’re setting are realistic and motivating enough for your team.

If you’re worried about setting goals your team can achieve, try these six tips to set better sales goals.

• Keep checking market conditions against your goals: Don’t set sales goals in a vacuum. Keep a pulse on the market conditions and potential—and when things change, reevaluate the goals you set to make sure they’re still realistic.
• Educate and empower your sales team to do more: Setting goals is great—empowering your team to reach them is better. Work with your reps to see what they need to reach their goals, whether it be software, training, better lead generation, etc.
• Be clear and transparent about sales goals and incentives: Transparency builds trust in your team. Be clear on what goals need to be met for commissions or other incentives to be paid out. Help your team see how their individual goals fit into the larger picture, and they’ll be more motivated to reach them.
• Listen to your reps: Don’t be afraid to ask your reps whether the goals you’re setting seem reasonable. Talk to them about what kind of goals they prefer and how they prefer to be rewarded for reaching those goals.
• Set stretch goals: Want to give some extra pep to your team? Set stretch goals—an ambitious sales target beyond 100 percent. These aren’t always meant to be completed, but provide direction and motivation to encourage your team to go above and beyond (often with an extra-special reward).
• Don’t expect to get it right on the first try—just keep improving! There are only three components for success in the startup world : Build, measure, and repeat. Your sales goals are no different. Don’t worry if things don’t work out right away. And if they do, keep questioning them. Iteration can make a good sales process great.

Want some help in setting (and achieving) your sales goals? Close can help you track activity metrics and sales team performance while you stretch to reach your goals. Learn more about Close’s reporting features in our on-demand demo , or start a free trial to test it out for yourself.

START YOUR 14-DAY FREE TRIAL NOW→

More articles from The Close Blog

Discover our latest free sales tools powered by AI

Learn from the sales pros with our free sales guides.

5 SMART Sales Goal Examples from 30+ Sales Professionals

Table of contents

To see what Databox can do for you, including how it helps you track and visualize your performance data in real-time, check out our home page. Click here .

“Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.”

Brian Tracy, a motivational speaker who often speaks on goals as they relate to business success, once said this.

While true, setting meaningful and realistic sales goals can often be a challenge.

Not sure where to start? We polled more than 30 sales professionals and asked them to share tips and real sales goal examples that use the SMART framework to help.

Let’s dive in.

In this post you will learn:

• What Are SMART Sales Goals?

How Do You Set Realistic Sales Goals?

• 2 Types of SMART Sales Goals
• 5 SMART Goal Examples for Increasing Sales

What are SMART Sales Goals?

SMART is a well-established KPI that you can use to plan and achieve your goals. There are a certain number of interpretations of the acronym’s meaning, but the most common one is that goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.

Its appeal is obvious: being able to set goals that can be quantified and create accountability have the greatest chance of success. Due to this, SMART goals have become the defacto standard in many industries and a fixture in sales management goals .

So, in a nutshell, sales goals are desired results that your sales team aims to achieve within a specific time frame.

Editor’s note: Would you like to view the current performance of your most important goals at-a-glance, anywhere you go? Monitor your current performance with the Databox mobile app and access any dashboard you’ve built from your mobile device too!

You can set more realistic sales goals by using the SMART framework shared above.

Let’s use an example. Whereas most companies might set sales goals for increasing average contract value (ACV), a team using the SMART framework would set a more specific and realistic sales goal like this:

Increase ACV by 25% by the end of Q3.

Then, run this goal by your sales team to solicit any objections, suggestions, etc. In order to set realistic goals, it’s critical to have buy-in across the team. It’s okay if people feel challenged by the goals, but if they feel they’re completely unrealistic, they’re also not likely to hit them.

This is inherently more realistic because you’ve attached specific numbers with a specific timeline to the goal itself, and you’ve gotten buy-in across the team.

2 Types of Smart Sales Goals

Knowing the SMART approach’s effectiveness, many managers want to take advantage of the framework but don’t know what goal is the best for the job.

There’s more than a few to choose from, so we went to our experts to find out their favorite goal for boosting sales numbers, increasing revenue, and slaying the big goals. 

The advice broke down into two major camps:

• Activity-based SMART sales Goals
• Results-based SMART sales goals

PRO TIP: How to Set SMART Goals for Your Sales Team’s Performance

To decide which goals meet the SMART criteria, sales managers need to look at sales analytics for their teams and monitor sales KPIs, for example:

• Average Time to Close Deal
• New Deals Amount
• Number of Customers
• Average Revenue per New Customer

Based on these metrics, and in light of other revenue-based and activity-based goals, you can identify and set desired goals for future performance, but how to get this information?

Now you can benefit from the experience of our sales experts, who have put together a great Databox template showing an overview of your sales team’s performance. It’s simple to implement and start using as a standalone dashboard or in sales reports, and best of all, it’s free!

You can easily set it up in just a few clicks – no coding required.

To set up this Sales Analytics Overview Dashboard , follow these 3 simple steps:

Step 1: Get the template 

Step 2: Connect your HubSpot account with Databox. 

Step 3: Watch your dashboard populate in seconds.

We’ve outlined them below. 

1) Activity-Based SMART Sales Goals

Goals that focus on increasing a certain tactic or activity are often seen as the most actionable SMART sales goals because they can control the primary variable. Many of our experts extolled the virtues of activity goals to improve sales results and give teams something to shoot for. 

Our experts also consider making contact with leads to be one of the most important activities in the sales cycle. 

Melanie Musson of 360quoteLLC says, “Specific action-based (rather than result-based) goals can help your team because members know exactly what they need to reach for. If a team member knows what they have to accomplish, they can dive in and do it, and they can know they can meet that goal no matter what the overall outcome is for the team. When all team members are ‘in’ the results will follow.”

“While you can’t necessarily control the number of conversions,” says Kevin Picton of Sharpen It – Training and Coaching , “you can set targets for and measure some of the lead-up work that most often results in conversions. In particular, whenever we set KPIs for and measured the number of Customer Visits and Frequency of Customer Visits, more leads were generated. More sales were converted in direct correlation with these activities.”

Steve de Mamiel of The Mongrel Method says, “A goal that focuses on activities that drive results is the most effective at increasing the numbers. For example: To meet face-to-face with six prospects per week.” Mamiel points out that while the industry or sales process might change the required number of prospects, the number remains directly tied to desired outcomes and results. 

Taylor Randolph of ParkFellows suggests that sales reps set goals to “increase revenue by $10,000 by acquiring three new clients.” to do this, Randolph says, “Acquire new clients by talking to 20 new leads and following up at least five times per client.” They can track the number of new leads acquired using this sales leads dashboard .

Many of our experts rely on contact goals to drive sales numbers, including Melanie Hartmann of Creo Home Buyers . “Decide upon the number of contacts each member of the sales team will make each week. This is something that can be controlled and modified as deemed necessary. Focusing on the number of leads is not something that can be controlled by any member of the sales team. The number of leads can only be predicted based on past performance and future modifications to see if more leads are generated with different types of pitches.”

This is also important for Liam Barnes of Directive , who says, “One SMART goal that I think is most effective is X number of conversations had based on previous trends of conversations had. By setting a goal for actual conversations, we are setting ourselves up to increase the number of opportunities driven by sales.”

To understand the numbers by their impact, Trenton Erker of Clarity Online suggests working backward to arrive at the goal. “Figure out the number of calls that it will take to get one more sale per time frame – day, week, month. Then divide it up per day to and add that amount of phone calls to your list. Example: If you make a sale every 20 calls, you’ll need to make 4 more calls/day to make 1 more sale each week.”

Ted Rollins of Valeo Groupe applies the activity goal based on the industry, “Depending on the property type since we represent both senior and student housing, we set a number of tours per week. For instance, 40 (actual walk-through) tours of the property per week, where we engage the prospect and have them complete an information/interest form.”

Knowing the numbers helps you understand exactly how the increase will benefit your conversion rate, says Julio Ahumada of DNA Digital Marketing . “Setting a specific number of contact points with a prospect based on previous experience. Example 20 contact points per week = 1 sale. Increase sales by 50% you increase contact points to 30.”

Sometimes, it’s about more than the numbers on the page. Jyotsna Khan of Tyrannosaurus Tech suggests having a good old fashioned coffee connection, setting the goal of “having coffee with two people in the community once a week or attending three events in a week.”

Deepak Shukla of Pearl Lemon examines the contacts they make by their quality. “How many ‘feel-good’ conversations have you had today?” Shukla asks. “Because it’s not the number of conversations – it’s the ones that made them, and you feel good – that’s what drives sales.”

Michael Bacon of Moxie Media agrees, saying, “Strengthening current client relationships is one of the most effective yet underrated goals for increasing sales.”

For starters, says Bacon, “Periodically follow up with current clients to make sure their goals have not changed, and your product or service is still meeting their needs, so you don’t lose them to a competitor. In addition to ensuring your clients are happy, asking for their feedback provides you with invaluable information on how to improve your offerings and attract even more clients.”

There is another benefit. “When you show clients that you care about their feedback and satisfaction, you build trust. This can make them more patient and forgiving in the future if anything should fall below their expectations. You may even be able to generate additional sales from these satisfied clients.” 

“Checking in with your clients allows you to identify the ones who are most likely to provide you with client testimonials, case studies, and recommendations, all of which should help you gain more clients and increase sales. If possible, go above and beyond in your customer service to build even stronger, more loyal, and more valuable relationships with clients.”

But these have to be SMART goals, reminds Bacon. “Make sure you set SMART goals around current client relationships. Just saying you want to improve relationships is not enough. These goals will vary from company to company, but one example is to implement check-ins every 3 months with all current clients this year.”

“Another could be to address at least half of all client feedback received from these check-ins over the next year. Yet another could be to publish 5 new client case studies or testimonials on your website over the next 6 months.”

Setting duration goals for your prospecting is one way to ensure you’re putting in the effort and reaping the rewards, says Jenny Kelley of Kiwi Creative . 

She reminds us that, “The core of any successful sales process is to form an empathetic relationship with a prospect to understand their problem(s) and emphasize the value of your product or service as the best solutions. To get the best pulse on prospects’ problems or pain points, it’s integral to do proper research and outreach.” 

Kelly says, “One of our best platforms for outreach is LinkedIn. We spend around 90 minutes each day on LinkedIn connecting with prospects, learning about them & their businesses, and identifying areas that Kiwi can provide value. This goal lays a strong foundation for making deals and helping Kiwi gain other referrals.”

“In this sense, our SMART goal for our sales strategy is to spend 90 minutes each day on LinkedIn connecting with prospects and potential leads to learn about their pain points.”

The most critical component of SMART is the Timeliness, according to Samantha Odo of Precondo . “Although the goals you have defined should be achievable and attainable, a realistic timeline needs to be identified. In a growing competitive market, one needs to be an opportunist. Hitting the target at the right time is a crucial element to raise sales. Who serves first, wins first.”

For example, says Odo, “We set a goal to raise sales to 20% by targeting X number of customers. It is all achievable, but at what time? What if other competitors will approach the market more fiercely? Time is money; if it gets lost, we could never recover. Setting a deadline is also a motivation for the team.”

Goals aren’t just for reps, reminds Laura Hall of Laura Hall Consulting “Sales team numbers can be consistently improved when each individual is managed and communicated regularly and effectively. The most important goal any sales leader should have relates to communication. Setting a goal to sit down at least once per week to coach and listen to each person for a minimum of 30 minutes will reap results.”

Says Hall, “This important conversation allows the manager to understand challenges and needs to offer further support, and the team member will become more invested in their success when they can see a way to develop their skills and perform at a higher standard.”

Activity goals aren’t just about how much you’re doing, but how you’re doing it, says Jack Choros of Iron Monk . “I like to set a SMART goal that encourages my sales staff to use assumptive closing techniques on 9 out of 10 sales calls. In other words, instead of asking, ‘Do you think you’d be interested in our service?’ we assume the sale. ‘Based on our conversation today, it seems like the service package ABC would work well for you. Will you be using Visa or Mastercard to pay today?”

Use this sales team activity dashboard to measure and compare your sales team performance and productivity in real-time.

