Strategic Planning: Review, be realistic

Q. How can I create a strategic plan for now and in the future?

A. With all that your business has gone through this year and the current environment we find ourselves in, we must create a sustainable strategic sales plan to close out 2020, and carry the business through 2021.

There are four basic elements of a sales strategy that must be considered and executed:

• Assess the current market and referral accessibility

• Review products and services currently offered

• Review the sales process

• Develop a plan by product and services

Assessing the current market includes a review of the competition, the current market accessibility and receptivity to our sales efforts. In this current environment, you must have a comprehensive understanding of these elements as you approach the market. When reviewing the competition, consider doing a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunity and threats) Assessment. As your sales team has continued to go into the field, there is valuable accessibility intelligence that has been gathered. This must be reviewed and adaptations made to meet the needs of the referral community.

Reviewing your current products and services offered compared to previous year's performance and also this year's performance will assist you in shaping the right offering for the market place. You should also consider additional products and services that will appeal to the market. Finally, you need to be realistic and eliminate products and services from your offering, if they are low in referral volume and profitability.

Reviewing the accessibility in the referral community will afford you the opportunity to adjust your sales process. This can be a combination of outside and inside sales efforts. Please don't forget the branding and marketing aspect of the sales process that needs to be considered.

Finally, combine the information from the first three steps and create a strategic sales plan that can be broken down by products and services and measured monthly.

Bill Paul is CEO at ATLAS-RPM Professional Services. Reach him at bpaul@ATLAS-VUE.com.