Commercial Action Plan (PAC): definition and explanation

What is a commercial action plan (PAC)?

Commercial action plan - Definition

The PAC (commercial action plan) represents the actions implemented during the execution of the commercial strategy of a company. This internal tool makes it possible to predict and plan all the marketing and commercial actions that a company will have to put in place to achieve its goals.

The PAC makes it possible to specify what must be put in place, who is responsible for the actions to be carried out, the period concerned, or even the results obtained to achieve all the objectives. Its ideal starting point? The goals of course!

Many companies collaborate with Akimbo to boost the performance of their sales team, on topics of guidance, outsourcing Or of Coaching.

‍Commercial strategy and commercial action plan

The commercial strategy corresponds to all the tools marketing and sales allowing new customers to be prospected, to increase the number of sales and therefore the turnover. It affects the marketing mix : i.e. communication, distribution, product and customer relationships. The commercial action plan is the key that will allow you to set up your commercial strategy, your sales goals and the means to achieve them.

The first thing to define is the goals. Also, to establish an effective commercial action plan, it is necessary to have good knowledge of the sector of your company.

The PAC, in addition to concerning the sales manager, the sales team managers And the Commercials terrain, is also aimed at marketing and financial departments. Clearly, it is not only for the sales team but for the whole company.

Why create a commercial action plan?

• The objective of a commercial action plan

The commercial action plan makes it possible to improve the economic performance of a company.

Obviously, it will prevent you (and your teams) from running around like a headless hen. It will be easier to project yourself for the year because the PAC plans all of the company's commercial and marketing actions. The PAC is studied daily in order to observe the coherence between the use of resources and the budgets put in place. It therefore allows economic monitoring of the company's performance.

The PAC also offers a visualization of the strategic positioning of the company. It serves as a daily guide by allowing decisions to be made quickly during the year and by optimizing the company's resources and commercial resources. Thanks to the PAC, the sales team gains in performance and has a better synergy of its actions with customers.

In summary, the PAC allows Know what to sell and to whom, but especially when and How to sell it, while offering an explanation to salespeople so that they can fully immerse themselves in the company's culture.

‍

How do I develop a commercial action plan?

The PAC conditions the development of a society over time. It offers a performance monitoring of the company and therefore clearly sees whether the goals set have been achieved or not. At any time, it can be re-evaluated to improve the company's results. However, to be effective, your commercial action plan must follow a few well-defined key steps.

1. Positioning your business

This positioning exercise allows you to analyze your market to define its value proposition, his strengths, his weaknesses, his contestants And its targets. As soon as all members of the company are in line with the company's vision, it will be easier to work together towards a common objective.

It also offers the opportunity to carry out a SWOT analysis of its structure, products or services. This analysis helps to review market threats. This analysis makes it possible to know the advantages of its solution, its weak points to be corrected. Essential points of attention for its salespeople.

‍

2. Setting goals

After carrying out a SWOT analysis, it is necessary to define the commercial objectives to be implemented.

Your goals should be “SMART”:

• Clear and precise;
• Measurable in order to allow a rapid assessment of the effectiveness of the actions implemented in the company;
• Ambitious but achievable to best motivate your teams;
• Limited in time in order to motivate your teams to quickly and effectively carry out their tasks before the set deadline.

3. Targeting the audience

For your commercial action plan to be effective, it is imperative that you know your target. Take the time toidentify customer segment (s) that you are aiming for. Before defining your commercial actions, ask yourself the right questions:

• What are the needs of your customers?
• What problems do your customers face and what solutions can you provide them with?
• What place of purchase is likely to earn you the most money?
• What are the different buying journeys of your customers?
• How much revenue are you going to get from your customers?

Once you have answered all these questions, you can then define the order of priority of the actions to be implemented.

‍

4. Structuring your teams

Use defined goals to structure your sales teams. Depending on the type of customer, the profiles of a team will be different:

For example, to win new prospects, it is important to favor a salesperson with experience in the field of sales. To enable true efficiency within its teams, it is necessary that you detail with great precision the role of each person in achieving the objectives set by the company.

5. The commercial strategy

As soon as the base is in place, you can start defining your commercial approach (strategies, techniques and methodologies). When setting up the business strategy, be sure to identify every detail of your action plan. You can use a table as a support in which you indicate your goals, the actions to be implemented, the managers involved, the deadlines and the budgets put in place.

It is necessary to place The vision and The values of your business like the base of your PAC. Each employee must be aware of the company's strategy, its positioning and its set objectives. The objectives envisaged may be, for example, to increase your turnover.

This stage of your CAP is essential. It identifies each aspect of your business strategy as The sales stages i.e. the various essential steps to convert prospects into customers.

6. Establishing a road map

Before moving on to writing your business plan, it is imperative that you have the necessary perspective on your business and your business. Establishing a road map requires a number of parameters. That is why, generally, businesses ask for a audit of their activity with an external firm or through the recruitment of a new external sales manager. By doing this, companies ensure greater objectivity in the analysis of their current positioning. One Commercial actions roadmap is generally defined after asking yourself several questions, which are the following:

• Current positioning and vision of the company at 3-5 years or more;
• Identification of business goals;
• Audit and implementation of the tools necessary to achieve the objectives set.

Example of a road map:

In general, a road map is established in the following way:

1. Long-term vision of the company:

(Example: We will be a leader in a sector X)

2. The main objectives set:

(Example: Increase turnover by X euros over 3 years; Target a larger customer base; Obtain 20% market share in the alcoholic drinks segment)

Actions : Example: Participation in a professional forum;

Stages : 1) Get 700 registrations 2) Convert 50 customers 3) Get 30 positive customer reviews... ;

Responsible : Mr. X;

Budget : X euros;

Debut : 20/03/2022;

Fin: 20/03/2023;

Key performance indicators : Example: Customer conversion rate/ Percentage of positive customer reviews;

Result obtained : X result.

‍

How to set up your commercial action plan?

‍Plan its execution

It is now essential that you set up a calendar that shows when your business plan will be implemented. A PAC is effective when some key steps are reached. It must indicate when these are completed to allow a good commercial development of the company. The order in which you organize your plan depends on your priorities. So try to define them before launching your PAC!

‍Track performance and results

For your PAC to be truly effective, it is necessary to monitor the performance and results of your business. To do this, you must choose to follow KPIs (performance indicator) relevant. They allow check the effectiveness of the actions put in place. You will also be able to see if the goals set by the company are being met or not. There are a multitude of KPIs. So take the time to choose them carefully!

To analyze the performance of your sales, it is also possible to analyze The margin generated, the number of contracts signed, the number of products sold but also Lost. To analyze your customer base, you can examine its evolution, its retention rate or even its transformation rate. It is also possible that you are using a tool from CRM which will allow you to obtain great visibility on the performance of your sales teams thanks to the monitoring of your dedicated KPIs.

‍

‍