 A well-prepared sales and marketing plan helps to provide direction and focus for all employees and connects your execution to your strategy. It points to specific results that are to be achieved and establishes a course of action for achieving them. Start with these 4 steps:
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 Think selling is not in your job description? Think again.
Success in the AEC Industry requires that everyone provide value to your organization, and business leaders need everyone to contribute to winning new work. Whether you’re responsible for generating revenue or just engaging with your customers, you’re involved in the sales process. Today, being great at what you do is just not enough.  Take advantage of the 4th Quarter to plan for success in the new year.
The 4th Quarter is the time to complete your Sales and Marketing Plan. Annual Sales Planning is a process that cannot happen at a regular sales meeting or during a staff meeting. It requires careful planning to ensure that the process is thorough and comprehensive. Start by scheduling a planning meeting with your team and spend some time and energy gathering information and outlining the planning process. We recommend the following key steps to help you get ready to draft a clear plan: 1. Purpose & Clarity of Direction If you do not have a clear sense of where you are today and where you are going you will not be able to establish common goals. Make sure to take the time to clearly define your Vision, Mission and Values so you have a firm foundation for your sales plan. Because these are the foundational elements of your Sales Plan be sure there is consensus on why the organization exists, and outcomes it seeks to achieve. Take time before your planning meeting to assess the following:
2. Inventory Your Success Understand where you are today. Like all journeys, sales planning starts with a known position from where you can chart your course to achieve your goals. Take stock of your organization’s strengths and weaknesses and look critically at your sales and marketing activities so you can be prepared to analyze your results and make adjustments for next year. At a minimum take a look at:
3. Know your Customers Without a clear definition of who your customers are, what their needs are and how your services benefit them it is difficult to position your Organization in the marketplace. To get ready for a productive planning meeting, take time to segment and prioritize your existing and prospective customers:
4. Know your Competitive Position Your organization may provide similar services as your competition, so without a clear definition of how you are different, customers are left with price as the basis of selection. Focus on the following to clarify your competitive position:
Start now to meet next year’s sales goals A well prepared sales and marketing plan helps to provide direction and focus for all employees and connects your execution to your strategy. It points to specific results that are to be achieved and establishes a course of action for achieving them. Begin now to establish your sales planning process and position your organization to meet next year's sales goals. Need some help getting your plan together? Give us a call to discuss some ways to get started: 856-430-2504.  What is your Plan?
The most recent Architectural Billings Index (ABI) should ‘serve as a warning signal’ to the Construction Industry according to the AIA Chief Economist. For the First time since 2012 the ABI posted consecutive months of decline in demand for design services. Now is the time to begin Planning Businesses can’t control the economy in which they operate, but they can control how they manage the economic conditions to achieve their goals. In an uncertain economy businesses must focus their energy to ensure that all members of the organization are working toward the same goals and are prepared to deal with changes in circumstances. The business equivalent of practicing is planning. Like competitive athletes, business organizations need to prepare for and practice exactly what they will do to perform under pressure. A bad economy raises the stakes for Business Development and increases pressure to meet sales goals. So, good planning, like good practice, prepares Management, Marketing and Business Development for effective responses under pressure. What does an Agile Sales Plan look like? An agile sales and marketing plan looks out 3 to 5 years and sets out sales goals and tactics for your business, and identifies the steps you will take to meet your goals. Most importantly, a good plan reflects the overall business strategy and has the buy-in of all your departments. It is essential to recognize that a sales and marketing plan is not just a document, book or binder. What is important is that the Plan remains agile by capturing a defined process that lays out how your company is going to achieve your goals and manage change. Getting it done Once you recognize the need to plan, you now have to get it done: facilitating the buy-in and commitment of your leadership team, business development and marketing. The planning process does not have to be complicated but it takes some preparation. Following are 3 steps from BluePrint Growth Consulting (www.BDBluePrint.com) to help you get started:
Implementation – Review and Adjust Once developed, the key to successful implementation is using the Plan to establish expectations for the sales and marketing team based on the sales goals and how your business will achieve those goals. Establish a schedule of quarterly progress reviews and make adjustments to reflect current market conditions and circumstances. In addition to measuring your progress against your plan goals, review the alternate scenarios considered and make the decisions that apply to the circumstances. Maintaining your competitive position in an uncertain economy requires a plan to guide your sales and marketing activities through the coming year. With proactive Sales Planning you will be armed to keep your finger on the pulse of the market and your customers and take action towards your goals. To learn more about how you can develop a Sales Plan to meet your goals, join us for one of our Workshops at the Society for Marketing Professional Services (eligible for 1.5 CPSM credits and 1.5 AIA CES LUs); or at Associated Builders and Contractors. If you need some help getting started, contact us today. |
AuthorLori Sullivan is a Growth Consultant for the Building Industry and shares ideas about competitive strategy, marketing and business development dedicated to the AEC Market. We will provide insights from our own experiences as Business Developers and we invite some of our industry’s best sales and marketing professionals to share their thoughts as guest contributors. Archives
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