Importance of Sales Planning Paper

Introduction

1          Significance of the Study

The study is going to talk about the fact that what is the underlying importance of the sales planning. At times, people do not tend to realize the extent to which the effort goes into the sales planning and what are some of the factors that are needed to be taken into consideration when opting for sales planning (Bolander et al. 2015, p.44). The study is going discuses some of the important aspects of the sales planning as well as how important it is to make sure that sales planning is carried out (Bolander et al. 2015, p.44).

2          Aim of the Study

The study is going to explore some of the rationales around which sales planning are carried out (Bolander et al. 2015, p.44).  At times, not enough time and though is given to the fact regarding how sales planning is supposedly carried out. Instead, when it comes to the research, it is somewhat considered an afterthought (Bolander et al. 2015, p.44).   In this research, critical analysis would be carried out in terms of what is sales planning.  Research is also going to discuss in what ways sales planning can be improved to get the desired result (Bolander et al. 2015, p.44).

3          Research Objectives

Following are some of the research objectives that are going to be talked about during this research.

• How it can be made sure that the same planning is carried out in the right manner
• What are some of the techniques that are needed to be taken into consideration when opting for sales planning (Bolander et al. 2015, p.44)
• How it can be made sure that the sales planning is carried out correctly, and what are some of the factors that should be kept in mind when opting for the sales planning to say the least (Bolander et al. 2015, p.44).

4          Research Questions

As far as the research questions, following are some of the research questions.

• What is the importance of sales planning in the overall sales process, and how organizations are different to each other in terms of the way they plan their sales (Bolander et al. 2015, p.44)
• How it can be made sure that the entity is planning their sales in the optimum manner and what are some of the reasons that allow sales to be carried out in the right manner (Bolander et al. 2015, p.44).

5          Delimitations of the Study

The delimitations of the study are some of the important factors when one talks about the way sales planning are supposedly carried out. At times, when the research of any magnitude is carried out, there is a tendency that all the organizations that opt for any type of sales are discussed in the same context (Chen et al. 2016, p.7). It is not the case though as each sector has its different share of skills that are important when they are opting for sales planning (Bolander et al. 2015, p.44).

Literature Review

One of the most common problems that are faced by the sales person is the fact that they are not able to construct a sales plan (Chen et al. 2016, p.7). When there is lack of sales plan, most of the times it means that the sales person is hardly unlikely to be achieving their sales goals (Chen et al. 2016, p.7). So the important thing for the sales person is to make sure that they have a deliberate plan through which they are opting for the sales planning (Chen et al. 2016, p.7).

1          Concepts and Definition

The basic underlying concept of the sales plan is that it is a strategy that is used when the deliberation of the sales target is being formulated. Also the strategy that is going to be pursued by the business during the course of the sales objectives and the steps that are needed to be taken to make sure that these sales targets are being met (Chen et al. 2016, p.7). When there is a proper sales plan, it goes a long way in making sure that the defined set of sales targets are setup as far as the way business is going to work out.  One of the commonly used methods to make sure that the sales strategy and sales plan is developed is to make sure that all the underlying risks and the obstacles that are coming in the way are needed to be evaluated, and effort is needed to be done to make sure that how these things are going to be evaluated in a much more better manner.  There are short term and long term actions as well that the organizations need to take. When these actions are carried out in the right manner, they would go a long way in deterring the sales plan that is going to serve considerable purpose in the near future (Chen et al. 2016, p.7).  As far as the execution of the strategy is concerned, it is important to make sure that the plan of action is determined and then it is reviewed so that the margin of error during the whole process is on the lower side (Chen et al. 2016, p.7).

2          Theoretical Reflection

The important thing for the sales person is to make sure that they have a certain sales plan that they would be following in the long run. It includes the high level as well as the low level tactics that are important when the definition of the target audience is carried out.  It is also important that the potential obstacles are worked out and deliberate strategy is worked around that plan (Chen et al. 2016, p.7).  In terms of the theory, the marketing and the business models are also needed to be kept in mind to make sure that the clear and precise sales management plan is developed that takes into account all the variables that goes into the sales management (Chen et al. 2016, p.7).  The key thing that is needed to be taken into consideration is the fact that how the sales management is going to liaison with the sales planning (Chen et al. 2016, p.7).  To make sure that it happens, the ideal thing that must be done is to make sure that the evaluation and the review of the sales planning process is done in an appropriate manner.  The other factor that must be taken into account is the fact that how the planning is going to be done at each of the respective point of time and the direction is determined in which the business is going to be heading towards (Chen et al. 2016, p.7).

3          Literature Gaps Pertaining to the Sales Planning

One of the biggest problems that one can see as far as the sales planning is concerned that how in the long run it would be made sure that the perspective regarding the sales planning can be developed (Fleischmann et al. 2015, p.32).  There are many industries that sell their product one way or the, and due to that, at times, there is not much evidence developed regarding the way sales management is going to be carried out (Fleischmann et al. 2015, p.32). Another thing that is needed to be kept in mind that how in the long, the industry wise variances are going to be managed and what are some of the factors that should be taken into consideration when sales planning is carried out for the businesses that of varied nature (Fleischmann et al. 2015, p.32).   Thus it becomes challenge to find such literature that takes into account the various differences in the sales planning that is going to vary from one industry to the.  The key aspect of the sales planning is to make sure that the tactics and the deliverables are needed to be designed in the right manner, and due to that, it is imperative that the dynamics of the industry are kept in mind to make sure that these objectives are met one way or the (Fleischmann et al. 2015, p.32).

