However, this does not only mean knowing where your company wants to go, but also establishing when and, above all, how to achieve your goals. Thus, the business will have greater chances of presenting results and continuing to operate, even in the face of great competition .

Therefore, continue reading this content to learn what business planning is and how to do it to increase your organization’s results and visibility.

Let’s go?

WHAT IS BUSINESS PLANNING?

In the current scenario, for a company to have results, it is not enough just to make its products available to the public. That’s because, as you’ve seen, there are many other players in the market who may have products to address the same needs as yours.

Furthermore, the fact that your business has been successful in the past is no guarantee that it will be successful in the future. That way, if you don’t offer a differential, your business could stagnate or become the second option when choosing the customer.

In this sense, commercial planning can be the tool capable of revealing the way for you to stand out among your competitors. It is defined as the roadmap that contains the strategies to structure and optimize your sales processes.

Putting together a good business plan and ensuring its execution are essential points to improve your company’s results and achieve your goals. In addition, you need to know other strategies that can contribute to this journey.

HOW DOES BUSINESS PLANNING WORK?

In practice, the purpose of commercial planning is to organize and optimize your team’s workflow. In this way, you will be able to improve the positioning of your business in the market, attract more customers, increase revenue and stay ahead of the competition.

This involves assessing the internal and external aspects of the business. Among them are:

  • leadership preparation;
  • team training and engagement;
  • performance indicators;
  • problems with team formation;
  • bottlenecks in the area;
  • competitor actions;
  • business opportunities;
  • market potential;
  • customer experience ;
  • productive capacity;
  • continuous monitoring.

By understanding this context, it is possible to focus on the problems identified, as well as direct the actions that must be taken. With this route, your team will know exactly which way to go, what each employee needs to do, when and how each activity should be performed.

Furthermore, everyone will be aware of what is expected and how their performance will be measured. When there is no commercial planning, there is no control over the actions taken, the team does not work with engagement and synergy — and, in general, does not achieve common goals and objectives.

WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMERCIAL PLANNING?

After having seen what commercial planning is and how it works, it is also worth understanding its importance for any organization.

You may have already noticed that consumers are increasingly demanding. When a company does not meet their expectations, it is common that, in addition to seeking the services of another company, they share the negative experience they had on their social networks.

That way, you won’t just lose a customer, but you’ll risk losing several potential customers who have access to that testimonial. That is, your company’s reputation may be damaged, attracting fewer interested parties — which tends to impact your revenue and results.

In addition to these issues, the market has undergone a major technological transformation and, in recent years, has faced unexpected events. This is the case, for example, of pandemics (such as covid-19), wars, political and economic crises, among others.

In this context of competition and uncertainty, it is essential to be prepared with an action plan — one that can keep your business solid even in the face of two more unlikely scenarios. Therefore, it is worth considering having an appropriate, strategic and efficient commercial planning.

HOW TO MAKE A STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLAN?

Drawing up a strategic business plan starts with detailed knowledge of your company’s current scenario and the goals set. It is also necessary to keep in mind the deadline for achieving them and, therefore, check the means that can be used to achieve each goal.

Check below the main points to be observed in the creation of commercial planning!

ANALYZE THE CURRENT SCENARIO

The first step in developing the business plan involves a general analysis of the context in which the company operates. Therefore, business, competition and market data must be evaluated.

This technique allows identifying internal and external factors that can contribute or hinder the company’s strategies. See more about each of them:

STRENGTH

It refers to your company’s strongest capabilities and its advantages over the competition. These guidelines can be found from questions such as:

  • What are the best rated products or services?
  • What is the level of customer engagement?
  • What is the main factor of competitive advantage?

WEAKNESSES

It concerns the weakest links that hinder the development of the business. Here are some questions that can help you identify them:

  • Are there gaps in workforce training?
  • Why do customers choose the competition?
  • Why is the team not engaged?

OPPORTUNITIES

Opportunities are related to the current context of the economy, such as changes in interest rates, variations in inflation, among others. However, they can also involve new market demands not yet covered by the competition, the possibility of standing out from a differentiated service or product, etc.

Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the macro scenario and its niche in search of opportunities that can bring a positive influence to the business.

THREATS

As the name implies, threats include everything that can negatively influence the company . They often undermine strategic business planning. Therefore, threats need to be mapped and closely monitored.

SET GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The next step in building commercial planning is the development of goals and objectives — both for the company and the team involved. It may also be relevant to create a system that encourages employees to achieve their individual and collective goals.

Many companies offer bonuses and prizes to those who contribute to the engagement of proposed activities. To define them, it is quite common to use the SMART methodology.

This is the acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely — or specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and temporal. Check out what each of these aspects means:

SPECIFIC

This characteristic means that the goals must be objective. That way, everyone will know what the company is looking for. Therefore, it is not enough to set a goal of “increasing revenue”, for example. It is necessary to indicate the percentage sought, the responsible team and the time to fulfill it.

MEASURABLE

A measurable goal is one that can be measured over time to see if the team is on track. The premise is to use parameters based on data that can be read and monitored, indicating the evolution and results of the actions taken.

REACHABLE

There is no point in setting a goal that cannot be achieved. Thus, it needs to be realistic and have an effective possibility of being achieved. Ignoring this factor tends to generate demotivation and disengagement in the team.

RELEVANT

Another factor that cannot be overlooked is the relevance of the goal or objective. The result to be achieved must contribute positively to the business. After all, who would engage to achieve a goal that won’t make any difference to the company?

TEMPORAL

Setting goals and temporal objectives is crucial for the team to act with commitment and determination. Not having a deadline can make the team not prioritize them, considering that it will always be possible to leave them for later.

DETERMINE THE STRATEGIES TO BE USED

After defining the goals and objectives, the next step will be to determine the strategies that will be used to achieve them. This is the ideal time to reflect on what will need to be done to reach the expected result.

For example, if you want to increase sales volume by 10%, you can use different strategies, such as:

  • create promotions;
  • invest in marketing;
  • post content on social networks to attract customers;
  • improve customer service;
  • improve employee training (communication and approach);
  • between others.

In addition, it is necessary to present the strategies to those involved in commercial planning. This is because the team will hardly know how to act if it is not instructed in this regard. Then present in detail what was defined and the purpose of each strategy.

DEVELOP THE OPERATIONAL PLAN

Once you have the strategies outlined, it will be time to put them into practice. Therefore, the operational plan will be the instrument that brings the details of what actions should be adopted to achieve the objectives outlined.

This plan may consist of the following items:

  • action plan: document that lists all the activities that must be adopted;
  • schedule : refers to the time that will be allocated to each of the actions and the deadlines;
  • marketing plan : highlights the target audience and the persona, the channels that will be used in sales campaigns and positioning definitions;
  • budget: details the financial and human resources that will be needed to carry out the actions;
  • performance indicators: determines the KPIs (key performance indicators) that will be used to monitor the execution of the plan.

EXECUTE WHAT WAS PLANNED

Planning is essential to detail everything that will be done, but it is also important to execute what was planned. In this sense, direct the tasks that will be carried out according to the skills of each employee and professional involved.

Afterwards, observe the results periodically and, if necessary, make any adjustments you deem relevant. As you already know, the world is constantly changing, and it is necessary to observe them in order to make adaptations and keep up with them.

With a well-designed plan, your company’s commercial sector will have clear rules and procedures to be followed. In this context, any errors will be corrected more quickly. This tends to increase the team’s synergy and, consequently, its results.