Related Article: 5 Types of Sales Goals Every Sales Manager Should Have

Editor’s Note: Need to know how each member of your team is performing? By tracking close rate by sales rep , you’ll have all the data you need to understand their performance and create individual training plans to help each rep operate at top performance. See how to do exactly that with our sales dashboard software here.

2) Results-Based SMART Sales Goals  

Results-based SMART sales goals are the other side of the coin, engaging reps by leaving the methods open in favor of increasing one or more metrics. While outcomes can be challenging to nail down to a specific number, the incentive to reach those goals can affect input. 

Anissa Short of The Work From Home CEO says: “I have been a part of the sales industry for twenty years, and within that time I have found that the thing which motivates a sales team member differs as much as the team members themselves.” 

“What is consistent, however, is that they all appreciate being recognized for their accomplishment. With that in mind, I have found that the most effective way in which to realize increasing sales is to establish benchmarks that focus on percentage increase rather than a specific amount.”

“For example, if every team member is challenged to increase their individual sales productivity by 5% every month, this goal is not only clear and trackable, but it affords each person the flexibility to work within their respective benchmark securely.”

“Implementing a strategy such as this is not only SMART for the individual, but it produces a SMART win for the entire team collectively.”

Paige Arnof-Fenn of Mavens & Moguls prefers to increase results not through activity-based outreach, but rather by improving results from customers already in play, suggesting we use “Increase # of repeat customers and referrals each year by 10%.” 

Arnof-Fenn calls it “the most cost-efficient way to build a business and scale your brand.”

Hung Nguyen of Smallpdf finds it just as important to keep those customers by reducing churn rate. “Many sales teams tend to focus on short-term goals, i.e., monthly conversion rate.”

“However, if you work on nurturing your existing customer base and appeasing their growing needs with your product, reducing the rate that users/customers ‘cancel’ will contribute to a consistent stream of recurring revenue, without having to get more leads into your sales funnel.”

Adam Hempenstall of Better Proposals coaches an “Increase your total sales by 10% monthly using their assigned sales channel. For our outbound sales reps KPIs , that means constantly setting the bar higher and maximizing the number of calls that turn to deals.”

Says Hempenstall, “The goal is attainable for now since we just started with outbound calls, but I am not sure that this kind of aggressive growth will be possible in the future. Cold calls are not the easiest way to convert prospects into customers, so we’ll see how our sales team handles this challenge.”  

One of the most telling metrics for Andrei Vasilescu of DontPayFull is Incoming Inquiry, calling it the most effective SMART goal for any sales team. “After hours of hard work and efforts of any sales team, if none of your target customers contact your business, you need to reconstruct your sales team or strategy. A person who asks about your products or services through email, text message, or phone call is supposed to be your possible customer. And that incoming inquiry confirms the initial success of your sales team.”

Jonathan Aufray of Growth Hackers calls Win rate “The SMART goal to focus on to increase sales.” Aufray says, “You want to decrease the number of sales leads you have to contact to close a deal. By increasing your win rate, you will be more efficient and find what’s working and what’s not working to convert a lead into a sale. You will learn the processes, psychology, and techniques to close more sales so your sales numbers will keep increasing.”

Looking at the hard numbers helps Aristide Basque of SH1FT keep the margins high, and recommends Lead to revenue ratio as a key metric for doing so, “because you know how much a lead cost you and you can then calculate the profit you make which is all that matters.”

Sometimes it’s not about how hard you’re working, says Cayley Vos of Netpaths . “The problem for making more money is usually never solved by getting more leads, but by better working the existing leads and clients that you have. The key to solving most problems in business is making more money, and the best way to do this is by charging more for what you already do.”

Vos, therefore, recommends using Increased average order value as a driving metric. 

As an example, says Vos, “We talked with a client who had a fantastic service that he charged 1000 to implement. We suggested that he add a zero to the cost to see what happened. He was skeptical but agreed to follow our advice.”

“The result – clients didn’t bat an eye and happily paid for his service. He just increased his revenue 10x with no extra work. If your average order is 1000 and you can bundle it with 2 other great 1000 products and charge 1997 for it. This gives you nearly double the revenue for the same amount of sales.”

Conversion rates are the driving factor for Toni JV of JVT Media . “If you focus on conversion rates of the people you’re trying to get sales from, you’ll naturally focus on things such as user experience, giving away value, and refining your process. These things will naturally bring more and more sales to your business.”

For Mackenzie Deater of Evenbound it’s about the path to the close, as well. “One great SMART Goal to implement is the percentage of MQLs who convert to sales.”

“For example, let’s say your marketing team delivers 300 marketing qualified leads/month. By setting a SMART goal of converting 5% of those MQLs into a sale each month, you really put the focus on increasing those sales numbers.”

“For many sales teams, the most challenging obstacle to overcome is just a disconnect between what a qualified lead is to them, vs. to the marketing team. By setting this SMART goal of the conversion percentage of MQLs, you can:

• focus on increasing sales
• see why your sales team isn’t reaching that goal in the first place. 

It gives you greater insight into how your marketing and sales teams are working together.”

Datis Mohsenipour of Outback Team Building & Training also recommends you get those prospects on the path as fast as possible using lead response time as a cornerstone metric. 

Explains Mohsenipour, “Inside Sales and Harvard Business Report put together a phenomenal report/infographic that highlights many important factors when dealing with leads. One that has always stood out to me and is still hyper-relevant today.”

“According to the report, if you call a lead within the first five minutes of them submitting a form, you are 900% more likely to reach them than if you were to contact them within five to 10 minutes.”

“The likelihood of getting that lead on the phone decreases even more significantly with every five minutes that you tack-on to your response time.”

Says Mohsenipour, “The ‘why’ is pretty self-explanatory. When the lead fills out your contact form, their focus is on researching you and your competitors. So, you’re more likely to get a conversation out of them when they have already allocated time to scope you out.”

“On a similar note, the report goes into detail about how many call attempts you should make to get someone on the line. That magic number = six. So think of all the time you’ll be wasting in follow-up calls if you miss the boat on calling someone within five minutes of them submitting their inquiry. You may need to call them as many as six times… Let’s not forget that your competitors may have already beaten you to the punch.”

For Ethan Taub of Loanry , the individual makes up part of a powerful whole, “ A smart goal that I think is personally effective is a Team goal. It means that we look at each member’s contributions per quarter to create unity in the workplace. It has been largely effective for us.”

All in all, while setting these types of goals is important, ensuring that you (and your team) monitor your progress against your set goals. You can do so with the help of these free sales dashboard examples .

Related Article: How to Set, Track, & Achieve Your Monthly Sales Goals

5 Examples of SMART Sales Goals

Source: Medium

• Increase revenue
• Reduce customer churn rate
• Increase number of qualified leads
• Reduce cycle time
• Increase customer lifetime value

1) Increase Monthly/Annual Revenue

• Specific: We will increase our revenue by $50,000 this quarter while saving on some operating expenses like daily cleaning services, thus saving $2,000 monthly
• Measurable : We will increase sales over the next quarter by focusing on the following outcomes: having 10 meetings booked weekly, 5 phone calls daily, prospecting to 30 people daily 
• Attainable: Sign 7 new contracts with customers
• Realistic: Keep it relevant. We’ll launch two new premium features based on the most requested features–and focus on getting our most active users upscale to our premium partner program.
• Time-bound: By the end of the first quarter of 2020

2) Reduce Customer Churn Rate

• Specific: Reduce churn rate by 4% by the end of the first quarter of 2020
• Measurable: Reach out to 50 at-risk customers weekly. Help 10 new customers with their onboarding process daily.
• Attainable: Get 5 at-risk customers to upscale monthly
• Realistic: Set up the knowledge base for all existing customers.
• Time-bound: At the end of the first quarter of 2020

3) Increase Number of Qualified Leads

• Specific: Increase the number of SQL’s in our funnel by 15% by the third quarter of the year
• Measurable: Have 60% of free trial customers sign up for our upcoming ebook
• Attainable: Add CTAs to 20 blog articles. Create 5 bottom of the funnel pieces of content
• Realistic: Reach out to prospects with lead score above 75

Time-bound: At the end of the month

4) Reduce Cycle Time

• Specific: Reduce sales cycle time from 100 days to 60  days
• Measurable: Ensure the next meeting is booked during the inquiry meeting
• Attainable: We will rework on our lead scoring process and focus on leads with a score higher than 75
• Realistic: Identify and focus on 3 channels that produce leads in the sales cycle. Purchase  a sales automation tool to automate all your repetitive tasks

5) Increase Customer Lifetime Value

• Specific: Increase customer lifetime value from $3000 to $5000
• Measurable: Maintain a Net Promoter score of 9/10. Have 6 out of 10 long-serving customers switch to annual billing.
• Attainable: Engage 10 best serving clients in case studies and promote to your email list. Send monthly personalized emails to your clients offering to help solve their bottlenecks
• Realistic: Reduce first response time from 6 hours to 3 hours 2 minutes. Adopt live chat support by the end of January. Update knowledge base monthly with new educational resources.

We hope these SMART sales goals will help you and your teams reach new heights for sales and revenue. Employing even a few of the tips and tricks outlined here can give you a new perspective for managing your sales process , help identify leaks in the funnel, or simply get your sales team performing at a new level—and reaping the rewards.

• Databox Benchmarks
• Future Value Calculator
• ROI Calculator
• Return On Ads Calculator
• Percentage Growth Rate Calculator
• Report Automation
• Client Reporting
• What is a KPI?
• Google Sheets KPIs
• Sales Analysis Report
• Shopify Reports
• Data Analysis Report
• Google Sheets Dashboard
• Best Dashboard Examples
• Analysing Data
• Marketing Agency KPIs
• Automate Agency Google Ads Report
• Marketing Research Report
• Social Media Dashboard Examples
• Ecom Dashboard Examples

Does Your Performance Stack Up?

Are you maximizing your business potential? Stop guessing and start comparing with companies like yours.

A Message From Our CEO

At Databox, we’re obsessed with helping companies more easily monitor, analyze, and report their results. Whether it’s the resources we put into building and maintaining integrations with 100+ popular marketing tools, enabling customizability of charts, dashboards, and reports, or building functionality to make analysis, benchmarking, and forecasting easier, we’re constantly trying to find ways to help our customers save time and deliver better results.

Do you want an All-in-One Analytics Platform?

Hey, we’re Databox. Our mission is to help businesses save time and grow faster. Click here to see our platform in action. 

Get practical strategies that drive consistent growth

Sales Habits of Successful Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs (Based on 180+ Expert Responses)

5 Strategies for Call-Based Lead Generation & Management (Based on 110+ Expert Respondents)

Marketing and sales in uncertain times: strategies & spending impact (2024), build your first dashboard in 5 minutes or less.

Latest from our blog

• Demystifying ‘Dark Social’ to Uncover Hidden Opportunities for B2B Demand Generation September 20, 2024
• How to Measure LinkedIn Ads Performance: 9 Key Metrics and Industry Benchmarks September 19, 2024
• Metrics & KPIs
• vs. Tableau
• vs. Looker Studio
• vs. Klipfolio
• vs. Power BI
• vs. Whatagraph
• vs. AgencyAnalytics
• Product & Engineering
• Inside Databox
• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy
• Talent Resources
• We're Hiring!
• Help Center
• API Documentation

Item added to your cart

Here is a free business plan sample for a fruit and vegetable store.

Have you ever envisioned owning a bustling fruit and vegetable market that serves as a cornerstone of health in your community? Wondering where to start?

Look no further, as we're about to guide you through a comprehensive business plan tailored for a fruit and vegetable market.

Creating a solid business plan is crucial for any aspiring entrepreneur. It serves as a roadmap, outlining your vision, objectives, and the strategies you'll employ to turn your fresh produce venture into a thriving business.

To jumpstart your planning process with ease and precision, feel free to utilize our fruit and vegetable market business plan template. Our team of experts is also on standby to provide a free review and fine-tuning of your plan.

How to draft a great business plan for your fruit and vegetable store?

A good business plan for a fruit and vegetable market must cater to the unique aspects of this type of retail business.

Initially, it's crucial to provide a comprehensive overview of the market landscape. This includes up-to-date statistics and an exploration of emerging trends within the industry, similar to what we've incorporated in our fruit and vegetable market business plan template .

