This guide has been designed to assist you in preparing your first Sales and Marketing Plan. It describes what a Sales and Marketing Plan is, why it is important and the key elements you should consider when creating this. The plan can be a ‘stand-alone’ document or be one section of your Business Plan.
This guide also contains a series of practical steps to help you gather the information you will need to prepare your plan as well as a template to use that will assist you to write your first plan quickly and effectively.
Taking the time to prepare a Sales and Marketing Plan will help you to gain answers to key questions you will have about how to identify, reach and sell to your target market (customer groups) as well as how to analyse the results of your marketing campaigns and make appropriate adjustments to grow your business in the future.
Intended Readers: This guide is primarily aimed to assist:
• Individuals who are thinking about starting their first business venture, who are exploring a business idea and the potential opportunities that may exist for it in the market
• Individuals who have developed their business idea and recently started their first business venture. This includes those who are at the stage of having conducted some Market Research and are now beginning to promote their business and plan marketing campaigns.
The information provided in this guide has been prepared for individuals as an initial ‘First Step’ towards better understanding how to prepare and implement a Sales and Marketing Plan. This is a key area of business development and it is recommended that you read around the topic area when using this guide to further broaden your understanding of sales and marketing. You should also consider speaking to a professional business advisor who can answer any specific questions you may have
