Marketing and Sales Plan
The marketing and sales plan describes how the sales projections will be attained. The marketing plan needs to
detail the overall marketing strategy that will exploit the opportunity. Include a discussion of sales and service
policies; pricing, distribution, promotion, and advertising strategies; and sales projections. The marketing plan
needs to describe what is to be done, how it will be done, when it will be done, and who will do it.
A. Overall marketing strategy.
• Describe the specific marketing philosophy and strategy of the company, given the value chain and channels of
distribution in the market niche(s) you are pursuing. Include, for example, a discussion of the kinds of customer
groups that you already have orders from or that will be targeted for initial intensive selling effort and those
targeted for later selling efforts; how specific potential customers in these groups will be identified and how they
will be contacted; what features of the product or service, such as service, quality, price, delivery, warranty, or
training, will be emphasized to generate sales; if any innovative or unusual marketing concepts will enhance
customer acceptance, such as leasing where only sales were previously attempted; and so forth.
• Indicate whether the product(s) or service(s) will initially be introduced internationally, nationally, or
regionally; explain why; and if appropriate, indicate any plans for extending sales at a later date.
• Discuss any seasonal trends that underlie the cash conversion cycle in the industry and what can be done to
promote sales out of season.
• Describe any plans to obtain government contracts as a means of supporting product development costs and
overhead.
B. Pricing.
• Discuss pricing strategy, including the prices to be charged for your product and service, and compare your
pricing policy with those of your major competitors
• Discuss the gross profit margin between manufacturing and ultimate sales costs and indicate whether
this margin is large enough to allow for distribution and sales, warranty, training, service, amortization of
development and equipment costs, price competition, and so forth, and still allow a profit.
• Justify your pricing strategy and differences between your prices and those for competitive or substitute
products or services in terms of economic payback to the customer and value added through newness, quality,
warranty, timing, performance, service, cost savings, efficiency, and the like.
• If your product is to be priced lower than those of the competition, explain how you will do this and maintain
profitability (e.g., through greater value added via effectiveness in manufacturing and distribution, lower labor
costs, lower material costs, lower overhead, or other cost component).
C. Sales tactics
• Describe the methods (e.g., own sales force, sales representatives, ready-made manufacturers’ sales
organizations, direct mail, or distributors) that will be used to make sales and distribute the product or service
and both the initial plans and longer-range plans for a sales force.
• Discuss the value chain and the resulting margins to be given to retailers, distributors, wholesalers,
and salespeople and any special policies regarding discounts, exclusive distribution rights, and so on, given to
distributors or sales representatives and compare these to those given by your competition.
• Describe how distributors or sales representatives, if they are used, will be selected, when they will start to
represent you, the areas they will cover and the head count of dealers and representatives by month, and the
expected sales to be made by each.
• If a direct sales force is to be used, indicate how it will be structured and at what rate (a head count) it will be
built up; indicate if it is to replace a dealer or representative organization and, if so, when and how.
• If direct mail, magazine, newspaper, or other media, telemarketing, or catalog sales are to be used, indicate the
specific channels or vehicles, costs (per 1,000), expected response rates, and so on. Discuss how these will be
built up.
• Show the sales expected per salesperson per year and what commission, incentive, and/or salary they are slated
to receive, and compare these figures to the average for your industry.
• Present a selling schedule and a sales budget that includes all marketing promotion and service costs.