In the seminars I teach and over time I have been advising companies on trade issues, I have not found one that no longer wants to sell more , it is almost a constant feature as the companies do not have a good sales plan. Most think they are because they have developed a forecast which almost always is based on turnover last year but the percentage that expect to grow this year.
In this way, too, is how you create the shares of its sales teams. Thus, the voice of “more market share for each vendor, I invite” It’s like regular down the sales plans.
Sales Plan
The easiest way I know to achieve forecast sales of a company is making a sales plan that is based on three strategies to sell:
1. Getting new customers
2. Selling more to existing customers
3. Recover Accounts
It is much easier than a company to achieve one hundred percent of its sales if it finds the perfect blend of these three strategies and added with market intelligence to develop an action plan that will guide your sales team focus on the implementation their daily activities.
All companies try to increase sales based on the first strategy: “to get new customers ” , no matter what it takes and sometimes very hard. Statistics show that, while we will, every ten proposals that are delivered only one will be realized in a sale, this, of course, depends on several factors such as product, market, industry, among others …
As we digest the relevant statistic becomes trying to sell more to existing customers do not always have products that can be packaged as a combo offer “fries and large soda for an extra to the customer” but it is also true that companies and our partners focus on providing excellent service to satisfied customers and once completed send them to work practically forgotten because we have to get more new customers.
The sales plan of a company must have a strategy for development of accounts, not only with large customers, we must consider the flow generated by our customers and we want to develop the medium term.
At this point you may not have mentioned anything new to the reader, but when I get to the strategy of “recovery accounts ” is where entrepreneurs find something new to help increase sales.
If we continue with reference to statistics, a sale that costs us nine proposals do not specify anything, but no one gives them up, there are proposals within those prospects who were interested but had no budget or project that is not a “no” definitive, but it is a “no” temporary, but what happens is that we do not give up and lose opportunities because of lack of vision.
If all this we add that it is unlikely that a seller knows your hit rate and sales staff have to take above average as a basis to begin the plan then you should consider the following points:
1. Identify the target market
2. Refine the value proposition addressed to the target market
3. Define the average price of our value proposition (average ticket)
4. Define the fee depending on the value of the target market
5. Make a plan for demand generation
6. Identify the sales cycle of the target market
7. Define the activities of the seller during the sales cycle
8. Define the evidence of progress in the sales cycle
Selling more is an activity that helps in staying in the market for our company and delays that we are part of the mortality statistics but to increase their value and define long term direction we need to develop pragmatic plans of easy implementation and monitoring, but above all we must disseminate and aligning the entire company in the plan otherwise everything was in good intentions.