January 24th, 2014

When you're in business, you probably have a business plan, marketing plan, and other plans in place to make your business shine, but does sales planning even cross your mind? Sales planning is sort of like the redheaded stepchild because companies don't necessarily think they need a plan to sell their product. They might believe that marketing is more important than sales planning, but that's where they're wrong. Here are four reasons every business should make sales planning a priority:

1. It helps you understand your customers better.
   Salespeople who don't understand their products or why their customers should want to buy them can't make the sales that other salespeople can. When you take the time to do sales planning, you gain a better picture of what your target customers look like. When you can do that, you'll make more sales because you understand where they are coming from.
   
2. Sales planning keeps you ahead of the curve.
   The landscape of the market is constantly changing, and the only way you can stay ahead of those changes is by doing some planning in the area of sales. By regularly reviewing supply and demand, you can easily adapt so that you don't end up with thousands of products that won't sell.
   
3. It keeps you focused on outside activities rather than inside ones.
   This is extremely important because most businesses tend to be focused too much on what's happening inside of them. You already know what's happening inside your business, so you don't really need to focus on that. Instead you need to watch what's happening around you so that you have a better chance of sidestepping problems that come your way or take advantage of opportunities before your competitors do.
   
4. Sales planning keeps you up to date.
   When you have a plan in place, it's important to make sure that information gathering is a regular step in that plan. Too many companies get bogged down because they do not keep track of information regularly. Then when they need to know something, it takes a while to find that information out because they have to go out and gather it. When you're regularly keeping track of the statistics you need as part of your plan, you stay ahead of what needs to be done.
   

Neal and Associates offers sales planning in Phoenix. Their experts will help you make the most of your sales and create a sales plan that will maximize your profits.
Copyright © 2014 Dave Neal