Your business plan should articulate your vision clearly. Define your target demographic (such as local residents, restaurants, or health-conscious consumers) and establish your market's distinctive features (like offering organic produce, exotic fruits, or locally-sourced vegetables).

Market analysis is the next critical component. This requires a thorough examination of local competitors, market dynamics, and consumer buying patterns.

For a fruit and vegetable market, it's imperative to detail the range of products you intend to sell. Describe your selection of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and any additional items you plan to offer, and discuss how these choices align with the preferences and needs of your customer base.

The operational plan is equally important. It should outline the location of your market, the layout of the retail space, your supply chain for fresh produce, and inventory management practices.

Given the nature of a fruit and vegetable market, it is vital to highlight the freshness and quality of your produce, your relationships with growers and suppliers, and adherence to health and safety standards.

Then, delve into your marketing and sales strategies. How do you plan to attract and keep customers coming back? Consider your approach to promotions, customer loyalty programs, and potential value-added services (like home delivery or a juice bar).

Incorporating digital strategies, such as an online ordering system or a robust social media presence, is also crucial in the modern marketplace.

The financial section is another cornerstone of your business plan. It should encompass the initial investment, projected sales, operating expenses, and the point at which you expect to break even.

With a fruit and vegetable market, managing waste and understanding the shelf life of products are critical, so precise planning and knowledge of your financials are essential. For assistance, consider using our financial forecast for a fruit and vegetable market .

Compared to other business plans, a fruit and vegetable market plan must pay closer attention to the perishability of inventory, the importance of a robust supply chain, and the potential for seasonal fluctuations.

A well-crafted business plan not only helps you to define your strategies and vision but also plays a pivotal role in attracting investors or securing loans.

Lenders and investors are keen on a solid market analysis, realistic financial projections, and a comprehensive understanding of the day-to-day operations of a fruit and vegetable market.

By presenting a thorough and substantiated plan, you showcase your dedication and readiness for the success of your venture.

To achieve these goals while saving time, you are welcome to fill out our fruit and vegetable market business plan template .

A free example of business plan for a fruit and vegetable store

Here, we will provide a concise and illustrative example of a business plan for a specific project.

This example aims to provide an overview of the essential components of a business plan. It is important to note that this version is only a summary. As it stands, this business plan is not sufficiently developed to support a profitability strategy or convince a bank to provide financing.

To be effective, the business plan should be significantly more detailed, including up-to-date market data, more persuasive arguments, a thorough market study, a three-year action plan, as well as detailed financial tables such as a projected income statement, projected balance sheet, cash flow budget, and break-even analysis.

All these elements have been thoroughly included by our experts in the business plan template they have designed for a fruit and vegetable market .

Here, we will follow the same structure as in our business plan template.

Market Opportunity

Market data and figures.

The fruit and vegetable market is an essential and robust component of the global food industry.

Recent estimates value the global fruit and vegetable trade at over 1 trillion dollars, with expectations for continued growth as consumers seek healthier eating options. In the United States, the fruit and vegetable industry contributes significantly to the economy, with thousands of markets and stores providing a wide range of produce to meet consumer demand.

These statistics underscore the critical role that fruit and vegetable markets play in not only providing nutritious food options but also in supporting local agriculture and economies.

Current trends in the fruit and vegetable industry indicate a shift towards organic and locally sourced produce, as consumers become more health-conscious and environmentally aware.

There is an increasing demand for organic fruits and vegetables, driven by the perception of better quality and concerns about pesticides and other chemicals. The local food movement is also gaining momentum, with consumers showing a preference for produce that is grown locally to support community farmers and reduce carbon emissions associated with transportation.

Technological advancements are influencing the industry as well, with innovations in vertical farming and hydroponics allowing for more sustainable and space-efficient growing methods.

Online grocery shopping and delivery services are expanding, making it easier for consumers to access fresh produce directly from their homes.

Additionally, the push for transparency in food sourcing continues to grow, with consumers wanting to know more about where their food comes from and how it is grown.

These trends are shaping the future of the fruit and vegetable market, as businesses strive to meet the evolving preferences and values of modern consumers.

Success Factors

Several key factors contribute to the success of a fruit and vegetable market.

Quality and freshness of produce are paramount. Markets that offer a wide variety of fresh, high-quality fruits and vegetables are more likely to build and maintain a dedicated customer base.

Diversity in product offerings, including exotic or hard-to-find produce, can differentiate a market from its competitors.

Location is also vital, as markets that are easily accessible to consumers will naturally attract more foot traffic.

Customer service is another important aspect, with knowledgeable and friendly staff enhancing the shopping experience and encouraging repeat visits.

Effective cost management and the ability to adapt to changing consumer trends, such as the demand for organic and locally grown produce, are crucial for the long-term viability of a fruit and vegetable market.

The Project

Project presentation.

Our fruit and vegetable market project is designed to cater to the increasing consumer demand for fresh, organic, and locally-sourced produce. Situated in a community-focused neighborhood, our market will offer a diverse selection of fruits and vegetables, emphasizing seasonal and organic options. We will partner with local farmers and suppliers to ensure that our customers have access to the freshest produce available, supporting sustainable agricultural practices and reducing our carbon footprint.

We aim to provide not just produce, but a holistic healthy eating experience by offering a range of complementary products such as herbs, spices, and artisanal condiments. Our market will be a hub for health-conscious consumers and those interested in cooking with the finest ingredients.

Our fruit and vegetable market is set to become a cornerstone in the community, promoting healthier lifestyles and fostering connections between local producers and consumers.

Value Proposition

The value proposition of our fruit and vegetable market lies in our commitment to providing the community with the highest quality fresh produce. We understand the importance of nutrition and the role that fruits and vegetables play in maintaining a healthy diet.

Our market will offer a unique shopping experience where customers can enjoy a wide variety of produce, learn about the benefits of incorporating more fruits and vegetables into their diets, and discover new and exotic varieties. We are dedicated to creating a welcoming environment where everyone can find something to enrich their meals and support their well-being.

By focusing on local and organic sourcing, we also contribute to the sustainability of our food systems and the prosperity of local farmers, aligning our business with the values of environmental stewardship and community support.

Project Owner

The project owner is an individual with a profound passion for healthy living and community engagement. With a background in agricultural studies and experience in the food retail industry, they are well-equipped to establish a market that prioritizes quality and freshness.

They bring a wealth of knowledge about the seasonality and sourcing of produce, and are committed to creating a marketplace that reflects the diversity and richness of nature's offerings. Their dedication to health, nutrition, and sustainability drives them to build a market that not only sells fruits and vegetables but also educates and inspires the community to embrace a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle.

Their vision is to create a space where the joy of fresh, wholesome food is accessible to all, and where the market serves as a vibrant gathering place for people to connect with their food and each other.

The Market Study

Market segments.

The market segments for this fruit and vegetable market are diverse and cater to a wide range of consumers.

Firstly, there are health-conscious individuals who prioritize fresh, organic produce in their diets for wellness and nutritional benefits.

Secondly, the market serves customers who are looking for locally-sourced and seasonal produce to support community farmers and reduce their carbon footprint.

Additionally, the market attracts individuals with specific dietary needs, such as vegans, vegetarians, and those with food sensitivities who require a variety of fresh produce options.

Culinary professionals, including chefs and caterers, represent another segment, seeking high-quality ingredients to enhance their dishes.

SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis of the fruit and vegetable market project highlights several key factors.

Strengths include a strong focus on fresh, high-quality produce, relationships with local farmers, and a commitment to sustainability and eco-friendly practices.

Weaknesses might involve the perishable nature of inventory, the need for constant supply chain management, and potential seasonal fluctuations in product availability.

Opportunities exist in expanding the market's reach through online sales and delivery services, as well as in educating consumers about the benefits of eating fresh and local produce.

Threats could include competition from larger grocery chains with more buying power, adverse weather affecting crop yields, and potential economic downturns reducing consumer spending on premium produce.

Competitor Analysis

Competitor analysis in the fruit and vegetable market sector indicates a varied landscape.

Direct competitors include other local markets, organic food stores, and large supermarkets with extensive produce sections.

These competitors vie for customers who value convenience, variety, and price.

Potential competitive advantages for our market include superior product freshness, strong community ties, exceptional customer service, and a focus on sustainable and ethical sourcing.

Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of these competitors is crucial for carving out a niche and ensuring customer loyalty.

Competitive Advantages

Our fruit and vegetable market's dedication to offering the freshest and highest quality produce sets us apart from the competition.

We provide a wide array of fruits and vegetables, including rare and exotic items, to cater to the diverse tastes and needs of our customers.

Our commitment to sustainability, through supporting local farmers and minimizing waste, resonates with environmentally conscious consumers.

We also emphasize transparency and education about the source and benefits of our produce, fostering a trusting relationship with our clientele.

You can also read our articles about: - how to open a fruit and vegetable store: a complete guide - the customer segments of a fruit and vegetable store - the competition study for a fruit and vegetable store

The Strategy

Development plan.

Our three-year development plan for the fresh fruit and vegetable market is designed to promote healthy living within the community.

In the first year, our goal is to establish a strong local presence by sourcing a wide variety of high-quality, seasonal produce and building relationships with local farmers and suppliers.

The second year will focus on expanding our reach by setting up additional market locations and possibly introducing mobile market services to access a broader customer base.

In the third year, we plan to diversify our offerings by including organic and exotic fruits and vegetables, as well as implementing educational programs on nutrition and sustainable agriculture.

Throughout this period, we will be committed to sustainability, community engagement, and providing exceptional service to ensure we become a staple in our customers' healthy lifestyles.

Business Model Canvas

The Business Model Canvas for our fruit and vegetable market targets health-conscious consumers and those looking for fresh, local produce.

Our value proposition is centered on offering the freshest, high-quality fruits and vegetables, with a focus on local and organic options, and providing exceptional customer service.

We will sell our products through our physical market locations and consider an online ordering system for customer convenience, utilizing our key resources such as our relationships with local farmers and our knowledgeable staff.

Key activities include sourcing and curating produce, maintaining quality control, and engaging with the community.

Our revenue streams will be generated from the sales of produce, while our costs will be associated with procurement, operations, and marketing efforts.

Access a complete and editable real Business Model Canvas in our business plan template .

Marketing Strategy

Our marketing strategy is centered on community engagement and education.

We aim to highlight the health benefits of fresh produce and the environmental advantages of buying locally. Our approach includes community events, cooking demonstrations, and partnerships with local health and wellness organizations.

We will also leverage social media to showcase our daily offerings, share tips on healthy eating, and feature stories from our partner farmers.

Additionally, we plan to offer loyalty programs and seasonal promotions to encourage repeat business and attract new customers.

Risk Policy

The risk policy for our fruit and vegetable market focuses on mitigating risks associated with perishable goods, supply chain management, and market fluctuations.

We will implement strict quality control measures and develop a robust inventory management system to minimize waste and ensure product freshness.

Building strong relationships with a diverse group of suppliers will help us manage supply risks and price volatility.

We will also maintain a conservative financial strategy to manage operational costs effectively and ensure business sustainability.

Insurance coverage will be in place to protect against unforeseen events that could impact our business operations.

Why Our Project is Viable

We believe in the viability of a fruit and vegetable market that prioritizes freshness, quality, and community health.

With a growing trend towards healthy eating and local sourcing, our market is well-positioned to meet consumer demand.

We are committed to creating a shopping experience that supports local agriculture and provides educational value to our customers.

Adaptable to market trends and customer feedback, we are excited about the potential of our fruit and vegetable market to become a cornerstone of healthy living in our community.

You can also read our articles about: - the Business Model Canvas of a fruit and vegetable store - the marketing strategy for a fruit and vegetable store

The Financial Plan

Of course, the text presented below is far from sufficient to serve as a solid and credible financial analysis for a bank or potential investor. They expect specific numbers, financial statements, and charts demonstrating the profitability of your project.

All these elements are available in our business plan template for a fruit and vegetable market and our financial plan for a fruit and vegetable market .

Initial expenses for our fruit and vegetable market include costs for securing a retail space in a high-traffic area, purchasing refrigeration units and display equipment to maintain and showcase fresh produce, obtaining necessary permits and licenses, investing in a robust inventory management system, and launching marketing initiatives to attract customers to our location.

Our revenue assumptions are based on an in-depth analysis of the local market demand for fresh, high-quality fruits and vegetables, taking into account the increasing trend towards healthy eating and organic produce.

