Sales plan effectiveness for Stretch r' Wings aircraft equipment

¶ … Sales Plan

For any business the overall marketing or sales plan will determine how successful an entity will be. This is because new sales are the lifeblood of the business, without this consistency is when the company will experience large swings in the profitability. In the case of Stretch r' Wings, the company has created a sales strategy for marketing its new product to customers. However, to determine how effective this plan will be requires: examining the plan itself, why such a strategy was chosen, if the current plan is effective and what changes would be recommended to improve its effectiveness. Together, these different elements will provide the greatest insights as what are the overall strengths and weaknesses in the company's sales plan.

The Sales Strategy for Stretch r' Wings

Stretch r' Wings is a start up aircraft equipment manufacturer that will be manufacturing internal medical equipment devices carried on board on medical service aircraft. The way that they will be effectively marketing their medical equipment device is based on the unique features of the product to include: it is lightweight, offers ample amounts of storage, it is durable, can provide greater comfort to the patient and it is cost effective. ("Executive Summary," 2010) the sales department will not fully begin to take shape until the company has secured several long-term contracts, which is expected to occur nine months after opening the business. At which point, the company will begin by hiring a sales manager and aggressively promoting the business to secure more long-term contracts. To market the business, the sales manager will use: various brochures, direct mail, trade magazine advertisements and the internet to reach out to customers. As a result, the sales in the first year are projected: to be $6,475.00 and increasing to $137,500.00 by the fifth year. ("Strategy and Implementation," 2010)

Is there enough Detail to communicate their Sales Plan?

There is enough information to communicate the long-term vision of the sales plan. However, over the short to medium term, there are many assumptions that are not realistic about the business world. Like what was covered previously, they have no effective marketing strategy for when the company first opens. This is when they need to be aggressively pushing for new sales, as the company's future viability will depend upon the Sales Department's success. Because the authors have not accounted for this means, that if their sales are off just little bit, the entire business could be in jeopardy.

Changes that could be Implemented in the Sales Plan

One of the first things that the company needs to do is hire the Sales Manager and begin building the sales team. To cost effectively achieve this objective, you could have the Sales Manager and staff start out on part time basis. Then as sales are increasing, they begin working full time. At the same time, you would need to use a variety of marketing tools to reach out to this market to include: visiting various trade shows along with engaging in a mass media campaign, to build the image of the brand through television and radio advertising. Once this take place, you would have to begin marketing the business to consumers at least 60 to 90 days prior to opening. These different elements will help ensure that the company has ample amounts of exposure prior to opening, which would build sales from the very beginning.

Clearly, the business plan for Stretch r' Wings is economically viable over the long-term. However, over the short to medium term, the plan does not show how the company will account for sales in the beginning. If they can implement a strategy of building the sales department prior to the business opening, the company will dramatically improve the sales projections and profit margins during the first two years. This is important because for most business, the first one to two years will determine how successful the entity will be in the future. Together, these different elements highlight the overall strengths and weaknesses in the sales plan for Stretch r' Wings.