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A sales rep business plan is kind of an odd concept. It's not quite a sales plan, which allows a sales team to detail and guide its broader sales strategies. It's also not a conventional business plan, which guides a business on an organizational level.
What I‘ll be describing here is more focused and individualized than those documents. It’s an approach that can help support your professional development — one where you leverage the elements of a business plan to shape how you approach your career in sales.
I've put together a template that you — a sales superstar looking for guidance along the astronomical ascension to greatness that is your career trajectory — can use to get a better sense of where you are, where you want to be, and how to get there. Check it out!
Table of Contents
Sales Business Plan Layout
- Goals
- High-Level Review
- A Strategy
- Tactics and Actions
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Obstacles to Success
- Personal and Professional Development
This kind of document can be a big help as you try to get a pulse on your professional status, strengths, ambitions, and trajectory — among other key elements. Let's take a look at what the layout of your sales business plan can look like.
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1. Goals
In my (and probably your average sales leader‘s) opinion, you should start with your endgame when putting a plan like this together. These kinds of plans are roadmaps, and a roadmap is pretty useless if you don’t have a destination in mind.
Ask yourself, “What am I trying to accomplish professionally?”
This approach isn't tailored to suit a single, universal outcome. Where it leads is up to you. But as general as its possible purposes might be, you still want to approach it with a lot of specificity … and measurability, attainability, relevance, and time-boundness (I think that's how you would phrase that.)
In other words, make sure your goals cover all of the SMART bases.
Are you trying to get a promotion? Move up your salary band? Improve how you deliver on a specific KPI?
Whatever your ideal outcome might be, jot it down and keep it in mind as you put the rest of your plan together. That‘s your compass — your North Star. Without one, you can’t put together a thoughtful, executable plan that will get you to where you want to be.
2. High-Level Review
Now that you‘ve laid out your ambitious but doable goals, you’re going to want to consider what you‘ve already accomplished, how you’ve performed, and the strategies you've leveraged.
Nobody‘s perfect. We’ve all seen our share of good and bad days professionally. Some things worked for us. Others didn't. If you want to create a sound sales business plan, you need to take an honest stock of all of those elements — or at least the ones that are relevant to your objectives.
Now, you might be thinking, “Gee, that sure sounds helpful! But if I'm being real, you're being extremely vague. Please, tell me what this can look like.”
Well, in this context, you can start by taking an honest look at your KPIs. Where are you falling short? From a high level, what tactics would you need to refine to bump those numbers up? How do you currently approach those tactics? You can also source more qualitative feedback by consulting your manager, your colleagues, or your clients.
For instance, let‘s say you’re struggling with your conversion rate on cold calls. You might start by comparing your figures with your peers‘. You might realize you need a better pulse on your sales messaging or rapport-building skills. If your org leverages conversation intelligence, you could take a look at your transcripts — or you might consult with your manager to see if they’ve noticed any friction point in your calls.
One way or another, conduct an honest, thorough review of how you currently approach your role. That will help inform the other elements of this plan.
3. A Strategy
This is where you start to combine the key elements of the previous two sections. You have your goals set, and you have a sense of what you need to improve or lean into to accomplish them. Now, it's time to come up with executable strategies for how you're going to get to where you want to go.
If we keep running with our cold call conversion example, you might decide that you want to:
- Audit your call recordings to see where you generally lose prospects.
- Consider refining how you research prospects ahead of your calls.
- Further familiarize yourself with your org's sales messaging.
- Experiment with different sales scripts.
Ultimately, you want to pin down a game plan for how you‘re going to deliver on the goals you’ve set while incorporating the insight you gathered in your high-level review. Having a sense of what you need to work on if you don't have a plan for how you're going to work on it.
4. Tactics and Actions
This aspect of a sales business plan is essentially a more granular version of the previous one. It's about setting concrete, operational objectives that will get and keep your strategies in motion.
For instance, you might say something like, “I'm going to spend X amount of additional time reviewing my call transcripts,” or “I'm going to spend Y% more time researching prospects on LinkedIn ahead of calls.”
Just like your goals, you want your tactics and actions to be measurable. They should have concrete, quantifiable values attached to them — so you can hold yourself accountable and more thoughtfully budget your time and energy.
5. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
You want to hear a wildly insightful, totally novel statement you'll only find on a publication as esteemed and practical as The HubSpot Sales Blog? Here you go:
The goal of having goals is to accomplish those goals.
I know, right? Sometimes, I blow my own mind with revelatory wisdom like that.
Seriously though, your endgame with this plan is to set objectives and deliver on them — and you can‘t know whether you’ve actually done that without establishing how you're going to measure your success. That's where KPIs come in.
You have to establish the relevant metrics that will tell you whether you're on the right track and the extent to which your strategies are working. Depending on your role and ideal outcome, those could be measurements like:
- Closed-won deals
- Activity metrics like calls made or emails sent
- Call conversion rate
- Demos scheduled
I‘ll be real — I feel like I’m just finding different ways to say the same thing here, but I‘m going to stress this section’s central sentiment again: Closely consider your goals, and pin down what succeeding at them looks like. From there, you can determine the most appropriate way to measure them.
6. Obstacles to Success
This one isn‘t always included in a typical business plan, but in the context of our sales business plan, you’ll want to cover it. Once you have a sense of what success means to you and how you're going to gauge it, you should consider the roadblocks that might undermine your ability to get there.
Ask yourself about your personal shortcomings and the factors beyond your control that could hold you back — questions like:
- “Is there a program in my org's tech stack that I'm not familiar enough with?”
- “Does my org leverage the software that's relevant to the tactics and strategies I've outlined?”
- “Does my manager have the time to give me an honest evaluation about my areas for improvement?”
No matter what your obstacles might be, put them in writing and start hashing out how you can either work through or around them. It‘s easier said than done — that’s a given — but if you don‘t give this point a lot of thought, you’re setting yourself up to be surprised and overwhelmed by hitches and hiccups.
7. Personal and Professional Development
This one might seem a little redundant — considering the sales business plan is a document where you apply business plan principles to your professional development in sales — but hear me out.
This section of the sales business plan is about what you're going to do to improve your sales acumen and skills relevant to your goals on your own time.
What books are you going to read? Are you going to attend any conferences or seminars? Are you going to enroll in any online courses or continuing education programs?
It all boils down to this: What are you going to do, independent of your immediate professional responsibilities, to help facilitate your career growth? Document the answers to that question and be prepared to deliver on them.
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If you want to learn to think like a business — beyond the elements I described in the layout above — you should know some other key aspects of a conventional business plan.
Business Plan Sections Explained
1. The Business Opportunity
The business opportunity is an overview of why you’re doing what you’re doing, who you’re doing it for, and what you hope to achieve. Include your mission statement as a sales representative and why you’re working with the leads and accounts you chose.
In a typical business plan, this section is called an executive summary and highlights the most crucial information for readers. This means you can get creative and inspirational with it, summarizing the information that will motivate you most.
2. Company Description
The company description can refer to the organization(s) you sell for, or you can consider yourself the business being described. Because this is a personal document, choose the format that will most benefit you.
Keep in mind that there are a few elements to include in this section:
3. Company Purpose
This is a short description of the business, providing a high-level overview of your workforce, what it offers, and who it offers it to. You might consider creating multiple purposes if you sell on behalf of more than one organization or outlining your purpose as a salesperson.
4. Mission Statement
A mission statement is a formal summary of the aims and values of an organization. If you’re making multiple company descriptions, include one for each organization. You can also include a personal mission statement for why you’ve chosen this organization and how you plan to support their success.
For instance, meditation app Calm's mission statement is, “We're on a mission to support everyone on every step of their mental health journey. In an age of unprecedented anxiety, stress, and sleeplessness, mental health is finally getting the attention it deserves.”
5. Core Values
Use the core values for the organization(s) you work for, why you chose them, and how they will manifest in your interactions with prospects. For example, HubSpot’s values are humility, empathy, adaptability, remarkableness, and transparency.
If your organization doesn’t have clear core values defined, feel free to come up with your own that will serve as your modus operandi. Three to five values are what you want to have.
6. Product & Service Lines
This section will include:
- Product or service offerings - What are the lines you’re trying to sell, and what functionality does each have?
- Pricing model - How much does each product or service cost prospects, how much commission do you make for each sale, and what parameters do you have for discounts or special deals?