We expect sales to grow steadily as we establish our market's reputation for offering a wide variety of fresh and locally sourced produce.

The projected income statement outlines expected revenues from the sale of fruits and vegetables, cost of goods sold (including procurement, transportation, and storage), and operating expenses (rent, marketing, salaries, utilities, etc.).

This results in a forecasted net profit that is essential for assessing the long-term viability of our fruit and vegetable market.

The projected balance sheet will reflect assets such as refrigeration and display equipment, inventory of fresh produce, and liabilities including any loans and operational expenses.

It will provide a snapshot of the financial condition of our market at the end of each fiscal period.

Our projected cash flow statement will detail all cash inflows from sales and outflows for expenses, helping us to predict our financial needs and ensure we have sufficient funds to operate smoothly.

The projected financing plan will outline the sources of funding we intend to tap into to cover our initial setup costs and any additional financing needs.

The working capital requirement for our market will be carefully managed to maintain adequate liquidity for day-to-day operations, such as purchasing fresh stock, managing inventory, and covering staff wages.

The break-even analysis will determine the volume of sales we need to achieve to cover all our costs and begin generating a profit, marking the point at which our market becomes financially sustainable.

Key performance indicators we will monitor include the turnover rate of our inventory, the gross margin on produce sales, the current ratio to evaluate our ability to meet short-term obligations, and the return on investment to gauge the profitability of the capital invested in our market.

These metrics will be instrumental in assessing the financial performance and overall success of our fruit and vegetable market.

If you want to know more about the financial analysis of this type of activity, please read our article about the financial plan for a fruit and vegetable store .

• Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.
• Opens in a new window.

Reference.com

What's Your Question?

• History & Geography
• Science & Technology
• Business & Finance
• Pets & Animals

Maximizing Business Sales: How to Develop a Winning Marketing Plan

In today’s competitive business landscape, having a solid marketing plan is essential for maximizing sales and staying ahead of the competition. A well-developed marketing strategy can help your business attract new customers, increase brand awareness, and ultimately boost your sales. This article will guide you through the process of developing a winning marketing plan that will drive business sales and help you achieve your goals.

Understanding Your Target Audience

The first step in developing an effective marketing plan is to understand your target audience. By identifying who your ideal customers are, you can tailor your marketing efforts to meet their needs and preferences. Conduct market research to gather information about their demographics, interests, behaviors, and pain points. This data will serve as a foundation for creating targeted marketing campaigns.

Once you have a clear understanding of your target audience, segment them into different groups based on their characteristics. This segmentation will allow you to customize your messages and promotions for each group, making your marketing efforts more impactful.

Setting Clear Goals

To develop a winning marketing plan, it is crucial to set clear goals that align with your overall business objectives. Your goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). For example, instead of setting a vague goal like “increase sales,” set a specific goal such as “increase online sales by 15% within the next six months.”

Setting clear goals will not only give you something to strive for but also enable you to track the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Regularly monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) related to your goals so that you can make data-driven decisions and adjust your strategies accordingly.

Crafting Compelling Messages

Once you have identified your target audience and set clear goals for your marketing plan, it’s time to craft compelling messages that resonate with potential customers. Effective messaging is essential for grabbing attention and persuading your audience to take action.

Start by clearly articulating the unique value proposition of your products or services. What sets you apart from your competitors? Why should customers choose your business over others? Use this information to create persuasive messages that highlight the benefits and solutions your offerings provide.

Remember to tailor your messaging to each segment of your target audience. Speak directly to their pain points and address their specific needs. Use language and tone that resonate with them, making them feel understood and valued by your brand.

Choosing the Right Marketing Channels

With a clear understanding of your target audience, well-defined goals, and compelling messages, it’s time to choose the right marketing channels to reach your customers effectively. There are numerous marketing channels available, including digital platforms such as social media, search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, content marketing, and traditional channels like print ads or direct mail.

Consider the preferences of your target audience when selecting marketing channels. Where do they spend their time online? Which platforms are they most likely to engage with? By choosing the right channels, you can maximize the reach of your marketing efforts and connect with potential customers in a meaningful way.

Regularly evaluate the performance of each channel and make adjustments as needed. Monitor metrics such as website traffic, click-through rates, conversion rates, and customer engagement to gauge the effectiveness of each channel. This data will help you optimize your marketing strategies for better results.

In conclusion, developing a winning marketing plan is crucial for maximizing business sales. By understanding your target audience, setting clear goals, crafting compelling messages, and choosing the right marketing channels, you can create effective campaigns that drive sales growth. Remember that a successful marketing plan requires constant monitoring and adjustment based on data-driven insights. With a well-executed strategy in place, you’ll be on track to achieve business success through increased sales.

This text was generated using a large language model, and select text has been reviewed and moderated for purposes such as readability.

MORE FROM REFERENCE.COM

• WordPress.org
• Documentation
• Learn WordPress
• All Professionals
• Business Owners
• Customer Service & Success
• HR & Recruitment
• FlyMSG Auto Text Expander
• FlyMSG Sales Pro for Individuals
• FlyMSG Sales Pro for Teams
• FlyEngage AI – LinkedIn Commenting
• FlyPosts AI – AI Post Generator
• Case Studies
• Prospecting Tools
• Subscriptions
• Testimonials
• Modern Selling Podcast
• What’s New in FlyMSG
• FlyMSG Trouble Ticket
• FlyMSG New Feature Request
• Advisory Board
• Strategic Advisors

Mastering the Sales Budget: Best Practices & Simple Steps

• September 16, 2024
• No Comments

A sales budget projects your company’s sales revenue and guides resource allocation, making it an essential part of sales enablement . It sets your sales goals, helps manage expenses, and tracks performance. This article covers its key elements and simple steps to create an effective sales budget. Identifying market trends is crucial in this process to ensure accurate predictions and successful sales planning.

Creating a sales budget involves a systematic approach that begins with analyzing historical data to identify trends and patterns. This analysis helps in setting realistic sales goals that align with market conditions and company objectives.

Key Takeaways

• A well-structured sales budget includes key components such as projected sales volume, price per unit, and projected sales revenue, and helps in setting realistic sales goals, managing resources, and tracking performance.
• An effective sales budget relies on crucial elements such as cash flow statements, income statements, and balance sheets, which provide comprehensive insights into a company’s financial health and guide informed decision-making.
• Maintaining an accurate sales budget requires best practices including monitoring actual sales, preparing for unexpected expenses, revising sales forecasts, and effectively communicating changes with the sales team .

Understanding the Sales Budget

The annual sales budget is a crucial planning instrument that helps organizations effectively allocate resources and forecast profits based on anticipated sales. Annual sales budgets play a significant role in resource allocation and profit forecasting by providing a structured approach to projecting expected revenue over a year. It aids companies in making knowledge-based decisions to enhance their financial outcomes. As a fiscal guide for the sales team, it directs them towards meeting revenue objectives while maintaining careful control over expenses and resource use. The principal elements of a sales fixed include the expected volume of sales, pricing per unit, and the projected total revenue from sales. These components are integral to establishing feasible goals for selling activities, handling resources proficiently, and aiming to surpass set targets.

Key roles of the budget devoted to sale operations comprise:

• providing guidance when determining both overhead costs as well as administrative allocations,
• framing expectations regarding profitability margins,
• setting forth quotas within business transactions
• functioning as indicators against which departmental effectiveness can be measured.

Lacking such budgets renders gauging the success rate or efficiency of strategies deployed by teams engaged in promoting goods more difficult.

It’s essential that an orderly plan for managing yearly monetary allocation facilitates businesses’ endeavors toward aligning available assets with concrete transaction benchmarks along with monitoring progress against these standards regularly. By combining product cost with anticipated aggregate dealing volumes enterprises gain insights into potential turnover rates—information critical not just to decision-making purposes, but also strategical aspects like forecasting future expenditures or revenues alike.

In summation: An effective approach allows entities collectively agree upon plausible parameters commercial pursuits also serves as a cornerstone evaluating successes failures course pursuing year-long policies principles where stands at the core any blueprint aimed at unfolding assessing growth perspectives terms units moved versus income generated thereby serving as an invaluable guidepost through nuances everyday commerce ensuring stability continuation going forward.

Definition and Purpose of a Sales Budget

A sales budget is a financial plan that outlines a company’s expected sales revenue over a specific period of time. It serves as a crucial tool for businesses to manage resources, set realistic targets, and maximize profits. The primary purpose of a sales budget is to provide a framework for strategy development, identify opportunities and issues in the sales strategy , and simplify financial planning. By projecting expected sales, companies can allocate resources more efficiently, avoid overspending, and ensure that all efforts are aligned towards achieving set objectives. This strategic approach not only helps in setting clear sales goals but also in tracking performance and making informed decisions that drive business growth.

Importance of Having a Sales Budget

Setting realistic sales goals is fundamental to managing expenses and achieving targets. A sales budget serves as a planning tool that allows companies to:

• Allocate resources efficiently
• Ensure they meet revenue goals based on expected sales
• Avoid overspending
• Ensure that all efforts are aligned towards achieving set objectives

Sales budgets are indispensable in monitoring performance and preparing for lean periods. They provide a clear picture of the sales process, allowing businesses to evaluate individual and team performance against set targets. Moreover, an accurate sales budget aids in controlling costs, giving businesses the flexibility to make short-term adjustments and plan for long-term growth.

In conclusion, a sales budget is not just a financial document; it’s a strategic tool that helps businesses navigate the complexities of the market, identify growth opportunities, and maintain financial stability. Companies can reap maximized benefits and guarantee sustainable success by being meticulous with their sales budget data.

Key Elements of an Effective Sales Budget

An effective sales budget is built on three foundational elements: cash flow statements, income statements, and balance sheets. These financial documents provide a comprehensive overview of a company’s financial health, guiding informed decision-making.

The three main financial statements are:

• The cash flow statement, which reports the inflows and outflows of cash, helping to track the liquidity of the sales team.
• The income statement, which focuses on revenue, expenses, gains, and losses, offering insight into the company’s financial performance.
• The balance sheet, which details the company’s assets, liabilities, and shareholders’ equity for a specific period, providing a snapshot of the company’s financial position.

Comprehending these key elements is vital for the creation of realistic and precise sales budgets. They offer a complete picture of the company’s financial status, highlighting areas of strength and opportunities for improvement.

Cash Flow Statement

The cash flow statement is an essential financial document that details the inflow and outflow of cash, offering a comprehensive view of a business’s liquidity status. It incorporates three primary sections: cash generated from operating activities—which entails money received from sales and expenditures for suppliers and staff—cash associated with investing activities, like asset acquisitions or disposals, as well as financing activities which include funds raised through equity or debt issuance, alongside expenditure on debt redemption or equity repurchase.

Activities involving investment typically refer to transactions involving assets’ purchase or sale. Conversely, the section dedicated to financing outlines how cash is procured via either stock issuance or borrowing while also tracking spending connected with servicing debt obligations or executing buybacks of company stock.

By providing oversight over operational costs and guiding resource allocation decisions, the information contained within the cash flow statement becomes invaluable. Businesses are equipped by consistent evaluation of this report to preserve adequate levels of liquid capital necessary for fulfilling their financial commitments while simultaneously seizing opportunities for expansionary endeavors.

Income Statement

The income statement presents an overview of a company’s financial outcomes within a designated accounting timeframe, detailing various elements such as revenues, expenditures, profits, and deficits. It features critical items like revenue streams and expenses incurred – for instance, depreciation expense which spreads the value of an asset over its expected lifespan. Through this report, net income is derived by adding Revenues with Gains and subtracting Expenses along with Losses to gauge how effectively the business is operating.

This essential record plays a pivotal role in assessing firm profitability and assists stakeholders in making educated fiscal choices. By scrutinizing the data on the income statement carefully, companies have the opportunity to pinpoint opportunities for slashing costs and bolstering operational efficiency .

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet is a financial document that delineates a company’s assets, liabilities, and shareholders’ equity at a specific point in time. It offers an instantaneous view of the firm’s financial position as it captures what the company owns and owes both at the start and close of the given period.

It is crucial for gauging the financial wellbeing of a business and serves as an instrumental tool for informed decision-making. Regular examination of this statement allows companies to preserve equilibrium within their finances, promoting long-term fiscal sustainability.

