Sales Plan - Understand Your Customers & Aligning Sales

Your sales results are only as good as your planning. Or as Benjamin Franklin put it "Failing to plan is planning to fail”. Without clear alignment between your business offer and your customers’ needs, even the best product or service will fall flat.

So before you can even think about closing more deals, we need to get strategic.

The ‘Plan’ stage is where you lay the groundwork - mapping your current sales process, getting crystal clear on who your customer is, what they care about, and aligning “how you sell” with “how they buy” so you can meet them where they are.

This isn’t about guesswork. It’s about refining your sales strategy so you can make every next action count.

Segment your customers by value, behaviour or industry, so you can spend your time and budget where it counts.

You’re trying to sell to “everyone”

Instead of going broad, go smart. Segment your customers by value, behaviour, or industry, so you can spend your time and budget where it counts the most.

Segment your customers by value, behaviour or industry, so you can spend your time and budget where it counts.
If your offer could apply to anyone, then it resonates with no-one. Use real customer pain points to shape a compelling and relevant pitch.

Your value proposition is vague or generic

If your offer could apply to anyone, then it resonates with no-one. Use real customer pain points to shape a compelling and relevant pitch.

If your offer could apply to anyone, then it resonates with no-one. Use real customer pain points to shape a compelling and relevant pitch.
Mapping your sales process is one thing. Aligning it with your customer’s decision journey is the real win.

Your sales process doesn’t match how your customers buy

Mapping your sales process is one thing. Aligning it with your customer’s decision journey is the real win.

Mapping your sales process is one thing. Aligning it with your customer’s decision journey is the real win.
Your teams know more than you think. Bring sales, marketing and customer service into planning early.

You’re not leveraging internal insight

Your teams know more than you think. Bring sales, marketing and customer service into planning early.

Your teams know more than you think. Bring sales, marketing and customer service into planning early.
When you only look at the data, it’s easy to forget there is a human being behind every sale, every decision, ultimately you lose understanding of the “why” behind the numbers.

You’re focusing solely on the metrics

When you only look at the data, it’s easy to forget there is a human being behind every sale, every decision, ultimately you lose understanding of the “why” behind the numbers.

When you only look at the data, it’s easy to forget there is a human being behind every sale, every decision, ultimately you lose understanding of the “why” behind the numbers.
Customers evolve, their needs and wants change, and markets shift. If your strategy remains static, you risk becoming irrelevant and failing in your market.

You’re failing to adapt over times

Customers evolve, their needs and wants change, and markets shift. If your strategy remains static, you risk becoming irrelevant and failing in your market.

Customers evolve, their needs and wants change, and markets shift. If your strategy remains static, you risk becoming irrelevant and failing in your market.

A Step-By-Step Guide To An Effective Sales Plan

  • Segment - look at the group of potential buyers for your service and group them into key traits - needs, behaviours, values or verticals (specific industries or market segments)
  • Target - sort your groups into a priority order of which are most likely to convert and be a profitable segment for your business
  • Position - tailor your messaging and value proposition to align with what matters most to each segment - answer their pain points and needs,
  • Map - align your internal sales process with the actual steps your customer takes to buy
  • Test & Refine - loop customer and internal team feedback into your planning process, so you are continuously listening, improving and adapting.

Remember, your time is a valuable resource. And when you’re selling to the wrong people, or selling the wrong product or service to the right people, you are wasting your time, and ultimately losing money for your business.

Business Model Canvas - See The Bigger Picture

There are many great tools that can help you with sales planning, in fact we’ve got a resource bundle below, but the Business Model Canvas is a key tool that will really help you to understand how your organisation works, how your competitors work, and what is important to your customers.

A one-page visual, the Business Model Canvas is the blueprint behind your offer, and will help you sharpen your focus into three critical areas:

  • Customer Segments - Who you’re actually selling to. Different segments = different messaging, channels and value propositions.
  • Value Proposition - Why should your customers actually care about your service or product? The Business Model Canvas will help you create offers that solve real problems, not just push out products without a care in the world.
  • Channels & Customer Relationships - How are you reaching your customers, and most importantly how are you building a relationship based on trust? It’s important that your sales process reflects this.

Sales Tip: Use the Business Model Canvas before you create your customer personas or map your sales process. It gives you a big-picture view, so your sales plan can then be rooted in strategy, not just assumptions.

Plan Your Sales Success: From Strategy to Action

Plan Your Sales Success: From Strategy to Action

How Ready Are You For Planning? (Traffic Light Check)

Green (80%+) You’ve got a clear sales process, customer personas, and a working plan
Orange (60-79%) Some pieces are solid, but key areas like segmentation or funnel flow need refining
Red (Below 59%) You’ve got gaps - time to revisit your customer understanding and sales mapping

Free Resource : Sales Planning Checklist

Download our Sales Planning Checklist and use it to:

  • Map your current sales process
  • Define your top customer personas
  • Align your offer with your customers buying behaviour
  • Evaluate how ready you are - using the Traffic Light method

Sales Planning Tools & Resources

 Sales Planning Checklist

 Persona Template

 Sales Process Mapping Tool

 Business Model Canvas

 Value Proposition Worksheet