Cómo hacer un Plan de Ventas en 3 Pasos

Gerardo Rodríguez / Cállate y Vende

27 Dec 202211:08

Summary

TLDRIn this video, Gerardo Rodríguez, creator of the top sales podcast in Latin America, explains the three essential elements for creating a solid sales plan. He emphasizes analyzing past sales, setting ambitious yet realistic growth targets (minimum 10% annually), and focusing on key performance indicators (KPIs). Rodríguez also highlights the importance of measuring both outputs (results) and inputs (activities) such as cold calls, product demos, and webinars. He concludes by advising businesses to equip their teams with the tools and knowledge necessary for success, like a CRM system, to achieve their sales goals.

Takeaways

📝 Sales plans are often lacking or nonexistent in small businesses, which can lead to inconsistent results.
📊 The first step to building a sales plan is to analyze your previous sales history, focusing not just on the revenue but on the activities that generated it.
📞 Key activities, like sales demos, prospecting visits, cold calls, and follow-ups, are critical drivers of sales and should be measured.
📈 To ensure business growth, aim for at least a 10% increase in sales annually to keep up with inflation and maintain purchasing power.
🔍 Your sales goal should balance ambition with realism to drive change without becoming unattainable.
💼 Using a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system is essential for tracking sales activities and improving your plan execution.
⚖️ There are two types of sales metrics: input metrics (activities like calls and visits) and output metrics (results like total sales). Both are essential for a well-rounded sales plan.
📈 Focusing solely on output metrics (like total sales) without tracking input metrics (like activities) limits your ability to adjust and improve performance.
🚀 A strong sales plan should outline specific daily or weekly activities, like the number of calls or demos, ensuring the goals are achievable through consistent actions.
👨‍🏫 Ensure your sales team has the necessary skills, time, and tools to execute the plan. Their preparedness is key to reaching your sales targets.

Q & A

What is the main goal of the video?
-The main goal of the video is to explain three key things needed to create an effective sales plan, especially for small businesses that may not have one.
What is the first step Gerardo mentions for creating a sales plan?
-The first step is to analyze your past sales performance. If you have historical data, you should examine what actions led to the results in the previous sales period.
Why does Gerardo emphasize measuring activities instead of just results?
-Gerardo emphasizes that results are outcomes of specific activities, such as sales calls or product demonstrations. By focusing on these activities (inputs), you can better control and predict your sales performance.
How much annual growth does Gerardo suggest for a business?
-Gerardo suggests that a business should aim for at least a 10% annual growth to stay ahead of inflation and maintain purchasing power.
What does Gerardo say about setting sales targets that are too low?
-Gerardo advises ignoring company-set goals if they are less than 10% growth, as they won’t help the business maintain or improve its financial position.
What is a CRM, and why is it important for a sales plan?
-A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system is a tool used to manage customer interactions and sales processes. Gerardo mentions it as an essential element for organizing and executing a sales plan effectively.
What is the difference between 'inputs' and 'outputs' in sales metrics according to Gerardo?
-Inputs are the activities that lead to sales, such as calls, visits, or product demos, while outputs are the actual sales results. Gerardo argues that focusing on inputs allows businesses to adjust their actions before the sales period ends.
What examples of 'inputs' does Gerardo provide?
-Gerardo provides examples such as cold calls, first-time visits, product demonstrations, and follow-up calls, all of which are activities that lead to sales.
Why does Gerardo recommend having aggressive yet realistic sales goals?
-Gerardo recommends having sales goals that are ambitious enough to push the team to improve, but also realistic enough to be achievable. This balance motivates change without discouraging the team.
What final advice does Gerardo give to sales managers and directors?
-He advises sales managers to ensure that their teams have the right knowledge, time, skills, and tools to carry out the necessary sales activities, which will help them meet their targets.

Outlines

00:00

📊 How to Build a Sales Plan: The Three Essentials

In this paragraph, Gerardo Rodríguez introduces the importance of having a structured sales plan for small businesses. He highlights how many businesses, even those with sales departments, often operate without a concrete plan. He explains the first key step in creating a sales plan: using historical sales data. If the business has sales history, they can analyze past performance to inform future targets. Gerardo emphasizes the importance of understanding what actions were required to achieve past sales, such as the number of sales calls, visits, or webinars. These 'activities' are crucial for setting a plan based on cause-and-effect relationships in sales performance.

05:00

📈 Set Ambitious Yet Realistic Growth Targets

Gerardo stresses the importance of setting realistic and ambitious sales goals for the upcoming year. He advises that businesses should aim for at least 10% growth annually to keep up with inflation and maintain financial health. He warns that failing to grow by at least this rate results in a loss of purchasing power. Businesses should ignore smaller growth targets and aim for a minimum of 10%, or even better, a 20% growth goal. Gerardo calls for a balance between ambition and realism, making sure the goal challenges the business without being unattainable.

10:01

🔧 Tools and Metrics for a Successful Sales Plan

This paragraph introduces the necessity of using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system for managing sales activities effectively. Gerardo explains how CRM software helps organize sales activities, track progress, and improve sales strategy execution. He invites viewers to join his free online course on CRM systems, offering a 30-day trial to help businesses get started. Additionally, he introduces the concept of 'inputs' versus 'outputs' in sales metrics, emphasizing the need to measure activities (inputs) that lead to sales (outputs) and how focusing on these can help adjust strategies in real time.