Steps to Create a Sales Budget

The process of creating a sales budget is multifaceted and includes numerous essential stages. Using a sales budget example can illustrate the process of creating a sales budget, including annual, quarterly, and monthly budgets.

• Establishing the time period
• Evaluating past data
• Assessing stock levels and pricing structures
• Investigating trends in the market
• Gathering input from relevant sources
• Integrating this information into a finalized budget plan

Every phase is integral to developing an accurate and reliable sales budget.

By adhering to these steps, companies are able to develop a detailed sales budget that aligns with their planned goals and tactics. We will explore each step more closely to gain insight into constructing an effective sales strategy through proper budget planning.

Define Your Time Frame

When setting out to create a sales budget, it is essential to determine the appropriate duration for which the budget will apply, such as monthly, quarterly, or annual sales budgets. Selecting a time frame that correlates with both product cycles and organizational requirements is vital as it can significantly impact the precision of predictions and suppositions.

Establishing an explicit period for your sales budget allows for easier recognition of achievements and potential areas for expansion. This well-defined structure aids in resource allocation management and necessitates fewer complications when modifying strategies according to business demands.

Analyze Historical Data

Evaluating past sales records is essential for generating accurate predictions in the sales process. Examining historical data allows companies to:

• Detect trends, like high-demand seasons and periodic peaks
• Establish a robust base on which to determine prospective sales targets and budgetary requirements
• Make decisions that are well-informed and precise

Incorporating systems such as CRMs into tracking helps maintain transparency and uniformity across all stages of the sales journey, ensuring that forecasts rely on dependable, holistic information.

Determine Inventory and Prices

Determining inventory and setting appropriate prices are crucial factors for accurately forecasting sales revenue. When businesses evaluate their stock levels and establish pricing, they can more reliably project expected sales while accommodating potential price fluctuations. This process is essential to developing a realistic sales budget that mirrors market demands and conditions, thereby enabling the generation of an accurate sales forecast .

Study Market Trends

Identifying market trends is crucial when it comes to creating precise sales forecasts. Businesses that keep ahead of the curve in identifying changes and tendencies within the market can fine-tune their sales projections accordingly. This involves benchmarking against industry norms and competitive analysis, which offers a clearer picture regarding expected behavior from potential clients.

To craft a sales budget reflective of the prevailing conditions in the current market, it’s essential to grasp both wider industry movements and consumer expenditure patterns

Collect Feedback from Sales Reps and Customers

Gathering insights from sales representatives and customers is instrumental in formulating a dependable sales budget. Real-world input offers valuable perspective on the appeal of products and their prospective earnings, which are key to refining the sales forecast to reflect both external market shifts and internal dynamics.

Recognizing how customers act—for instance, noting that 41% of B2B purchasers review three to five content pieces online before reaching out to a sales rep—is beneficial for informing adjustments within the sales budget.

Create the Budget Document

In the final stage of crafting a sales budget, all the gathered information must be synthesized into an exhaustive document. This compilation includes integrating historical data and market trends along with insights to establish a precise sales quantity forecast. It is designed to guide the direction of strategies for selling activities, ensuring they are consistent with anticipated profits.

Crafting a meticulous sales budget is pivotal in allocating resources prudently and making enlightened fiscal decisions that keep the company’s trajectory aligned with its objectives.

How Do You Calculate a Sales Budget?

Calculating a sales budget is a critical step in financial planning, ensuring that your sales efforts are aligned with your business objectives and resources. A well-constructed sales budget helps you forecast revenue, manage expenses, and set achievable targets. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you accurately calculate your sales budget:

1. Analyze Historical Data

Start by examining your past sales performance . Look at historical sales data to identify trends, seasonal variations, and growth patterns. This analysis provides a solid foundation for predicting future sales and setting realistic targets.

2. Set Sales Goals

For well-crafter sales budgets, define clear sales goals based on your business objectives. Consider factors such as market conditions, economic trends, and your company’s growth plans. Your sales goals should be ambitious yet attainable, motivating your team to perform at their best.

3. Estimate Sales Volume

Estimate the number of units you expect to sell within the budget period. Use historical data, market research, and sales forecasts to make informed predictions. Break down the sales volume by product line, region, or sales team to get a more detailed view.

4. Determine Sales Prices

Establish the pricing for your products or services. Consider factors such as production costs, competitor pricing, and market demand. Ensure your prices are competitive while maintaining a healthy profit margin.

5. Calculate Revenue

Multiply the estimated sales volume by the sales prices to calculate your projected revenue. This gives you a clear picture of the income you can expect from your sales efforts.

6. Account for Seasonal Variations

Adjust your budget to account for seasonal fluctuations in sales. Identify periods of high and low demand and plan your budget accordingly. This helps in managing cash flow and inventory levels throughout the year.

7. Include Marketing and Sales Expenses

Factor in all marketing and sales-related expenses, such as advertising, promotions, sales commissions, and travel costs. A comprehensive budget should cover all costs associated with achieving your sales targets.

8. Monitor and Adjust

Regularly review your sales budget against actual performance. Monitor key metrics and adjust your budget as needed to reflect changes in the market or your business environment. Continuous monitoring helps you stay on track and make informed decisions.

By following these steps, you can create a detailed and realistic sales budget that supports your business goals and drives success. A well-planned budget not only helps in managing resources effectively but also provides a roadmap for achieving your sales targets.

Sales Forecast

A sales forecast is an estimate of future sales revenue, typically based on historical data, market trends, and industry analysis. It is a critical component of a sales budget, as it helps businesses predict future sales performance and make informed decisions about resource allocation. By understanding potential sales outcomes, companies can better plan their production schedules, manage inventory levels, and allocate resources effectively. A well-crafted sales forecast provides a roadmap for the sales team, guiding their efforts and helping them stay focused on achieving their targets. Additionally, it allows businesses to anticipate market changes and adjust their strategies accordingly, ensuring they remain competitive and responsive to customer needs.

Importance of Accurate Forecasting

Accurate forecasting is essential for businesses to make informed decisions about production, inventory, and resource allocation. A sales forecast that is too optimistic can lead to overproduction and wasted resources, while a forecast that is too pessimistic can result in missed opportunities and lost sales. Therefore, it is crucial to use historical data, market trends, and industry analysis to create an accurate sales forecast. By doing so, businesses can ensure they are well-prepared to meet customer demand, optimize their operations, and achieve their financial goals. Accurate forecasting also helps in identifying potential risks and opportunities, enabling companies to take proactive measures to mitigate challenges and capitalize on growth prospects.

Best Practices for Sales Forecasting

To create an accurate sales forecast, businesses should follow best practices such as:

• Analyzing Historical Sales Data : Identify trends and patterns from past sales performance to inform future predictions.
• Conducting Market Research : Understand customer needs and preferences through surveys and market analysis.
• Monitoring Industry Trends : Keep an eye on competitor activity and broader market movements to anticipate changes.
• Using Statistical Models and Machine Learning Algorithms : Leverage advanced tools to analyze data and make precise predictions.
• Regularly Reviewing and Updating the Sales Forecast : Adjust the forecast to reflect changes in the market and business environment.

By adhering to these best practices, businesses can develop a reliable sales forecast that supports strategic planning and drives success.

Expected Sales

Expected sales refer to the estimated sales revenue that a business expects to generate over a specific period of time. It is a critical component of a sales budget, as it helps businesses predict future sales performance and make informed decisions about resource allocation. By estimating expected sales, companies can set realistic sales targets, plan their production schedules, and manage their inventory levels effectively. This proactive approach ensures that businesses are well-prepared to meet customer demand and achieve their financial objectives. Additionally, expected sales figures provide a benchmark for evaluating the performance of the sales team and identifying areas for improvement.

Estimating Expected Sales

To estimate expected sales, businesses can use a variety of methods, including:

• Historical Sales Data Analysis : Review past sales performance to identify trends and patterns.
• Market Research and Customer Surveys : Gather insights from customers to understand their needs and preferences.
• Industry Trends and Competitor Analysis : Monitor market movements and competitor activity to anticipate changes.
• Statistical Models and Machine Learning Algorithms : Utilize advanced tools to analyze data and make accurate predictions.
• Sales Team Input and Feedback : Leverage the knowledge and experience of the sales team to refine estimates.

By using these methods, businesses can create an accurate estimate of expected sales, which can be used to inform the sales budget and drive business decisions. This comprehensive approach ensures that the sales budget is grounded in reliable data and aligned with the company’s strategic goals.

Sales Budget Templates

Different businesses and sales circumstances require diverse kinds of sales budget templates. A sales budget template streamlines the creation of sales budgets by providing a structured tool to calculate sales budgets, define sales targets, and monitor and adjust budgets. These templates are crucial as they differ depending on various factors such as the types of products, services, and available discounts. Hence the necessity for a variety to accurately meet specific needs.

Templates designed for individual product or service sales, combined products or services sales, and those that account for discounted offerings all serve unique purposes in different selling situations. Utilizing these tailored templates streamlines crafting a precise and effective budget necessary for business operations, promoting both exactitude and productivity .

Best Practices for Maintaining an Accurate Sales Budget

To maintain an accurate sales budget, certain key practices must be adhered to. These involve:

• Tracking actual sales meticulously
• Allocating funds for unforeseen expenditures
• Updating predictions as necessary
• Keeping the team informed about any alterations

Adhering to these methods enables companies to guarantee that their sales budget is dependable and efficient.

We shall delve into these best practices more comprehensively to grasp how they aid in sustaining an accurate sales budget.

Monitor Actual Sales

Monitoring actual sales is crucial for detecting areas of underperformance and inefficiency within a business. This process involves contrasting real-time sales data against projected sales figures to identify where there might be deficits.

Consistent oversight of the sales performance enables businesses to make prompt changes to their selling strategies, thereby maintaining alignment with established objectives and staying on course toward fulfilling their overall sales goals.

Prepare for Unexpected Expenses

Ensuring unforeseen costs do not derail financial plans requires setting aside funds specifically for unexpected expenses, maintaining a steady course in personal finance. A contingency fund acts as a safeguard against such unanticipated costs, preserving one’s financial equilibrium.

When establishing reserves to handle unexpected expenses, businesses must take into account circumstances like economic recessions and abrupt fluctuations in market demand.

Revise Sales Forecasts

Revising sales forecasts regularly is crucial for aligning the budget with the prevailing market dynamics. This adaptation helps account for changes in consumer behavior and fluctuations within the market.

Adjustments to the sales budget, informed by recent data, empower companies to maintain financial plans that are both practical and attainable.

Communicate Changes with the Team

It is essential to maintain open communication with the sales team regarding any changes in the budget, which will support their alignment with new strategies and goals. By keeping them informed of updates, they can stay focused on driving towards their sales objectives effectively.

Examples of Sales Budgets

Examples from the real world demonstrate the application of sales budget principles across a variety of businesses. Take, for example, a small business crafting its monthly sales budget may account for:

• Expected sales revenue sitting at $100,000
• Costs associated with goods sold reaching $50,000
• A total of $10,000 allocated to sales incentives
• Fixed and variable overhead expenses calculated at $20,00

For businesses with tighter confines, using a smaller sales budget spreadsheet can help ensure accuracy and preparation before creating the budget.

In contrast, a larger corporate entity might present a vastly increased scale in its own sales budgets.

• Anticipated quarterly or annual revenues potentially touching the region of 1 billion dollars.
• An estimated half-a-billion-dollar cost attributed to producing these sold goods.

Every tier may find itself developing efficient strategies around their financial plans related to marketing and selling products or services by adopting various methods such as employing simpler formats like streamlined smaller versions spreadsheets when managing budgets within tighter confines.

In essence, developing a proficient sales budget entails grasping the essential elements, executing a methodical approach, and upholding exemplary standards. Establishing a specific period, evaluating past performance data, setting inventory levels and pricing strategies, examining prevailing market trends, eliciting stakeholder input, and creating an all-encompassing budget report enable companies to forge an effective sales budget.

To preserve the precision of a sales budget, it is imperative to engage in continuous oversight, anticipate unforeseen financial outlays, and refine projections regularly. And maintain open lines of communication within your team. Adhering to these protocols along with recognized best practices positions businesses on track toward fulfilling their predetermined sales objectives while promoting fiscal solidity.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of a sales budget.

