Sales Planning in an Uncertain Economy

Maintaining your competitive position requires a plan to guide your sales and marketing activities through the coming year.  But, 2019 got off to a rough start with recent stock market drops, and the Construction Industry Forecasts show slow growth.

So, how do you forecast your sales in a shifting economy?

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For the Building Industry,  market uncertainty makes sales planning an forecasting a difficult task.  So, how do you forecast your business and prepare for changing economic conditions? ​  ​

Start with a Plan
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. ​A bad economy raises the stakes for Business Development and increases pressure to meet sales goals.  So, business organizations need to prepare for what they will do to perform under pressure. Good planning prepares management, marketing and the BD team for effective responses under pressure.
 
What does a Sales Plan look like?
A 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 relevant 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.
 
Here are 3 steps to help you get started:
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Step 1: 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.  Start by taking stock of your organization’s strengths and weaknesses and research what your competitors are doing.  Identify current trends in the Industry and clearly identify who your customers are.   Most importantly, take time to ask your customers what they value about your service and what you can do better to meet their needs.
 
Step 2: Clearly define where you want to go.  Set SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound) for your team so you can measure progress toward your goals.  Make sure you clearly identify who is responsible for what and by when. One of the most powerful things about establishing specific goals in your Sales Plan is that it becomes your scorecard – it includes indicators for how well you are implementing your plan.  These indicators allow you to look critically at your sales and marketing activities and make adjustments on a regular basis.   Monthly and quarterly reviews to analyze your results against the market allow you to make adjustments as the economy shifts.
 
Step 3: Draft a plan to get you where you want to go. This is the tactical phase of your planning and lays out specific actions to be taken toward your goals. In an uncertain economy it is important to consider alternative scenarios for the coming year that reflect best case, worst case and most likely case scenarios.  This allows all members of the team to formally acknowledge that things can happen to change your plan and it allows time to think about alternate decisions.   Discuss what you will do if your circumstances change so your entire team is prepared to perform under pressure.
 
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 armed to take action towards your goals.
 
Email us to find out how we can help you develop a Sales Plan to meet your goals. We use a propitiatory planning system The BDBluePrint to guide development of a plan for growth.