We all agree one of the most important parts of any business is Sales. We also know that to get sales we must advertise to let potential customers know of our offerings. When writing a business plan you must have a clear and concise picture of how you will generate sales for your business if you are to attract favorable loans and proper capital to succeed. I cannot impress upon you enough of the importance of these sections in your business plan. So much so that I want to offer you this sample to assist you in writing your business plan for your next most important entrepreneurial endeavor.
You will need to print this article and then read the paragraphs below and of course modify them to fit you business model. Carefully describing how you will go about your sales and which methods of advertising you will use to bring in your customers. Then construct your own Sales and Advertising Sections for your business plan. My sample is for a mobile car wash business that is a franchise and is pretty straight-forward, it will give you ideas and insights to complete your own. Continued Success.
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Sales
We will initially use direct sales as our primary sales technique. We will casually walk into businesses and offer our services. Other forms of initial contact will include fax marketing, e-mail, flyer distribution, car wash fundraisers and car wash free-bee give aways. We will follow the franchisor's recommendations on sales lines that are updated periodically on cassette tapes. We will play these tapes in our work trucks so all crew members can close sales and up-sell customers instantly in the parking lots and offices.
We will also follow the franchisor's pricing policies. When we find something that works extremely well in our territory we will push those services. It is in the Franchise Circular and Franchise Agreement that we must charge no less than $5.00 for a basic exterior car wash. The other prices can vary. We intend to retain the highest possible profit in the services we provide. We want repeat customers, so we will find a happy medium for our clients (supply and demand).
For promotions we will continually:
Give out car wash door prizes at civic group meetings, bingo nights, chamber of commerce, etc.
Plan car wash fundraisers at least once per month for kids.
Fax out car wash discounts on poor weather days.
Sponsor civic programs such as Neighborhood Mobile Watch Program, Arson Watch Program, etc.
Advertising
Our advertising will be extensive. Our franchisor will help us achieve additional market penetration up to 1.2% of the population (based upon a population average of 40,000) for every truck we are using. Their advertising help will include some of the following:
Bidding On Government Accounts
Direct Mailings of Previous Customers
Fax On Demand
Fleet Sales Campaigns (Every Three Months)
Internet Home Page Referrals
Radio Packages
We will spend our local advertising dollars very carefully on things like: Booster Club programs for youth sports, flyers and inserts in newspapers. All of our flyers will have local advertising on the reverse side. This will offset most or all of the printing costs. Our franchisor has proven over and over that these are the best forms of advertising for mobile automobile services.
Marketing Funds Distribution Breakdown
Insert Chart.
Media
Free publicity has always been easy for those companies that have new concepts and flair. Our company will have ultra high visibility. Our truck(s) will be bright yellow, have large signs and perform high profile car washing fundraisers for non-profits groups. Our crews will be high energy young men and women. Here are some of the places we will submit pre-written stories and press releases:
Chamber Of Commerce Newsletters
Contractor Newsletters
Large Company Newsletters
Local BBS Bulletin Boards
Local Cable Companies
Local Industry News
Local Newspapers
Local Radio Stations
Real Estate Multi-Listing Books
Our franchisor will custom make public relations material in the event our preinstalled press release files in Microsoft Word are not applicable to the given situation.
"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs