Report on Operational Sales Planning: Strategies and Implementation

This report provides a comprehensive overview of operational sales planning, beginning with an introduction that emphasizes alignment with corporate and marketing strategies. It delves into sales forecasting techniques, differentiating between qualitative and quantitative methods, and explaining how historical data informs predictions. The report details the process of setting sales objectives and targets, including time planning and the use of sales forecasts. It outlines the structure of an operational sales plan, covering objectives, strategies, tactics, actions, and controls, along with a discussion on sales territories and business cases for resource allocation. The report further explores the communication of the sales plan to stakeholders, defines individual roles, and explains the use of key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor and control the plan. Finally, it addresses variances, contingency planning, and procedures for dealing with unforeseen issues within the operational sales plan. The report emphasizes the importance of aligning sales planning with overall business objectives and the use of data-driven decision-making throughout the process.

operational sales planning

Table of Contents
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................1
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
1.1 How Organization’s Business and Marketing activities inform Operational Sales
Planning.......................................................................................................................................1
Sales Forecasting Techniques..........................................................................................................1
2.1 How Historical Data Informs Sales Forecasts.......................................................................1
2.2 Range of Sales Forecasting Techniques.................................................................................2
2.3 How Sales Forecasts are used to set Sales Objectives and Targets.......................................2
Set Targets and Objectives in a Sales Plan......................................................................................2
3.1 Time plan for the Establishment of Objectives and Targets for Sales Plans.........................3
3.2 Sales forecasts to set Objectives and Targets for a Sales Plan...............................................3
Operational Sales Plan.....................................................................................................................3
4.1 Operational sales plan to meet Objectives and Targets.........................................................3
4.2 Sales Territories.....................................................................................................................3
4.3 Business case to obtain the resources to achieve the Operational Sales Plan’s Objectives
and Targets...................................................................................................................................4
Manage the Implementation of the Operational Sales Plan through the Sales Team......................4
5.1 How to communicate the Operational Sales Plan to all Stakeholders and define Individual
Roles and targets in the sales activity plan..................................................................................4
5.2 How to monitor and control the Operational Sales Plan using agreed Key Performance
Indicators......................................................................................................................................5
How to deal with Variances to the Operational Sales Plan.............................................................5
6.1 Variances that may occur in the Implementation of the Operational Sales Plan...................5
6.2 Contingency plan to address Variances.................................................................................5
6.3 The organization’s procedure for dealing with Unforeseen Variances..................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................6
Task 3...............................................................................................................................................6
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Task 1
Introduction
It is necessary for the business organization to align operational sales planning with the overall
corporate strategy and marketing strategy of the organization. Sales are considered as the
revenue generated function for the organization to achieving predetermined profitability targets
in the corporate strategy. So, it is necessary for the organization to establish alignment between
marketing strategy, corporate targets, and operational sales planning. The management of the
organizations should break down the corporate objectives and should assign specific territories to
ensure the development of the organization (Hulthen, 2016). However, it can be said that the
planned activities of the organization need to be aligned, and the objectives of different plans
should be integrated with each other.
1.1 How Organization’s Business and Marketing activities inform Operational Sales
Planning
Planning and Decision-making activities are considered the key activities of a business
organization which takes place different levels of the organization. In an organization, planning
is done on three levels which are strategic, tactical and operational level. Strategic level planning
is done for the long term and conducted by the senior management. Tactical level planning is
done for the medium-term resource by the middle-level managers and operational level planning
is done for performing day to day activities of procedures and processes. Sales operational
planning is considered as an important process that enables the organization to generate high
revenue. So, it is necessary that sales planning should consider the marketing tactical plan and
corporate level strategic plan. Planning of both the levels helps operational planning to determine
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sales targets, territories priorities, etc. The process of implementation plan involves a high degree
of iterative communications. Depending upon the degree of fit, the sales plan may be accepted or
amended as required.
Sales Forecasting Techniques
Predicting the accurate sales is considered a complex task for the management of the
organization. Sales forecasts are mainly done for aid planning across the organization such as
cash flow planning, production procurement, and scheduling. Sales forecasting is very useful in
making more detailed sales plans.
