How Do I Choose the Best Strategic Sales Plans?

One of the challenges facing any company that desires to increase market share is evaluating various strategic sales plans and ultimately selecting the strategies that are in the best interests of the business. In order to evaluate different models, owners and managers must often seek to find the ideal balance in terms of how well certain plans function with consumers in the targeted markets. In addition, factors such as the costs to the company and how those relate to the potential benefits, and how to go about attracting salespeople who are competent in the plan that is ultimately chosen must also be considered as part of the selection process.

At the core of choosing the right strategic sales plans is to identify strategies that are a good fit for the market in which the company labors. This often means understanding what type of customer the business wishes to attract, and then identifying which strategies would make it possible to connect with those customers. This often gets into the arena of strategic marketing, in that the company must identify the best ways to use advertising media to reach those targeted customers, and then decide how to structure advertising campaigns so those customers actually pay attention. Sometimes known as the program model, looking closely at these issues will go a long way toward focusing attention on strategic sales plans that have more chance of generating revenue for the business.

Most companies must also weigh the costs associated with the strategic sales plans that seem to be a good fit for their needs. Smaller companies in particular often operate with limited budgets for sales efforts, making it all the more crucial to select the right plans. Here, the goal is to identify all costs associated with a given plan, project the anticipated return within a given period of time, and decide if the company can reasonably afford to fund the plan or plans until they begin to generate revenue.

Even with the right strategic sales plans in place, the chances for success are very limited unless the sales force is composed of professionals who know how to make the best possible use of the resources provided. Here, the company must find a way to create a compensation package that will attract competent salespeople and also entice them to stay as the sales effort begins to pay off. This can sometimes be more difficult than imagined, as the company must balance the need to generate profits with the necessity of compensating salespeople equitably. While this component is often overlooked during the early stages of selecting the best possible strategic sales plans, waiting until the plans are actually launched can set the stage for failure.