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Sales & Marketing StrategyView Template for: Sales and Marketing Strategy Good marketing managers know that they can't sell everything to everyone. The key to a successful marketing strategy is to market the most profitable products to customers most likely to purchase them. The purpose of this section is to align the marketing and sales plans with the previously defined competitive strategy. Targeted buyer types and product varieties should be ranked in priority order, using categories consistent with those previously identified in the Industry Segmentation Matrix. Key revenue opportunities need to be identified in priority order by industry segment with a discussion of how to win the business in that segment. Done correctly, the strategic plan should drive the marketing plan which should drive the sales plan. A diagram in the shape of a triangle is often used to show strategic planning on top of market planning which is on top of sales planning. Most people in most corporations would agree with the obvious logic of this statement. In practice, however, many marketing and sales managers have higher corporate titles and more clout than the strategic planner, or at least they have enough freedom to come up with their own plans. The sound idea that the firm's competitive strategy is the driving force of the entire firm and links all other plans, is sometimes lost. If the internal politics will not support the idea that the strategic plan and the marketing plan should complement each other, then eliminate the strategic plan to save money! Assuming, however, that the marketing and sales plans are consistent with the overall competitive strategy for the business, there are still many tactical plans that need to be considered. This, being a strategic plan with links to all functions of the business, should highlight only key components of the marketing plan. For example, who will sell what, and how and when will it be sold? What percentage of time should be allocated to selling to new customers versus repeat sales to current customers? Should the sales strategy be driven by maximizing the total number of customers or the total number of units sold? Should the sales bonus program be based on annual revenue or annual profitability? Different sales goals require different selling strategies and different compensation strategies. Advertising, sales and pricing discounts should also be timed with an understanding of the monthly demand cycle of the business. Other activities, like sales training and vacations should often be scheduled when business is slow. It is important to recognize the big difference between a strategic plan and a marketing plan (which sometimes are viewed as the same because many strategic plans are incomplete.) A strategic plan, as indicated by the holistic framework of this web site, brings together all activities (plans) throughout the firm in concert with the overall strategy. The strategic plan should precede all other plans. The marketing plan, which is vital, represents a special activity within the organization. It is like the information systems plan, the human resource plan, the customer service plan, and the plans of other departments in that each plan details how that functional area will perform its specialized activities within the context of the overall strategy of the business. What is presented on the template page is only an outline of a high-level sales and marketing plan. There is no attempt to be more than that. A good marketing plan requires far more details than are presented here. For example, a marketing plan would contain a lot more information regarding sales personnel allocation, sales strategies, sales incentive plans, detailed customer profiles, planned sales campaigns, general advertising and direct marketing plans, market brochure information, customer pricing strategies, and detailed communication strategies. |
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