Want a sales boost? Sit down with your team or get them together virtually and create a sales plan. Doing so aligns the group on targets, doles out individual responsibility, and pushes the team to a goal. 

Most companies already use strategic planning before rolling out major changes. However, the true value of these planning activities is rarely acknowledged. Having a plan is good, the act of planning is great. Here are some of the benefits of strategic planning in sales.

1.  Providing the company with direction

The most obvious benefit of strategic planning is that it provides organizations with direction. Companies often set their long-term goals well in advance. They then create detailed plans that focus on meeting these goals.

When strategic planning is used effectively, every decision made in the organization is performed with these long-term goals in mind. Sales team members that are aware of these strategic plans can help keep the company on-track with meeting their long-term goals while performing their daily activities.

2.  Adapting to changes

Every organization has to deal with unexpected changes every now and then. However, traversing challenges without a proper plan could be costly for organizations who make high-value decisions often. This is why it is useful to have a plan in place before a key decision is made.

If challenges are caught early, organizations can create plans to tackle them effectively. Managers can feel more confident in their decision making and it prevents individual sales managers from straying too far off course. 

3.  Improving efficiency

When strategic plans are in place, organizations can spend less time worrying about challenges and can instead focus on implementing strategies to overcome them. 

The time saved in decision-making could add up in the long-run, and can lead to improved organizational efficiency. Time is one of the most valuable resources, so there is no downside to improving the efficiency of your sales team with strategic planning.

4.  Increase market share and profitability

Organizations often spend weeks or even months studying customer behavior and identifying their high-value leads before targeting them. This strategic planning process is important as it provides sales people with a better picture of their clients. This information can then be used to formulate better strategies for winning them over. 

This approach is commonly used by marketers; however, sales people could also greatly benefit from following this approach. Repeated success in this area can lead to the organization’s market share increasing, and may boost profits in the long-run. 

5.  Improve employee satisfaction

Sales team members are more likely to stay on with an organization if they contribute to planning activities. Employees may want to help the organization follow through on future plans if they have played a key role in strategic planning.

This can improve employee satisfaction and increases the likelihood of more employees contributing towards strategic planning in the future.

Strategic planning offers numerous benefits for sales people. The list could go on. Sales managers should look for ways to get their sales team involved with the planning process.  We’d be happy to help with ways to get your sales people plugged into the process. 

Feel free to reach out. Oh, and by the way- if you know someone that could use this advice, feel free to invite them to sign up for the blog. 

If you’d like to connect with me, you can find me in all the usual places like my LinkedIn profile, Facebook, Twitter, and my website: WinSource Group.