A sales budget is essential for companies to effectively allocate resources and meet income objectives by establishing attainable sales targets. It steers the decision-making process of the sales team and tracks their progress toward reaching these goals, ensuring that performance aligns with financial expectations.

Why is it important to analyze historical data when creating a sales budget?

When formulating a sales budget, it’s crucial to scrutinize historical data as this analysis uncovers recurring trends such as seasonal highs and lows which offer a solid foundation for forecasting upcoming sales.

Having this information guarantees that the created budget is grounded on extensive and credible data, thereby enhancing its reliability.

How do cash flow statements, income statements, and balance sheets contribute to an effective sales budget?

Income statements provide a detailed account of the company’s financial performance, while balance sheets offer an at-a-glance view of its financial health. In contrast, cash flow statements monitor the liquidity aspect.

Such thorough insights facilitate judicious choices when crafting a sales budget that is efficient and strategic.

What are some best practices for maintaining an accurate sales budget?

Ensuring a precise sales budget requires keeping track of actual sales performance, allocating funds for unforeseen expenses, updating sales projections based on changes in the marketplace, and maintaining clear communication about any alterations to the budget with your sales team.

Adhering to these strategies will enhance the accuracy and efficiency of your company’s sales budget.

Can you provide an example of a sales budget for a small business?

Certainly, for a small business, the sales budget may encompass anticipated sales revenue amounting to $100,000. It could also account for the cost of goods sold estimated at $50,000, along with allocations for sales incentives and commissions at a sum of $10,000 and overhead costs projected to be around $20,000.

Such an organized estimation aids in predicting future financial needs and controlling the fiscal aspects of the enterprise efficiently.

You Might Also Like

Best upselling strategy: boost sales with these 8 effective techniques.

• September 19, 2024

Top Strategies for Achieving Sales Success: Boost Your Performance Now

• September 18, 2024

Leveraging AI to Understand Buyers on a Deeper Level

• September 17, 2024

Copy + Paste is such a waste.

Call us 877-483-6473, [email protected], 1547 palos verdes mall suite 250 walnut creek, ca 94597.

© Copyright Vengreso. Vengreso and FlyMSG are registered trademarks.

Privacy Policy

Terms of service.

Jeep CEO enacts turnaround plan after significant sales declines

DETROIT —  Stellantis ’ Jeep brand is well known for scaling tough terrains, but its latest challenge of achieving 1 million vehicle sales domestically by 2027 will be a steep hill to climb.

Jeep, a coveted brand in the automotive industry, has been in a U.S. sales rut that has included five years of annual sales declines, with 2024 on pace to potentially become the sixth.

Nonetheless, Jeep CEO Antonio Filosa believes the brand’s worst days are behind it and it’s still possible to achieve the 1 million  sales target . The company is executing a turnaround plan for the quintessential American SUV brand that he says is already beginning to pay dividends following a 9% sales decline in the U.S. during the first six months of the year.

The plan has included lowering pricing across its lineup, including on high-volume models such as the Jeep Compass and Grand Cherokee SUVs; rolling out special offers such as incentives or 0% financing; and increasing spending on marketing and advertising, Filosa said. It also will include an upcoming roadshow with dealers to address additional problems and concerns.

Such actions can eat into profits, but the brand’s average transaction prices have skyrocketed from less than $40,000 in 2020 to north of $50,000 this year, according to Cox Automotive. Jeep’s average transaction price has been above the industry average since 2021, Cox reports.

“The good thing is that the actions we implemented in the previous months, they are also resulting in important growth as well in the U.S.” Filosa told CNBC during a virtual interview Monday.

Filosa’s comments were made a day before the chairman of the Stellantis National Dealer Council  penned a scathing open letter  targeting Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares over the company’s sales losses and other business decisions.

Stellantis sold more than 1.5 million vehicles last year in the U.S., a roughly 1% decline from 2022. That compared with an industry increase of 13% in 2023.

Filosa said Jeep, which reports sales quarterly, saw U.S. sales rise last month: They were up 28% from August 2023 and 55% from July. Jeep also lowered its vehicle inventory by about 25,000 units during that time. But the brand has a ways to go to accomplish any notable turnaround in sales.

Jeep’s U.S. sales have plummeted 34% from an all-time high of more than 973,000 SUVs sold in 2018 to less than 643,000 units last year. While most auto brands increased sales last year, Jeep was off by about 6%.

The most recent declines follow the company ending production last year of the entry-level Renegade and the Cherokee compact SUV — two mainstream models with peak U.S. sales of around 300,000 units annually from 2016 to 2019.

“For Jeep to lose Jeep Cherokee … and Jeep Renegade has been an important hit to us,” Filosa said. “Our market coverage declined from an average of 80% to 45%.”

Filosa said Jeep expects to recover market share “very quickly” and return to an 80% market share coverage, which includes the segments Jeep competes in, by the end of next year, when it introduces an unnamed replacement for the Cherokee as well as new electrified models.

Looking forward

In addition to the termination of the new models, Stellantis’ brands such as Jeep have focused on  profits over market share  under Tavares’ time as CEO.

Tavares has been on a cost-cutting mission since the company was formed through a merger between Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Groupe in January 2021. It’s part of his “Dare Forward 2030” plan to increase profits and double revenue to 300 billion euros ($325 billion) by 2030.

As part of that plan, Jeep is targeting selling  roughly 1.5 million SUVs  globally by 2027, including 1 million in the U.S.

To achieve such goals, Tavares earlier this year said he has allowed leniency in some pricing, incentives and other financial targets after speaking with the company’s dealers.

Filosa said he is continuing those efforts by meeting with dealers regarding the turnaround initiatives. He’ll participate in a dealer roadshow beginning next month with the brand’s new  North American head, Bob Broderdorf .

Also assisting Jeep, which is the top seller of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the U.S., will be several new vehicles. The brand is launching the all-electric Wagoneer S later this year, followed next year by a  Jeep Wrangler-inspired “Recon” SUV  and extended-range, plug-in versions of its large Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer SUVs.

Ahead of such vehicles, Jeep has increased its media spending by 20% compared with the first half of the year, according to the automaker.

“Now it’s time to push, and to accelerate, sales to recover as much as [they] need to do. Next year, obviously, we will talk all growth, since we have new products. … I believe [next year] will be a completely different story,” Filosa said.

Jeep also is attempting to increase the quality and reliability of its vehicles, which have historically ranked below average in third-party rankings. He said this includes delaying launches of its  upcoming Wagoneer S  and Recon by four to six weeks.

However, building problem-free vehicles is easier said than done in the automotive industry. Jeep on Monday confirmed it is cooperating with U.S. auto safety regulators on an investigation into more than 781,000 newer Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator SUVs after  reports of underhood fires .

Filosa confirmed knowledge of the probe, but he declined to provide additional details. Tavares earlier this year highlighted quality problems within the automaker,  specifically at a plant in suburban Detroit  that makes the company’s Ram 1500.

“We are very carefully monitoring the evolution of quality of Jeep Wagoneer S in the plant, and Jeep Recon as well,” Filosa said. “The only mandate that the plants have from me is to just deliver the car when it’s in perfect quality.”

The new all-electric SUVs will be produced at Stellantis’ Toluca Assembly Plant in Mexico. The company has not confirmed a production location for the replacement to the Cherokee SUV, which was produced at a now-dormant plant in Illinois.

More from CNBC:

• Biden targets Shein, Temu with new rules to curb alleged ‘abuse’ of U.S. trade loophole
• Oracle’s Larry Ellison briefly tops Jeff Bezos to become world’s second-richest person
• Tiger Global plans to join OpenAI’s funding round at more than $150 billion valuation

• Schedule a Consultation

How to Master Annual Planning Rollout for 2025

Unlock the secrets behind effective annual planning execution that ensure your revenue goals stay on track for 2025 and beyond.

With the right information and strategic bets in place, leaders prime their organizations for revenue excellence in 2025 and beyond. But even the best revenue plans can fall short of delivering their projected results if the execution and rollout aren’t up to par. In our discussions with market leaders, we often see the best organizations go beyond fixed multiyear project plans; they are agile, constantly adapting to the market and achieving higher returns faster.

In the final part of our 2025 annual planning blog series, we take a deep dive into the secrets behind effective annual planning execution and discover how you can start adopting winning strategies and get the results you want.

Set a Cadence to Align Teams and Drive Results

The top growth leaders we have spoken to share a similar characteristic in their annual planning: they have a clear short- and long-term view of what needs to be done. Hence, their executive and go-to-market teams are always aligned on their current priorities, helping them build progress towards making their bets pay off.

For leadership teams wanting to make this a reality, start by mapping the details of each strategic objective ranging from a long-term to a short-term view:

Once you have established which bets are critical to your success, break down the objectives into quarterly and weekly milestones. By providing actionable steps for your team, they have the clarity on how to execute the strategic goal in the mid and short-term, contributing towards your desired results with every milestone they achieve.

A key benefit to establishing short and midterm milestones is the agility you get in deciding what needs to be done. As markets shift and changes occur, leadership teams have the opportunity to reassess and pivot on the actions as frequently as they need to. Since the cadence and strategic goals have already been established, it only requires a change in the methodology—not the strategy—to ensure that the revenue plan is still on track.

Mapping your strategic bets as actionable bullet points also helps with overall organizational alignment. It gives your executive and go-to-market teams insights into your vision for the organization and how you plan to get there, providing them with a tangible outcome that can be contextualized and felt by every member. Crucially, it establishes the purpose of the objectives, aligning team members on a unified path that contributes towards the success of your organization.

Best Practices for Acceleration Summit (SKO) Planning

As the revenue plan moves into the last stretch before the SKO, growth leaders must now determine if they need to adjust any of their go-to-market levers to execute their bets successfully. Market leaders often take a programmatic approach to how they plan for an Acceleration Summit, focusing on several key workstreams:

3 – 4 months prior to Acceleration Summit

Assess the relevance and projected effectiveness of your account segmentation based on high-opportunity customers and prospects. Then, use the output to determine the optimal route to market and the headcount needed to ensure an effective coverage plan.

1 – 2 months prior to Acceleration Summit

With a fundamental understanding of where revenue will be generated, validate that you still have the right organizational design model and talent to support your execution plan. Once the foundations are primed, ensure that every sales rep is equipped with the right territory, quota, and compensation plan so they hit the ground running.

Our Annual Revenue Planning guide goes into more detail about the market-leading methodologies that help leaders succeed. Discover how you can get a head start in your 2025 annual planning by reading the guide here and get the results you want.

Written by Nick Toman

Recommended articles.

We are committed to helping more companies strive towards unforgettable growth by publishing insightful content regularly. Here are more blog posts we think you might be interested in.

• Optimize GTM Model
• Commercial Strategy & Structure
• Go-to-Market Strategy
• Sales Enablement

Sales Enablement Approach Overview

• Increase Customer Retention
• Customer Experience Planning

Three Pillars of a Differentiated Customer Experience

Four Risks Growth Leaders Must Consider for 2022, Part One:  Unrealistic Assumptions Around Talent Acquisition

• Your Project
• MoSCoW Method

What is the MoSCoW Method?

The MoSCoW Method is a prioritization tool that helps professionals in managing their time and effort .

To do so, it proposes to classify the importance of the different characteristics of a product (or a Project) according to their importance .

Its name is an acronym of the 4 Prioritization Categories proposed (adding two “o”):

• M ust Have .
• S hould Have .
• C ould Have .
• W on’t Have .

Four Prioritization Categories

Must Have : Essential Requirements that the product or project must have.

• Critical Features without replacement.

Should Have : Important desired Requirements for the product or project.

• They can be substituted if necessary.

Could Have : Improvements to the product or project.

• There are different alternatives.

Won’t have : Characteristics agreed not to be adopted .

• No one will waste time implementing them.

Let’s see the first example:

MoSCoW Method example

Imagine that you have been hired to create a Website for a Law firm.

They want a professional Site where people can Register and, once inside, track their court cases .

Since you want to deliver the best possible Site on time, you decide to follow the MoSCoW method .

How does it look like?

Must Have :

• Solid programming without any bugs.
• A Solid Register System.
• A Safe and Reliable personal directory.

