Answer each question as best as you can – write down what immediately comes to mind right now. Part of developing your sales capabilities & skills will be to reflect on your answers as times goes by so you can monitor your progress and make the necessary progress.

On a scale between 0 to 10 – with 0 being no sales and 10 making all the sales you want; where is your business right now?

On that same scale where do you want your level of sales to be?

Describe YOU in one sentence.

What are your 3 most important business objectives?

What are your 3 most important personal objectives?

How did you develop your current sales plan?

Why should people buy from you especially?

List as many reasons how you genuinely add value or serve & protect your clients interests.

Describe your competition and other businesses that provide what you do elsewhere in the UK / World.

Describe the various ways you generate leads and enquiries. How many do you generate?

Have you analysed your client base to see if there are any more opportunities to help each of them?

Describe any active methods you have for generating client referrals

How do you manage sales enquiries and order tracking – how do you know this system is effective?

How do you follow up on sales opportunities?

Outline some of your prices you charge for what you sell.
Small price purchase =
Medium price purchase =
High price purchase =

What level of profit do you typically make on these sales?
Small price margin =
Medium price margin =
High price margin =

Is your business as profitable as you would like it to be? You may wish to sell more of a particular service / product to a particular type of client to help maximise your profits. If this could be the case please outline your thoughts.

What percentage of your profits or initial working capital have you allocated to winning more sales?

How urgent is it you develop your business?

If your business fails what is your contingency plan?

How do you know when you’re succeeding / failing?

Describe your business exit strategy

Describe your current sales process and critique it on one sheet of A4 – allocate at least one hour of time to do this – working things through in your mind will highlight many strengths and weaknesses

How do you decide if your current results are good enough?

And if they’re not…. what’s next ?

How soon do you want to see improvements and better results?

If you were making all the sales and profits you wanted what would be different about your life?

Once you’ve answered these questions and have a real opinion about your answers please feel free to get in touch for an informal chat about how Momentum might be able to help

Contact us for further information or call 01603 440577 / 07747 031060

Although every business will have a sales plan taylored to them specifically to allow for variation in type of product / service / marketplace / customer / consumer generically it should include

Financials – to include break-even points, pricing & margins, volumes, budget spend etc
Client Profiling – to allow sensible targeting and qualification
Sales Process(es) – to map out how leads and enquiries are advanced through to profitable sales
Benefits Analysis of products & services
Market opportunites
Pipeline Creation and Management to ensure adequate sales momentum is acheived
Creation of Case Studies and Testimonials
Customer Feedback
Active Referral gaining strategies

Having a well considered sales plan is a solid investment of your time – it will provide your business with a focus to be able to confidently try out new ideas and monitor your sales performance.

Please contact us if you would like some input or assistance to bring your plan together

The reason I ask this question is because I’ve had the privilege to have been on the inside of hundreds of businesses during the 10 years I’ve been involved in sales. One of the many trends of success I’ve noticed is that the businesses who monitor and manage their sales proactively are the ones who reach their business objectives. Peter Drucker said  If you can‘t measure it, you can‘t manage it.

Momentum provide a completely flexible sales management service that helps clients document what they should be doing and most importantly gives someone to report to who can help diagnose problems. Making yourself or your salespeople more accountable brings clarity and focus which will lead to many more new sales opportunities.

Momentum will encourage you to locate and maximise your sales in line with a sensible sales plan. What makes us different to other sales management consultants is we’re very happy to help you execute sales plan recommendations. Getting out there with you and in amongst the hard work of the sales plan lessens your burden and provides valuable insight to refine the sales plan.

Some businesses may not feel they need sales management but instead require coaching, mentoring or consulting around specific issues that are causing problems. Momentum will provide support and guidance where appropriate.

Sales Management – provides you with an ongoing service and / or a set of tools that will help you establish where your sales are and what you need to do reach your targets. You will report back progress & feedback (and sometimes coaching) will be given to boost your sales and profits.

Coaching – provides you with ongoing support and encouragement to learn and refine important sales skills.

Mentoring – provides you with ad hoc or ongoing encouragement, support and guidance from an experienced sales professional around the sales processes of your business.

Consultancy – provides you with additional sales advice & knowledge to create your sales plan and help put robust systems in place that will drive your sales forward.

Contact us for further information

The Sales Plan - an important written document that should sit alongside or within your business plan. It should summarise how you will go about making the number and volume of sales you require to make the profits you desire. The plan should be reviewed quarterly.

Sales Forecast – what you predict you will sell based on the activity performed in your sales plan. It’s important to derive targets which give you something to aim for even if you exceed or fail to surpass them.

Sales Reporting – on going reporting which gives management an insight into how well the sales plan is being executed and if targets are being met. The reports will help pinpoint any obstacles which need additional resources and help maintain confidence during tough times.

Sales Targets – the number of sales needed to reach the business / sales plan objectives.

Hitting & Missing Sales Targets – surpassing and falling short of sales.

Suspect – someone / anyone you feel could benefit from your product or service who you have not spoken to.

Qualification – ascertaining if your product or service can serve, protect or give the advantage to a suspect and discovering if they are interested in improving their situation.

Prospect – a suspect who has been qualified who you want to offer your product or service to.

Customer / Client – a prospect who appreciates the value of your product or service and buys from you.

Advocate – someone who believes what you provide is good value and is happy to proactively tell people, doesn’t always to be a client.

Lead - an enquiry or referral which needs to be followed up with qualification which may lead to a sale.

Referral – a lead generated by someone who has recommended your product or service.

Referrer – the person who triggers the referral.

Point of Sale Paperwork – agreement paperwork which captures the details of the customer requirements and is signed to signify commitment from both parties.

Point of Sale Promotional Material – brochures, flyers, business cards which help convey details of what your product or service does to maximise the understanding of benefits.