Creating the Sales and Marketing Section of a Business Plan

The Sales and Marketing section addresses sales tactics, pricing, advertising, and an overall marketing plan. Your sales and marketing strategies need to coincide with your overall company goals

Manufacturing companies should include their methods of sales and distribution, which may include:

Customer-premise selling by your field representatives

Direct selling using the Internet or telephone

Direct onsite selling through your own facility or factory outlet

Wholesale selling, using distributors or commissioned sales representatives

Other means of sales

Retailers should offer an overview of their anticipated product sales, including all means of selling such as:

In-store sales

Internet sales

Catalog sales

Specific sales strategies, including anticipated promotions, should be included. Additionally, you may use charts or graphs to represent potential sales growth patterns. Be conservative in your sales estimates and support your projections with reasoning that complements your sales plan.

Service providers should detail how the services will be offered to the public. If, as is now the case with many businesses, hard goods and services are both sales options, indicate how both will be sold and how they will be connected and cross-sold.