Should Have :

• A Fast Site.
• An outstanding Design.
• Notifications sent by e-mail.

Could Have :

• Custom menus.
• Suggestions.
• A Blog section with latest news.

Won’t Have :

• Paid content.
• A Public Members section.

As we usually say, this Method may seem obvious.

Then… Why is it important?

Why is the MoSCoW Method important?

Many of professionals end up wasting time , effort and resources on useless task s that are ultimately not essential at all.

Surely you have experienced this situation working in a Team:

• Everyone spends hours modifying a minor feature and, ultimately, the important thing is missing .

That is why this Method is so important:

• Because it concentrates your efforts and forces you to think about what is really important .

As you can imagine, this Tool can be employed in practically all kinds of situations.

But when do we especially recommend it?

When should you use the MoSCoW Method?

We highly recommend to use the MoSCoW Method:

• To put order and prioritization.
• To avoid wasting time with non-essential touch-ups.
• In order to meet the Essential Requirements.
• When the product can have very different characteristics.

Now, let’s see more examples:

MoSCoW Method examples

We have chosen different real examples where the MoSCoW Method can be of great help for the development of certain products.

Let’s begin:

A Wallet - MoSCoW Method example

Let’s imagine that you are developing a wallet .

As you know, wallets are very modular products.

They can have:

• Several or few departments for cards.
• Coin purse… or not.
• 1 or 2 bill slots.

There is not a canonical wallet (one that is the benchmark for all the others).

• That is why you decided to use the MoSCoW Method to develop it.

After some thoughts, you decide that your wallet:

• 2 bill slots.
• 8 compartments for credit cards.
• High resistance materials and sewing.
• Leather as its main material.
• A translucid Credit card compartment.
• A transverse horizontal compartment.
• A striking color on the inside of the bill slots.
• Completely black exterior color.
• One translucid compartment for small photos.
• A Coin purse.
• A Passport compartment.

Making a Cake - MoSCoW Method example

In this example, we’ll imagine that you are preparing a wedding Cake .

• You have a very rigid deadline (the wedding day, of course).

In addition, as you also know, Cakes can have lots of variations.

• We could say they are very modular .

That is why you decide to use the MoSCoW Method.

How does it look?

Well, your Cake:

• White coating.
• Two sugar figurines on top.
• 6 layers of sponge cake inside.
• Belgian chocolate between the layers.
• Decorations on the edges
• Sugar flowers.
• Chocolate balls.
• Scattered sugar pearls.
• Multicolor layers.
• An excessive amount of decoration.
• Fruit flavor.

Designing a Poster - MoSCoW Method example

You are now an artist hired to Design a poster for a Rock concert.

Obviously, this is a Design job with infinite variations possible.

• Also, you have a close deadline to finish it.

No need to mention that you will use the MoSCoW Method.

Finally, the Poster:

• The name of the Main rock band, very prominent.
• Images and colors that best suit their style.
• A typeface that best suits the musical style.
• An illustration related to Rock in the middle.
• The name of the rest of the bands that will play.
• Where and when it will take place.
• Where you can buy the tickets.
• Nearby metro and bus stations.
• The name of the city.
• The maximum capacity of the stadium
• At what time each band will play.

Summarizing

The MoSCoW Method is a prioritization tool that helps professionals in managing their time and effort.

It proposes to classify the importance of the different characteristics of a product in 4 Categories :

• M ust Have.
• S hould Have.
• C ould Have.
• W on’t Have.

Although this Method can be used in all kinds of situations, we highly recommend to use it:

• When working in a team .
• In Design tasks .
• When there is a close deadline .
• With modular products or projects .
• Economies of Scale
• Business Plan for Beginners
• Business Plan Basics
• How to write a Business Plan
• Cash Flow Calculation
• Raising Funds for a Business
• 4 C’s of Credit
• Business Plan Templates
• Customer Insight
• Customer Experience
• Customer Pain Points
• 4C Marketing Model
• RATER Model
• Augmented Product
• Product Mix
• Unique Selling Proposition
• DAGMAR Model
• Marketing Storytelling
• Content Marketing
• Psychographics
• Barnum Effect
• Market Segmentation
• Market Research & Big Data
• Marketing to Generation Z
• 4P Marketing Mix
• 7P Marketing Mix
• Sales Funnel
• Loyalty Ladder
• RACE Planning
• Push and Pull Marketing
• Marketing Strategy
• Marketing Templates
• Starting your own business
• From Startup to a Business
• Entrepreneur FAQs
• Start your Business Idea
• Entrepreneur Golden Rules
• Innovate or Imitate?
• Design Thinking
• SCAMPER Model
• AAR Process
• Work From Home
• Growth strategies for Startups
• VMOST Analysis
• 3P Framework
• SOAR Analysis
• TELOS Analysis
• 5 C’s of Entrepreneurship
• Crowdfunding
• BATNA & ZOPA Negotiation
• Entrepreneur with no Money
• Entrepreneurship Templates
• Strategy vs Tactics
• Mission and Vision
• Business Values
• Value Chain
• Scenario Planning
• Porter 6 Forces
• Bowman’s Strategy Clock
• GE-McKinsey Matrix
• Delta Model
• PEST Analysis
• PESTEL Analysis
• SWOT Analysis
• VRIO Framework
• Strategy Canvas
• Competitive Advantages
• Porter’s Four Corners
• 5 Ps of Strategy
• Porter’s Generic Strategies
• Porter’s Diamond Model
• Wardley Map
• Core Competencies
• Resource Based View
• Bridges Transition Model
• CAGE Distance Framework
• McKinsey’s 3 Horizons
• Vertical Integration
• Horizontal Integration
• Blue Ocean Strategy
• Red Ocean Strategy
• Porter 5 Forces
• Ansoff Matrix
• McKinsey 7S Framework
• CATWOE Analysis
• Strategy Pyramid
• Bain’s RAPID Framework
• Balanced Scorecard
• Resources and Capabilities
• Strategy of Apple
• Strategy of Amazon
• Strategy of Starbucks
• Strategy Templates
• Communicate Effectively
• COIN Conversation Model
• SCARF Model
• SBI Feedback Model
• CEDAR Feedback Model
• How to behave at a meeting
• Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• 5E Learning Model
• 9-Box Performance Grid
• SEEDS Bias Model
• Halo Effect
• Pygmalion Rosenthal Effect
• Dunning-Kruger Effect
• How to be an Entrepreneur
• How to be a Leader
• Mintzberg Managerial Roles
• Cog’s Ladder
• The Peter Principle
• How to Negotiate
• Teamwork Skills and Profiles
• Gantt Chart
• RACI Matrix
• Eisenhower Matrix
• FMEA Process
• Problem Solving
• Ishikawa Fishbone diagram
• 5 Whys Method
• 8 Disciplines Method
• ADDIE Model
• ORAPAPA Method
• Cynefin Framework
• Just In Time
• SMART Goals
• KISS Principle
• Birkinshaw’s 4 Dimensions
• Parkinson’s Law
• OGSM Framework
• OKR Methodology
• APQP Framework
• Theory of Constraints
• Success through Organization
• ADKAR Model
• Lewin’s Change Model
• Kotter’s 8-Step Model
• The Greiner Curve
• GAP Analysis
• Planning Templates
• Mean, Median and Mode
• Define your Data
• Pareto Principle 80/20 Rule
• Decision Matrix
• Decision Tree
• TARA Framework
• Root Cause Analysis
• Simplex Process
• Forecasting Methods
• Product Life Cycle
• How to use Google Trends
• Correlation vs Causation

© 2024 - Consuunt .

We're not around right now. But you can send us an email and we'll get back to you, asap.

Log in with your credentials

Forgot your details.

• Integrations
• Learning Center

MoSCoW Prioritization

What is moscow prioritization.

MoSCoW prioritization, also known as the MoSCoW method or MoSCoW analysis, is a popular prioritization technique for managing requirements. 

  The acronym MoSCoW represents four categories of initiatives: must-have, should-have, could-have, and won’t-have, or will not have right now. Some companies also use the “W” in MoSCoW to mean “wish.”

What is the History of the MoSCoW Method?

Software development expert Dai Clegg created the MoSCoW method while working at Oracle. He designed the framework to help his team prioritize tasks during development work on product releases.

You can find a detailed account of using MoSCoW prioritization in the Dynamic System Development Method (DSDM) handbook . But because MoSCoW can prioritize tasks within any time-boxed project, teams have adapted the method for a broad range of uses.

How Does MoSCoW Prioritization Work?

Before running a MoSCoW analysis, a few things need to happen. First, key stakeholders and the product team need to get aligned on objectives and prioritization factors. Then, all participants must agree on which initiatives to prioritize.

At this point, your team should also discuss how they will settle any disagreements in prioritization. If you can establish how to resolve disputes before they come up, you can help prevent those disagreements from holding up progress.

Finally, you’ll also want to reach a consensus on what percentage of resources you’d like to allocate to each category.

With the groundwork complete, you may begin determining which category is most appropriate for each initiative. But, first, let’s further break down each category in the MoSCoW method.

Start prioritizing your roadmap

Moscow prioritization categories.

1. Must-have initiatives

As the name suggests, this category consists of initiatives that are “musts” for your team. They represent non-negotiable needs for the project, product, or release in question. For example, if you’re releasing a healthcare application, a must-have initiative may be security functionalities that help maintain compliance.

The “must-have” category requires the team to complete a mandatory task. If you’re unsure about whether something belongs in this category, ask yourself the following.

If the product won’t work without an initiative, or the release becomes useless without it, the initiative is most likely a “must-have.”

2. Should-have initiatives

Should-have initiatives are just a step below must-haves. They are essential to the product, project, or release, but they are not vital. If left out, the product or project still functions. However, the initiatives may add significant value.

“Should-have” initiatives are different from “must-have” initiatives in that they can get scheduled for a future release without impacting the current one. For example, performance improvements, minor bug fixes, or new functionality may be “should-have” initiatives. Without them, the product still works.

3. Could-have initiatives

Another way of describing “could-have” initiatives is nice-to-haves. “Could-have” initiatives are not necessary to the core function of the product. However, compared with “should-have” initiatives, they have a much smaller impact on the outcome if left out.

So, initiatives placed in the “could-have” category are often the first to be deprioritized if a project in the “should-have” or “must-have” category ends up larger than expected.

4. Will not have (this time)

One benefit of the MoSCoW method is that it places several initiatives in the “will-not-have” category. The category can manage expectations about what the team will not include in a specific release (or another timeframe you’re prioritizing).

Placing initiatives in the “will-not-have” category is one way to help prevent scope creep . If initiatives are in this category, the team knows they are not a priority for this specific time frame. 

Some initiatives in the “will-not-have” group will be prioritized in the future, while others are not likely to happen. Some teams decide to differentiate between those by creating a subcategory within this group.

How Can Development Teams Use MoSCoW?

  Although Dai Clegg developed the approach to help prioritize tasks around his team’s limited time, the MoSCoW method also works when a development team faces limitations other than time. For example: 

Prioritize based on budgetary constraints.

What if a development team’s limiting factor is not a deadline but a tight budget imposed by the company? Working with the product managers, the team can use MoSCoW first to decide on the initiatives that represent must-haves and the should-haves. Then, using the development department’s budget as the guide, the team can figure out which items they can complete. 

Prioritize based on the team’s skillsets.

A cross-functional product team might also find itself constrained by the experience and expertise of its developers. If the product roadmap calls for functionality the team does not have the skills to build, this limiting factor will play into scoring those items in their MoSCoW analysis.

Prioritize based on competing needs at the company.

Cross-functional teams can also find themselves constrained by other company priorities. The team wants to make progress on a new product release, but the executive staff has created tight deadlines for further releases in the same timeframe. In this case, the team can use MoSCoW to determine which aspects of their desired release represent must-haves and temporarily backlog everything else.

What Are the Drawbacks of MoSCoW Prioritization?

  Although many product and development teams have prioritized MoSCoW, the approach has potential pitfalls. Here are a few examples.

1. An inconsistent scoring process can lead to tasks placed in the wrong categories.

  One common criticism against MoSCoW is that it does not include an objective methodology for ranking initiatives against each other. Your team will need to bring this methodology to your analysis. The MoSCoW approach works only to ensure that your team applies a consistent scoring system for all initiatives.

