Sales Strategy

A Sales Strategy is a business strategy that focuses on identifying target customers, setting sales objectives, and developing a pathway for achieving sales goals.

• Context:
  • It can (typically) be documented in a Sales Strategy Document (often within a business plan).
  • It can (typically) involve the allocation of resources, such as finances and human capital, to sales efforts.
  • It can (typically) encompass setting quotas, identifying key performance indicators, and formulating tactics for customer outreach and retention.
  • It can (typically) be tailored to fit the unique needs and objectives of a specific business or industry.
  • It can (typically) involve analyses such as SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to understand market conditions.
  • It can (often) include a pricing strategy to optimize revenue while remaining competitive.
  • It can (often) be developed in tandem with a Marketing Strategy to create a cohesive approach to market penetration.
  • …
• Example(s):
  • A Software Company Sales Strategy (for a software company) that identifies specific industries that can benefit from its products, creating a structured plan to reach decision-makers within those industries, and setting sales targets for each quarter.
  • A Retail Business Sales Strategy (for a retail business) to offer seasonal promotions and discounts to increase sales during holiday periods, coupled with an aggressive social media campaign to build brand recognition.
  • A B2B Service Sales Strategy (for a B2B org.) to establish partnerships with other businesses for referrals, and allocating resources for attending industry events to network and generate leads.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • A Marketing Strategy, which may focus more on building brand awareness and positioning rather than direct sales efforts.
  • A Product Strategy, which focuses on the development, design, and features of the product, rather than how it is sold.
  • A Supply Chain Strategy, which focuses on optimizing the procurement, storage, and distribution of goods.
  • …
• See: Go-to-Market Strategy, Revenue Generation, Customer Relationship Management, Sales Funnel.

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References

2020

• (Inyang & Jaramillo, 2020) ⇒ AE Inyang, and F Jaramillo (2020). “Salesperson implementation of sales strategy and its impact on sales performance", Journal of Strategic Marketing, Taylor & Francis, [doi:Unavailable].
  • QUOTE: "The activities of salespeople and the sales strategy espoused by sales organizations... This paper also seeks to examine the performance implications of sales strategy..."

2019

• (Katsikea et al., 2019) ⇒ E. Katsikea, M. Theodosiou, and K. Makri (2019). “The interplay between market intelligence activities and sales strategy as drivers of performance in foreign markets", European Journal of Marketing, Emerald Publishing, [doi:Unavailable].
  • QUOTE: "This study aims to propose that the development of an effective export sales strategy can...important drivers of export sales strategy. Export sales strategy comprises three dimensions..."

2010

• (Panagopoulos & Avlonitis, 2010) ⇒ NG Panagopoulos, and GJ Avlonitis (2010). “Performance implications of sales strategy: the moderating effects of leadership and environment", International Journal of Research in, [doi:Unavailable].
  • QUOTE: "Sales strategy and performance by developing and testing a conceptual model that links sales strategy to...may exert a moderating effect on the sales strategy-performance relationship."

2015

• (Terho et al., 2015) ⇒ H. Terho, A Eggert, A Haas, W Ulaga (2015). “How sales strategy translates into performance: The role of salesperson customer orientation and value-based selling", Industrial Marketing Management, Elsevier, [doi:Unavailable].
  • QUOTE: "Develops a model of how three conceptually distinct facets of sales strategy affect salespeople and their selling..."

2012

• (Kathuni & Mugenda, 2012) ⇒ LK Kathuni, NG Mugenda (2012). “Direct sales strategy applied by commercial banks in Kenya", International Journal of Business, Humanities and Technology, Citeseer, [doi:Unavailable].
  • QUOTE: "Sales strategy towards attainment of competitive advantage among commercial banks in Kenya. It further sought to establish the direct sales strategy... embraced direct sales strategy as a..."

2001

• (Leigh & Marshall, 2001) ⇒ TW Leigh, and GW Marshall (2001). “Research priorities in sales strategy and performance", Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Taylor & Francis, [doi:Unavailable].
  • QUOTE: "Exhaustive compendium of academic research issues in sales strategy. Rather, we seek to provide... Our discussion of the Chally Group's best practices for sales strategy and practice is..."

1985

• (Landsberger & Meilijson, 1985) ⇒ M. Landsberger, and I. Meilijson (1985). “Intertemporal price discrimination and sales strategy under incomplete information", The RAND Journal of Economics, JSTOR, [doi:Unavailable].
  • QUOTE: "This article examines intertemporal price variations to provide a theoretical explanation for them. When firms have only incomplete information about consumers' reservation prices for..."

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