National Sales Center

How To Write A Sales Plan For 2010

Here we go again! It’s time to develop a new Sales Plan, this time for 2010. Some bright organizations will use these Sales Plans as a working document to guide them through 2010. Other organizations put them in a draw where they’ll collect dust. Guess which organization will come out on top at the conclusion of 2010?

For those interested in developing a true working document, allow me to give you some factors that should be incorporated in your 2010 Sales Plan. While none of us can predict the future, we all can benefit from getting prepared for it. That’s the goal of a solid 2010 Sales Plan.

2010 Recovery

Many of those that know more about the economy than I do, are predicting an up tick in the World’s Economy during 2010. Countries can’t be spending all this Stimulus money (rightly or wrongly) without it having some positive effect on the economy. Obviously, this factor should be incorporated in a 2010 Sales Plan… but not so fast!

Forget the World and stay focused on your Company’s outlook. You are, after all, not writing a 2010 Sales Plan for the Universe. Most public corporations still issue forward-looking statements. Even private companies issue projections for their investors. I caution you to be consistent and not raise quotas if you are telling the world that sales should be flat. On the other hand, raise quotas if your projections predict a sales increase.

The temptation to create low expatiations and then crush the numbers should not be made on that back’s of the sales force. Doing so will certainty take the wind out of their sails instead of putting life in their sales. The key of any 2010 Sales Plan should be consistency among internal and external projections.

Feet On The Street

Along with an economic recovery, many are also predicting an employment recovery in 2010. If your company expects to hiring additional salespeople, take time to detail the associated activities in your 2010 Sales Plan. Here are just some points you may wish to consider…

• What events or conditions must be realized to trigger a hiring decision?
• What is the profile of the candidates you plan to hire?
• How will you uncover if applicants actually possess the required profile?
• What is the expected learning curve and lag time to productivity?
• How will they be trained?

It’s not enough to say you are going to hire 8 or 800 additional salespeople in 2101. That’s a statement… not a plan.

Employee Development

A detailed section covering Employee Development must be included in your 2010 Sales Plan. Too many salespeople have been beat up by this economy. Too many salespeople are sill paralyzed in a state of inactivity. Now is the time to get them out of their professional comas with new sales skills and sales strategies. Failure to do so will only lead to another year of poor performance. It’s time to shake it up and turn up the volume.

Call for some powerful sales training in your 2010 Sales Plan. Your Plan should not neglect the need for new and powerful sales prospecting training. I’m confident that’s the path to a successful 2010 Sales Year!

I wish you great success in 2010.

Nick Moreno

Tags: Sales Training