Pro tip: One proven method is weighted scoring, where your team measures each initiative on your backlog against a standard set of cost and benefit criteria. You can use the weighted scoring approach in ProductPlan’s roadmap app .

2. Not including all relevant stakeholders can lead to items placed in the wrong categories.

To know which of your team’s initiatives represent must-haves for your product and which are merely should-haves, you will need as much context as possible.

For example, you might need someone from your sales team to let you know how important (or unimportant) prospective buyers view a proposed new feature.

One pitfall of the MoSCoW method is that you could make poor decisions about where to slot each initiative unless your team receives input from all relevant stakeholders. 

3. Team bias for (or against) initiatives can undermine MoSCoW’s effectiveness.

Because MoSCoW does not include an objective scoring method, your team members can fall victim to their own opinions about certain initiatives. 

One risk of using MoSCoW prioritization is that a team can mistakenly think MoSCoW itself represents an objective way of measuring the items on their list. They discuss an initiative, agree that it is a “should have,” and move on to the next.

But your team will also need an objective and consistent framework for ranking all initiatives. That is the only way to minimize your team’s biases in favor of items or against them.

When Do You Use the MoSCoW Method for Prioritization?

MoSCoW prioritization is effective for teams that want to include representatives from the whole organization in their process. You can capture a broader perspective by involving participants from various functional departments.

Another reason you may want to use MoSCoW prioritization is it allows your team to determine how much effort goes into each category. Therefore, you can ensure you’re delivering a good variety of initiatives in each release.

What Are Best Practices for Using MoSCoW Prioritization?

If you’re considering giving MoSCoW prioritization a try, here are a few steps to keep in mind. Incorporating these into your process will help your team gain more value from the MoSCoW method.

1. Choose an objective ranking or scoring system.

Remember, MoSCoW helps your team group items into the appropriate buckets—from must-have items down to your longer-term wish list. But MoSCoW itself doesn’t help you determine which item belongs in which category.

You will need a separate ranking methodology. You can choose from many, such as:

• Weighted scoring
• Value vs. complexity
• Buy-a-feature
• Opportunity scoring

For help finding the best scoring methodology for your team, check out ProductPlan’s article: 7 strategies to choose the best features for your product .

2. Seek input from all key stakeholders.

To make sure you’re placing each initiative into the right bucket—must-have, should-have, could-have, or won’t-have—your team needs context. 

At the beginning of your MoSCoW method, your team should consider which stakeholders can provide valuable context and insights. Sales? Customer success? The executive staff? Product managers in another area of your business? Include them in your initiative scoring process if you think they can help you see opportunities or threats your team might miss. 

3. Share your MoSCoW process across your organization.

MoSCoW gives your team a tangible way to show your organization prioritizing initiatives for your products or projects. 

The method can help you build company-wide consensus for your work, or at least help you show stakeholders why you made the decisions you did.

Communicating your team’s prioritization strategy also helps you set expectations across the business. When they see your methodology for choosing one initiative over another, stakeholders in other departments will understand that your team has thought through and weighed all decisions you’ve made. 

If any stakeholders have an issue with one of your decisions, they will understand that they can’t simply complain—they’ll need to present you with evidence to alter your course of action.  

Related Terms

2×2 prioritization matrix / Eisenhower matrix / DACI decision-making framework / ICE scoring model / RICE scoring model

Prioritizing your roadmap using our guide

Talk to an expert.

Schedule a few minutes with us to share more about your product roadmapping goals and we'll tailor a demo to show you how easy it is to build strategic roadmaps, align behind customer needs, prioritize, and measure success.

Share on Mastodon

Instant insights, infinite possibilities

• What is the MoSCoW prioritization method?

Last updated

17 April 2024

Reviewed by

Mary Mikhail

Several techniques are available to project managers to plan a team’s workload by ranking projects or tasks by significance. These prioritization techniques also help communicate to project teams and stakeholders where resources must be directed to accomplish goals. 

The MoSCoW method is one such popular prioritization technique. Learn what the MoSCoW method is and how to apply it. 

The MoSCoW method ranks the significance of a task by determining the requirements for a project's successful completion.

Some may be essential and must be included in the project’s deliverables. You may find other specifications are not required for a successful conclusion, but you might consider them to improve the result or business value.

This prioritization technique requires you to classify projects and tasks by their levels of necessity in reaching your goal.

• Where does the term MoSCoW come from?

MoSCoW is an acronym that signifies the names of the categories in which the requirements are placed:

M = Must-haves

S = Should-haves

C = Could-haves

W = Will not have at this time or wish for

The Os were added to make the acronym easier to pronounce. Using these categories makes projects more manageable, helps with better resource control, and increases the chances of meeting deadlines.

• Using MoSCoW prioritization categories

Requirements with the highest level of importance are must-haves. You'll place lesser-ranked requirements in the should-haves and could-haves categories. Anything in the will-not-have category defines the requirement as nice to have, but not a necessity, at least for now.

Deliverance of effective solutions

Because a project can't be accomplished without must-have initiatives, your team must be committed to completing these requirements.

Should-haves

These tasks or elements are important to completing the project or product, but they're not necessary. Although the product will still function without should-have requirements, you shouldn't disregard them or underestimate their importance because they can significantly increase the product's value.

Performance improvements and new functions are examples of should-have requirements.

Could-haves

These initiatives take a back seat to must-haves and should-haves. If left out, they will not significantly influence the completion of a product or project. A could-have element is desired but not necessary.

Will-not-haves (at this time)

The items in this category set realistic expectations for what the product will not include. A clear visual representation of these requirements communicates to the team and stakeholders items identified as out of scope.

What do your users really want?

Just upload your customer research and ask your insights hub - like magic.

• When do you use the MoSCoW method for prioritization?

The idea behind Agile project management is to decrease the risk of missed goals and deadlines. It uses resources and time more efficiently by breaking the project into smaller sections and prioritizing tasks, requirements, products, and stories.

To prioritize these, you can use the MoSCoW method within the scope of an Agile project.

• What is an example of the MoSCoW technique?

Imagine you're building an e-commerce website that must launch by a specific date. You'll have to prioritize its features because you don't have unlimited time to work on the site.

The functionality you want to incorporate into the website could be:

Users can log onto the website

Users should have access to a "Forgot Password" solution

Users can change account details

Users can send an email to the system requesting a change to the account page

Here's how you might categorize these features based on how effective you want the website to be and the time constraints you face:

Must-haves:

Should-haves:

Could-haves:

Will-not-haves

Users can click on a phone number on the webpage, and a call will automatically be made from their desk phone to that number

• Benefits of using MoSCoW prioritization

MoSCoW prioritization offers several benefits in project management:

Clarity and focus: It helps teams identify and prioritize the most critical requirements, ensuring clarity on what needs to be delivered first.

Efficiency: By categorizing tasks into must-haves, should-haves, could-haves, and won't-haves, teams can allocate resources more efficiently and focus on delivering essential features first.

Stakeholder alignment: It facilitates stakeholder discussions by providing a common language to discuss and prioritize requirements, ensuring alignment on project goals and objectives.

Risk mitigation: MoSCoW prioritization helps mitigate project risks by addressing must-have requirements first, reducing the likelihood of critical features being overlooked or delayed.

Flexibility: It allows for flexibility in project planning and execution by accommodating changes in requirements throughout the project lifecycle while ensuring that essential features are prioritized.

Time and cost savings: By focusing on must-have requirements early in the project, teams can deliver value more quickly, potentially reducing project timelines and costs.

Overall, MoSCoW prioritization promotes a structured and systematic approach to project management, leading to more successful and efficient project outcomes.

• Disadvantages of using MoSCoW prioritization

The major disadvantage of the MoSCoW method is that it isn’t an objective or consistent scoring system. For this methodology to be effective, other scoring systems, like the weighted scoring or the Kano model, should be used in conjunction with it.

Not combining another scoring system with the MoSCoW method can exclude the organization's leadership from the decision-making process. Decisions would then be in danger of being made based on the project manager's personal preferences rather than adhering to business goals and values.

This method does not involve supporting reasoning on how you prioritize requirements within the same category or why one requirement is a must-have or should-have. The parameters of each category can be blurred. There is also uncertainty about whether will-not-haves are being left out of the tasks required now or out of the entire project.

• How can teams use MoSCoW to their advantage?

Resources, time, and skill sets are not unlimited in the business world. You must constantly strive to work around those constraints efficiently for a maximum return on investment (ROI). Using the MoSCoW method can help.

Use budgetary constraints to prioritize

Some projects have tight budgets. You can use the MoSCoW method by using the budget to determine which items must be and should be completed.

Use the team's skill sets to prioritize

Experience and expertise levels can help determine which tasks to prioritize. If a task requires skills that the team lacks, you must prioritize it accordingly.

Use the competing needs of the company to prioritize

While your team is working on a specific aspect of a project, the company's leaders may have added additional requirements for your team to complete within the same timeframe. You would then have to reshuffle the priorities to accommodate the additional requirements. The MoSCoW method can help you do this.

• Best practices for using MoSCoW prioritization

Include all stakeholders in using the MoSCoW method, from the executive level down to the different teams involved in the successful completion of the project. Get them to also use objective scoring systems like:

Opportunity scoring: uses data from market research to determine what customers expect from your product or service. Prioritization is done according to their wants and needs.

Priority poker: based on priorities that will provide the highest yields in a specific target market. The marketing team, executive team, and customers should be involved for accurate ranking of priorities.

Cost of delay: based on determining how much money the company is losing by waiting to work on a particular task, product, or feature.

100-point method: all stakeholders vote for what they think is the most important requirement. They each get 100 points to distribute among the requirements, ranking them from most important to least. If a stakeholder thinks four requirements are of equal value, they can allocate 25 points to each. If they feel strongly that one requirement overrides all others, they can put all 100 points on that requirement.

Incorporate the data you receive from these scoring systems when inserting the requirements in your MoSCoW categories. Share the results with stakeholders so that they can understand why you prioritized the criteria as you did. This exercise might even reveal a reason to expand a budget constraint or allocate more resources to a priority the stakeholders initially thought unimportant.

How the MoSCoW method differs from the 100-point method

While the 100-point method helps in general brainstorming sessions, the MoSCoW method focuses on working within budget and time constraints.

Once the teams and stakeholders reach an agreement (perhaps by using the 100-point method) on the importance level of each requirement, the product managers or owners will use the MoSCoW method to categorize requirements based on:

High customer value

An elevated benefit to the business

Simple implementation

Inflated costs, when not applied as soon as possible

Technical specifications that are interdependent 

This will help stakeholders and project teams visualize the intended direction.

• MoSCoW prioritization in Agile project management

In an ideal world, your business would have unlimited time and a limitless source of funds to become the most efficient revenue generator it could be. But in the real world, you've got budget and time constraints.

When deciding on projects that will help increase revenue, decrease operational costs, boost productivity, or heighten customer satisfaction, you must choose the projects and project requirements that will most impact the goals you find important. The MoSCoW method can help you do just that.

Should you be using a customer insights hub?

Do you want to discover previous interviews faster?

Do you share your interview findings with others?

Do you interview customers?

Start for free today, add your research, and get to key insights faster

Editor’s picks

Last updated: 30 August 2024

Last updated: 22 August 2024

Last updated: 26 July 2024

Last updated: 11 January 2024

Last updated: 20 July 2024

Last updated: 27 July 2024

Last updated: 13 May 2024

Latest articles

Related topics, .css-je19u9{-webkit-align-items:flex-end;-webkit-box-align:flex-end;-ms-flex-align:flex-end;align-items:flex-end;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;-webkit-box-flex-wrap:wrap;-webkit-flex-wrap:wrap;-ms-flex-wrap:wrap;flex-wrap:wrap;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;row-gap:0;text-align:center;max-width:671px;}@media (max-width: 1079px){.css-je19u9{max-width:400px;}.css-je19u9>span{white-space:pre;}}@media (max-width: 799px){.css-je19u9{max-width:400px;}.css-je19u9>span{white-space:pre;}} decide what to .css-1kiodld{max-height:56px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;}@media (max-width: 1079px){.css-1kiodld{display:none;}} build next, decide what to build next, log in or sign up.

Get started for free