2.1 How Historical Data Informs Sales Forecasts
Prediction of future sales is considered the most challenging task for the sales manager. Sales
forecasting is also a very important task because it not only feed into sales and marketing
activities but is also depend on other parts of the organization. Strategically sales forecasts are
considered very important because it helps the management in plan expansion and product
development of the organization (Tuomikangas, 2014). Historical sales are considered the key
input for the management to forecast future sales. Historical sales provide an indication of future
sales. In addition to it, the management also has to be aware of any changing circumstance that
could directly affect sales of the organization. Sales forecast assumptions can be following:
 Sales force size compared to previous year
 Expenses on advertisement
 Shrinkage/Market growth
 Introduction of New Product
 Sales Decline
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 Promotional activities
The management should ask the marketing and sales team of the organization to ensure the
realistic of future predictions (Thomé, 2014).
2.2 Range of Sales Forecasting Techniques
Sales forecasting techniques are two types: Qualitative and Quantitative.
Quantitative forecasting mainly depends on historical data of the past demands and uses
mathematical formulas to calculate the forecasted future demand. The organization can use excel
or other software’s to calculate the quantitative sales forecasting.
Qualitative forecasting mainly depends on estimates. Conducting qualitative forecasting is
necessary when there is the absence of past demand, or the product is new in the market.
Sales forecasting can be done by using following statistical tools:
 Time Series Analysis
 Casual Methods
 Market Research
 Delphi Method
 Sales Force Planning
2.3 How Sales Forecasts are used to set Sales Objectives and Targets
Prediction of sales is considered a useful input for the sales planning process make it easier to set
specific sales targets. Sales forecasting is also considered necessary for the other business
operations activities like production, budgeting, and scheduling. It helps the management in
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understanding the cash flow into the organization which will be helpful in avoiding cash flow
problems (Megahed, 2016). Efficient sales planning can be done through sales forecasts. So,
proactive business plans are formulated by the management rather than just being reactive. Sales
forecasts enable the management to focus on planning how the forecasts are going to be reached
in future.
Set Targets and Objectives in a Sales Plan
Sales plan of an organization should be efficient and effective to achieve successful sales. The
forecasts help the sales team managers to effectively plan how they are going to organize the
team to obtain predetermined targets.
3.1 Time plan for the Establishment of Objectives and Targets for Sales Plans
The structure of sales planning process mainly depends on the way the organization organizes its
planning cycles. This time, the period can be the fiscal year. However, the financial year of every
organization can be over any twelve-month period. The organization can also formulate a plan
for a shorter period of 3 months, and for a longer period of 5 years. During the formulation of the
time period, the organization should focus on the set of activities. Sales planning a cycle of the
organization maps its overall cycle. Most of the organizations subdivided their time periods into
weekly or even daily time period. The time period should be framed by the granularity of the
activities and decisions that need to be taken over similar time slots.
3.2 Sales forecasts to set Objectives and Targets for a Sales Plan
The sales forecast is considered as an important input for developing focused and realistic sales
plan (Thorogood, 2013). The forecast enables the sales manager to understand the sales clearly
that need to be obtained over the planning period. Sales plan mainly focuses on:
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 Recognizing all important territories and segments
 Measuring sales team skills
 Measuring
Sales plan of an organization should have clear objectives for each area. To formulating the
effective sales plan, the sales manager should build performance targets that make it clear to the
team what they need to do.
Operational Sales Plan
4.1 Operational sales plan to meet Objectives and Targets
Operational sales plan structure is following:
 Objectives: These should be SMART and take heed of the business objectives as well as
those of other functional departments.
 Strategy: It is considered as an overall approach which states how objectives of the
organization will be achieved. The strategy may be like target market segmentation,
differentiation, new customer acquisition, etc.
 Tactics: This considers the particular customer types that the organization will sell to, and
in what way. Tactics determine who will do the selling, the selling products, sales tools
and aids that will assist the sales process.
 Actions: It involves the details of who will do what, by when. In other words, it is the
implementation plan of the tactics.
 Controls: It is the process of monitoring the actual implementation of the system.
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4.2 Sales Territories
Designing the sales territories is considered a complex process for the sales team manager. Sales
territory design is based on historical approaches to how it has been structured (Lei, 2015). The
sales territories is mainly designed for:
 Minimize traveling costs and time
 Enable the salesperson to get to their customers
 Motivation of salespeople by providing freedom
 Keep administration and organization simple
4.3 Business case to obtain the resources to achieve the Operational Sales Plan’s Objectives
and Targets
The main motive behind formulating a business case is to measure the potential; affordability,
value for money and achievability of the sales plan objectives. Structure of the business case is
following:
 Strategic Context: This demonstrates how the resource will contribute towards the
strategic performance of the sales team (Tuomikangas, 2014).