Outline this information in an easy-to-scan table.
|
PRODUCT NAME |
PURPOSE/ DESCRIPTION |
PRICE |
COMMISSION PER SALE |
DEALS AND DISCOUNTS |
|
Product A |
||||
|
Product B |
7. Team
In a typical business plan, this would serve as an overview of the company and all the key leadership roles. However, the most relevant information could be key contacts at your company or companies you sell to, including your sales and marketing contacts (if applicable). If you’re filling out the template to create your sales plan, you’d simply include yourself.
8. Industry Analysis
In this section, you’ll take a look at the state of the industry, including your company’s competitors and your prospect’s competitors. You’ll ask:
- Is the market in growth or decline?
- Who are your competitors?
- What edge do they have over your product?
- How can you get your prospects to buy into the product you’re selling instead?
Your sales manager might already have answers for you or relay new information as it becomes available.
If you’re filling out a business plan to understand your prospects, you’ll want to answer similar questions:
- Who are their competitors?
- What challenges are they looking to solve?
- Is their industry in decline, and if so, can your product help them grow during this decline?
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- Secure funding.
- Get to work!
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9. Target Market
This will manifest in your business plan as an overview or outline of whom you’re targeting, including general demographics and psychographics. You might want to include:
- Age
- Business title
- Location and language
- Gender
- Income
- Interests
- Pains or problems they're looking to solve
Consider consolidating this information and creating dedicated buyer personas.
10. Buyer Personas
Buyer personas are fictional representations of individuals within your target market. The best practice is to create a buyer persona for each “type” of customer you serve. You can do so using HubSpot’s Make My Persona tool and exporting the information into your business plan.
If you’re filling out the template for a prospect, come up with a buyer persona for the target audience they serve.
11. Location Analysis
Where is the geographic location of your target market? Explain why you’ve chosen the location and the benefits of it. Do the same for your prospects and customers if you’re using the template for them.
Here’s a template you can use:
[Organization name] serves [Location] because [reason]. We found that one of the key drivers of a successful acquisition is [key element], which means our target buyers tend to be in [more specific location descriptor]. We plan to tap into this market by [method].
This might manifest as something like:
“Editorial Company serves authors throughout the United States because editorial work can be done online with virtual meetings and file sharing. We found that one of the key drivers of a successful acquisition is participation in online writing groups, which means our target buyers tend to be active in social media circles. We plan to tap into this market with inbound marketing.”
12. Implementation Timeline
In this section, a business typically specifies how long it will take for its operation to be up and running. They take logistics, partnerships, and other operational elements into account.
13. Marketing Plan
If your organization is an inbound sales organization with a marketing department, you might include your marketing and sales service-level agreement (SLA) in this section.
On the other hand, if you’re responsible for cold outreach and prospecting, this section might be helpful to complete on your own. The elements you’ll need to consider are:
Positioning Strategy
- How is this product or service unique and unbeatable compared to its competitors?
- Why are potential buyers going to be interested in the product or service?
- How will you address the buyer persona’s biggest challenges and goals?
Acquisition Channels
- What are your main lead acquisition channels (e.g., search engine marketing, event marketing, blogging, paid advertising, etc.)?
- What do you plan to prioritize this year for lead acquisition?
Tools and Technology
- What tools or systems are you equipped with (e.g., Content Hub, marketing automation software, etc.)?
14. Financial Considerations and Funding Required
You’ll want to consider how much financial collateral will be your responsibility as you sell for the organization in this section. You’ll want to outline:
- Startup costs
- Sales forecasts
- When you'll break even
- Profit and loss projections
These things can be estimated and calculated in Excel and then imported into the template. There’s also a section on the funding required, but you won’t need to fill it out as an individual sales representative. And since your prospects have already secured funding or are established firms, you won’t need to fill this out to understand their business.
The Sales Plan
Now, finally, we’ve reached the sales plan. This will be done in a separate worksheet — a Google Doc or Word document that you can continue to edit as you evolve in your sales role. You will likely be able to draw on your experience to outline the following:
Sales Methodology
- How will you reach and engage with new leads?
- Are you pursuing an inbound or outbound sales strategy?
- Why does your prospecting strategy make sense for your business?
Sales Organization Structure
- Who do you report to within the organization?
- Is there a marketing department and existing SLA between the departments?
- How are leads qualified?
Sales Channels
- What are your main customer acquisition channels (e.g., online purchasing, through a rep, on location, via email, etc.)?