🧠 Simple Yet Effective Sales Planning

Gerardo wraps up his video by reiterating that creating a sales plan doesn't require a complex degree or extensive business experience. Instead, it's about identifying goals, determining necessary activities to reach those goals, and ensuring that the sales team has the right tools, skills, and knowledge. He encourages sales managers and directors to ensure their teams are equipped to execute the plan and suggests that they evaluate whether the team has adequate knowledge and resources. He ends the video by encouraging viewers to share and follow him on social media, signing off with his usual motivational message.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Sales Plan

A sales plan is a strategic document outlining how a business intends to sell its products or services over a specific period. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of having a sales plan to guide actions and activities, particularly for small businesses that often lack one. He explains that many businesses operate without a formal plan, which can lead to inconsistent results.

💡Historical Sales Data

Historical sales data refers to past sales performance, including revenue figures, customer behavior, and sales trends. The speaker highlights this as a key resource for businesses that have been operational for at least a year. He suggests using this data to understand what was done in the past to achieve sales results and to use it as a foundation for future sales strategies.

💡Activities

In the context of sales, 'activities' refers to the measurable actions taken by a sales team to drive revenue, such as sales calls, prospecting visits, and follow-ups. The speaker emphasizes that these activities are the causes of sales outcomes, and tracking them is critical for success. He suggests focusing on activities like cold calls, webinars, and product demos to create a predictable and effective sales process.

💡Sales Goals

Sales goals are the targets a business sets to achieve a specific level of revenue within a defined period. The speaker advises setting aggressive but realistic goals, aiming for at least a 10% growth in annual revenue. He explains that without clear goals, businesses risk stagnation and losing purchasing power due to inflation, making goal-setting crucial for business growth.

💡Growth Rate

The growth rate refers to the percentage increase in sales or revenue over a certain period. The speaker asserts that businesses should aim for at least 10% growth annually to outpace inflation and ensure financial health. He warns that lower growth rates may result in losing purchasing power, emphasizing the need for ambitious sales targets.

💡CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

A CRM system is software designed to help businesses manage customer interactions, track sales activities, and analyze data to improve relationships and sales performance. The speaker stresses that having a CRM is essential for executing a sales plan, as it allows businesses to track activities and inputs, manage customer relationships, and optimize sales processes.

💡Inputs vs Outputs

Inputs refer to the activities and efforts made by a sales team (e.g., calls, meetings, demos), while outputs are the results of those activities (e.g., sales revenue, new customers). The speaker explains that focusing only on outputs can be problematic because they are retrospective and cannot be changed. Instead, businesses should track inputs to adjust their strategies proactively and improve sales outcomes.

💡Cold Calls

Cold calls are unsolicited phone calls made to potential customers who have had no prior contact with the salesperson or company. The speaker mentions cold calls as one of the critical sales activities that drive results, suggesting that tracking the number of cold calls made can help a business measure its sales efforts and predict its success.

💡Prospecting

Prospecting is the process of identifying and reaching out to potential customers to generate new sales leads. The speaker emphasizes the importance of prospecting activities, such as first-time visits and follow-up calls, as they are the foundation of any successful sales plan. He advises businesses to measure and optimize their prospecting efforts to ensure consistent growth.

💡Sales Metrics

Sales metrics are measurable values used to track the performance of sales activities and outcomes. The speaker differentiates between two types: input metrics (activities like calls and visits) and output metrics (results like sales revenue). He explains that focusing on both types of metrics is crucial for building a successful sales plan, as it allows businesses to track the causes of sales success, not just the results.

Highlights

Most small businesses with sales departments lack a sales plan; they often act on instinct, leading to inconsistent results.

The first step to creating a sales plan is analyzing historical sales data to understand past performance.

Identify what activities led to previous sales results, such as the number of product demonstrations, prospecting visits, cold calls, and webinars.

Sales growth should aim for at least 10% annually to keep up with inflation and maintain purchasing power.

If your company sets a sales growth target below 10%, ignore it and set your personal goal to at least 10% growth.

Set aggressive but realistic sales goals, balancing ambition with feasibility to drive change.

Use a CRM system to track sales activities and performance metrics efficiently.

There are two types of sales metrics: output metrics (e.g., total sales, new clients) and input metrics (e.g., calls made, visits, webinars).

Focusing only on output metrics is problematic because they reflect results that can no longer be changed.

Input metrics, like the number of cold calls or product demonstrations, are the causes of sales results and are critical for effective planning.

A solid sales plan should incorporate both input and output metrics to ensure you hit sales targets.

Create daily activity targets to ensure consistency, such as 50 cold calls or 10 prospecting visits per day.

Sales managers should ensure their team has the skills, time, tools, and openness to execute the sales plan.

A sales plan does not need to be complex—a half-page document outlining activities and goals can suffice.

Regularly review your plan to make sure your team has what they need to achieve the set activities and sales targets.