 Investment Objectives: This is the combination of different objectives that will be
achieved.
 Existing Arrangements: This comprises a snapshot of the present approach in the absence
of the specific resource for attaining the goals.
 Business needs: These can be current and future.
 Benefits Criteria: It will show the main benefits achieved through investment in
resources.
 Risks: It determines the availability of risk in investing the resources.
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 Options: It is a list of options that should have considered to provide the resource
 Timescales: It includes different stages in securing the resources.
 Appendices: It comprises risk analysis, cash flow calculations, financial analysis, and any
non-financial data.
Manage the Implementation of the Operational Sales Plan through
the Sales Team
5.1 How to communicate the Operational Sales Plan to all Stakeholders and define
Individual Roles and targets in the sales activity plan
Sales plan is communicated by:
 Sales staff
 Financial Management
 Product Management
 Directors of Organization
 Sales Management
 Marketing Management and Planners.
The sales plan communication process include a feedback loop. This means that the document to
the stakeholder should be provided electronically or in hard copy. The most appropriate method
for deciding individual sales target is a bottom-up approach (Gallego, 2014). It means that the
performance of individuals is judged on the basis of their past performance.
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5.2 How to monitor and control the Operational Sales Plan using agreed Key Performance
Indicators
Key Performance Indicator is known as a measure of performance. KPI helps the organization in
measuring their success in the market (Hemingway, 2013). KPIs are considered quantifiable
measurement that shows the success factors of the organization. Some KPIs that would be
evaluated as part of the sales plan are:
 Margins
 New customers gained
 Customer Lost
 Sales level
The data for measuring the performance of such KPIs is collected through IT system. The main
fact is that the collected data should be useful in the decision-making process.
How to deal with Variances to the Operational Sales Plan
6.1 Variances that may occur in the Implementation of the Operational Sales Plan
KPIs are considered quantitative measures and therefore variances are going to be numerical.
The first decision that should be formulated is what an allowable tolerance is? The organization
can select to accept + or -5% as a performance band. Above 5%, in excess of the target and the
organization risk having the insufficient capacity or another resource to accomplish the business.
Below 5%, under the target and the organization run the risk of financial losses or cash
shortages.
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6.2 Contingency plan to address Variances
Formulating a contingency plan needs the organizations to think about what actions they could
undertake that are diverse to those planned (MT Thomé, 2014). It wants a degree of lateral
thinking to come up with feasible solutions should the under-performance occur.
6.3 The organization’s procedure for dealing with Unforeseen Variances
For each KPI's of the organization first need to understand the consequence of not achieving the
desired performance. The organization can increase the resource like time, or people for saving
itself from unforeseen variances and also can evaluate KPIs concerned with new customer
acquisition or conversion rates.
Conclusion
After studying all this, it can be concluded that operational sale planning should align carefully
by the sales manager to ensure the high performance in future. Sales functions are considered the
main important functions upon which the whole profitability of the organization depends on. So,
it is the responsibility of the sales manager to plan the marketing activities ensure high growth in
future efficiently.
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Task 2
Marketing strategies play an important role in operational sales planning. For achieving the
profitability, the marketing strategies of the organization is divided into segments which help the
sales manager in effectively targeting the requirements of each segment. For achieving the
objective the sales manager of the organization is formulated a plan on the basis of the strategic,
tactical and operational level. This helps the sales manager in enhancing their knowledge
regarding day to sales activity and sales order achievement of the organization. If the Sales
manager wants to formulate efficient business plans, they should forecast the estimated sales on
the basis of past data (Thorogood, 2013). It can be concluded by following any techniques, but
the main thing is that collected data should be realistic which helps in the formulating accurate
decision. While formulating the sales plan of the organization sales manager should effectively
utilize the available data to achieve successful sales. The sales manager should formulate
SMART objectives for the sales plan which helps in determining the targets. The most important
thing sales manager should efficiently plan the activities require for fulfilling the predetermined
objectives of the organization. Operation sales plan should be developed as per the determined
standards to ensure its profitability in future. In addition, the sales manager should efficiently
manage the implementation of the operational sales plan which helps in performing functions
efficiently. If the sales manager is facing any variance during the implementation of sales plan,
an efficient way should be a plan to tackle with such variances.
Task 3
Stakeholders are known as the person interested in the performance of the organization. Sales
plan of the organization is communicated to stakeholders through:
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