Tools and Technology
- What tools or systems are you equipped with (e.g., Content Hub, live chat, etc.)?
We‘ve covered the different parts of a sales reps’ business plan, but what does one of these plans actually look like? Here are five amazing examples of individual business plans for sales reps.
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Outline your company's sales strategy in one simple, coherent sales plan.
- Target Market
- Prospecting Strategy
- Budget
- Goals
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Individual Business Plan Examples for Sales Reps
1. Individual Development Plan
Best for General Sales Reps
An individual development plan (IDP) is a document that you would make to identify your goals and objectives to your employer. After identifying your goals, ensure that your objectives follow the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goal framework. Lastly, for each action, assign a target date. While it does not need to be a specific day of the year, set your timeline by quarters of the year — as seen in the above example.
In addition to the long-term and short-term goals that the above example from Simplicable demonstrates, the resources required section is another useful component of the individual development plan. It directly informs your employer that you require support to achieve the goals and objectives that will ultimately benefit the entire company.
2. Medical Sales Business Plan
Best for Medical Sales Professionals
While a medical sales business plan can help you land a promotion, it could be decisive in helping you impress a hiring manager. It should include your learning goals, your plans for establishing yourself, and your game plan for generating sales. For medical sales business plans, the 30-60-90 day sales plan is customary in the industry.
This Breaking Into Device template above is an example of the 30-60-90 plan in that it focuses on the long-term goal of change at the end of three months. In a typical 30-60-90 sales plan, you would state your goals, the action steps you will use to reach them, your target dates, and your metrics for success.
3. Automotive Sales Business Plan
Best for Automotive Sales Professionals
Automotive sales business plans are slightly more challenging than other business plans because there are a lot of factors to consider. When building your plan, you need to start with an analysis. It includes an analysis of your company, industry, customers, and competitors.
Once you have included in-depth analysis, focus on demonstrating your ideas with the four Ps of marketing. The four Ps of marketing are product, price, place, and promotion.
First, outline your focus products. Second, discuss price. You can include current pricing and any proposed changes. Further analysis would include how these prices stack up against competitors and how they affect your customers.
Third, concentrate on your location. This information should detail how your location either adds or decreases traffic and propose solutions for the latter. Lastly, recommend promotions. In the automotive industry, customers are always looking for the best deal.
You also have to be very visible with your marketing. Possibly one of the most important sections of your automotive sales business template, include a detailed course of action for promotional ideas and plans.
Best for
4. Territory Business Plan
Best for Territory Managers
A territory business plan should cover your sales territory. Historically, sales territory is the division of geographical regions for assignments to sales representatives. These representatives are responsible for all customers or clients within that area. This template from Slide Team is for convenience stores, but it can be adapted to suit your business type.
Now, industry, sales potential, and customer type affect territory business planning. An example of customer type is focusing your territory planning on individuals with the same median income. Instead of using geography, this alternative can lead to more strategic success.
When creating a territory business plan, you want to start by analyzing your business goals and objectives. As you build your plan, include an analysis of your prospects and a SWOT analysis. It’s a planning technique that identifies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This information will allow you to propose strategies for sales territories and devise an action plan.
Best for
5. Quarterly Business Plan
Best for Sales Managers
Creating a business plan for an entire year can be too complex. By separating the year into quarters, you can make your business strategy more actionable. Quarterly business planning is when you set goals and objectives and measure performance after each quarter. Typically, the year segments into Quarter 1 (January 1 to March 31), Quarter 2 (April 1 to June 30), Quarter 3 (July 1 to September 30), and Quarter 4 (October 1 to December 31).
Quarterly business planning focuses on short-term goals that ultimately help fulfill any long-term goals. Your quarterly business plan should include your focus areas, metrics for determining success, and your action plan.
Crush Your Sales Goals with a Business and Sales Plan
With the plan I’ve shared, you'll be prepared to take on any goal or challenge in your career. Consider it a gift to yourself that keeps on giving. Use your plan like a living document, review it weekly, and make tweaks as necessary along the way. Let it dictate what makes it onto your calendar. At year-end, you will be amazed at what you accomplished and thankful you invested the time to do this now.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in May 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
Free Sales Plan Template
Outline your company's sales strategy in one simple, coherent sales plan.
- Target Market
- Prospecting Strategy
- Budget
- Goals
Download Free
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