4          Substantiating Evidences from the Literature

In this section, it is also important to make sure that some sustaining evidences are developed in terms of the way evidences from the literature are carried out as far as the way sales planning is supposed to be done (Fleischmann et al. 2015, p.32).  The key thing that is needed to be kept in mind is that the world market at the moment is evolving at a rapid pace, and due to that, it is important that the sales planning that is done at the level of the organization is needed to be amended.  The ideal thing to be done is to make sure that what are some of the things that were carried out as per the sales plan (Fleischmann et al. 2015, p.32). When that clarity of the concept is developed, it is also important to make sure that relevant adjustments are carried out to the sales plan. It has to be made sure that the rigidity is not a very good trait to have in terms of the way sales planning are supposed to be carried out. Instead effort is needed to be made to make sure that the scorecard, and the measure of the performance of the organization is being carried out in the right manner (Fleischmann et al. 2015, p.32). The other important variable is to look at the way scorecard is developed (Fleischmann et al. 2015, p.32). What is needed to be done is to make sure that the measurement and benchmarking at the organizational level is carried out in the right manner (Trehan and Trehan, 2015, p.8). When that benchmarking is done correctly, it is going to go long way in making sure that the sales planning is done correctly at each and every level (Fleischmann et al. 2015, p.32)

5          Critical Analysis of the Literature

Looking at all the relevant literature, it can be figured out that the identification of the ideal customer profile is one of the most important determinants as far as the way sales planning are supposedly carried out (Fleischmann et al. 2015, p.32).  When developing the customer or the organizational profile where the sales are being carried out, there are couple of determinants that are very important (Trehan and Trehan, 2015, p.8). The first one is the way sales are going to be managed at the level of the company and the individual (Fleischmann et al. 2015, p.32). The second factor is the way decision making process is being carried out in that organization (Fleischmann et al. 2015, p.32). When that is completed, the next phase is to make sure that the identification of the list of the prospects is carried out (Trehan and Trehan, 2015, p.8). The list of prospects that are needed to be carried out goes a long way in making sure that people who are going after the company (Fleischmann et al. 2015, p.32). The other thing that is needed to be done is to make sure that the identification of the sales cycle of the organization is needed to be carried out (Trehan and Trehan, 2015, p.8). When the sales cycle of the business is evaluated in the right manner, it means that the sales planning is going to reflect well on those highs and low seasons in the right manner (Fleischmann et al. 2015, p.32).

Conceptual Framework

Proposed Research Methodology

1          Sample Selection

The sample selection is going to be carried out in the manner that would make sure that the representation of all the sectors is being done (Pedroso et al. 2016, p.32). Thus 50 employees from sectors such as IT, FMCG and other relevant sectors are going to be carried out (Hulthén et al. 2016, p.3).

2          Population Frame

Population frame is the source material from which the information is going to be derived (Hulthén et al. 2016, p.3). The key determinant of the framework is to make sure that the relevant sample is drawn taking into consideration all the elements of the business (Hulthén et al. 2016, p.3).  In this case, it is the literature and secondary sources which would act as a population frame (Hulthén et al. 2016, p.3).

3          Unit of Analysis

The unit of analysis in this case is going to be the number of sales personnel that are going to be interviewed during the whole process (Hulthén et al. 2016, p.3). The sales personnel are in the best position to make the decision in terms of the way sales management is going to be carried out (Pedroso et al. 2016, p.32).  At the same time, sales personnel are the ones that are well informed in terms of the way instrument development and question development is supposed to be carried out (Johnston and Marshall, 2016, p.4). So it is one of the key determinants that have to be taken into consideration in the long run to make sure that the data analysis is being done in the right manner to say the least (Johnston and Marshall, 2016, p.4).

4          Type of Study

The study is going to predominantly comprise qualitative analysis in which it would be seen what sort of role does sales planning has in the long term target management of the organization (Johnston and Marshall, 2016, p.4). The timelines are going to be managed with the Gantt chart and proper schedule is going to be followed during the course of this research (Johnston and Marshall, 2016, p.4).

5          Time Horizon

The research is going to take one full year  (Pedroso et al. 2016, p.32)

6          Researcher’s Strength

Well rounded usage of both the primary and secondary sources is one of the biggest strength of the researcher (Pedroso et al. 2016, p.32).

7          Instrument Development

The online survey would be conducted with the help of an e-mail to make sure that the timelines that are set in the completion time are met in the right manner (Pedroso et al. 2016, p.32).

8          Data Collection Procedures

The data collection is going to be comprised of the answers that are gained from the different questions as well as the relevant analysis techniques used during the organizational analysis (Pedroso et al. 2016, p.32).

References

Bolander, W., Satornino, C.B., Hughes, D.E. and Ferris, G.R., 2015. Social networks within sales organizations: Their development and importance for salesperson performance. Journal of Marketing, 79(6), pp.1-16.

Chen, Y. C., Rivas, A. A., & Wu, W. Y. (2016). Salesperson Market Orientation Behavior: Its Antecedents and the Mediating Role of Working Smart Behaviors in Sales Performance. In Celebrating America’s Pastimes: Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Marketing? (pp. 647-647). Springer, Cham.

Fleischmann, B., Meyr, H. and Wagner, M., 2015. Advanced planning. In Supply chain management and advanced planning (pp. 71-95). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

Hulthén, H., Näslund, D. and Norrman, A., 2016. Framework for measuring performance of the sales and operations planning process. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 46(9), pp.809-835.

Johnston, M.W. and Marshall, G.W., 2016. Sales force management: Leadership, innovation, technology. Routledge.

Pedroso, C.B., da Silva, A.L. and Tate, W.L., 2016. Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP): insights from a multi-case study of Brazilian organizations. International Journal of Production Economics, 182, pp.213-229.

Trehan, M. and Trehan, R., 2015. Advertising and sales management. FK Publications.