How Do I Write a Marketing Plan?
Part IV & V - TimeTable, Budgeting and Forecasting

By Stan Rydzynski

TimeTable
       This part of the plan deals with executing action plans to accomplish your goals. In essence it is a marketing action item timetable worksheet that charts every activity required. This is a very important part of the entire plan. The execution part can be poorly managed in today’s hectic work environment. It has been proven that a schedule of the work is most important. In fact, you do it all the time when you schedule a specific job or work order. If it works so well in operation work it will provide the same results for a marketing plan. 
 
    The best way to describe a marketing action item timetable is to show you an example.

Marketing Activity	Person Responsible	January	February	March	April
Attend a training session in May on Arc Flash Testing training given by Ideal Industries sponsored by my local distributor	Bob Green				Sign up for Training
We will introduce our capability to provide arc flash testing service in the third quarter	Bob Green
We will add a new salesperson in Soprano & Corleone Counties in June.	Max Potter	Contact Employment Agency 15th	Interview	Interview	Interview
Add another service truck in the third quarter to support anticipated increase in sales from the new expanded sales counties	Bill Brown
Starting in April develop the new sections, graphic ideas and copy for the website	Joe Clark Sam Brown Dave White (IT)	Develop layout & Copy	Meet with Dave to incorporate in site	Trouble Shoot site	Launch 15th
Join the local NARI association, NAHB and the local Chamber of Commerce	Bill Green

Note: - because of size, we couldn’t illustrate the entire year.
   
     Beside the name of the action item, the name of the person(s) responsible for the action is required. This worksheet will make it easy to identify when projects have to be started and completed. It will require work in the beginning but it will pay off as a terrific management tool to insure the plan is executed. And it makes it easy for you to manage implementation of your marketing plan, and lets you know who is handling what.

Budgeting  

       Every plan needs to allocate funds to execute. The simplest way is to itemize every item in your plan that requires funding with an estimate of the cost. That’s it (nothing special to construct). You can instruct your local ad agency to help with the costs. If you will advertise in local periodicals (i.e. Penny Saver, newspaper, journals, local on-line services, Yellow Pages, etc.) they can help with estimates. The same can be said for mailers, business cards and flyers, since a local printer will help. Cost of equipment and personnel - you probably have a good idea.

If you are just starting a business your marketing expense will be higher than normal. It could be 8-12% of projected sales. For an existing company you should figure on 2-4%. This can be slightly higher depending on the markets you are serving or new ventures you are launching. To help off-set your costs, ask your distributors and manufacturers how they can help. They may have co-op marketing funds, could offer brochures and graphics and may have demonstration cases you can use or perhaps skilled marketing personnel who can help. They may ask you for some type of purchasing commitment; after all, they are investing in helping you grow.

Forecasting 

     Another key component of a marketing plan is the forecast. Here is where you have to predict what sales you will produce in the coming year. Or for a specific time period. Your first step is to review previous year’s sales as well as previous year’s gross or net profit figures. Some people like to look at multiple years to identify trends. Given the economy the last couple of years, this may not be relevant to you. Your accounting or sales and profit reports you have developed will be invaluable. If you don’t have any reports, you need to add reporting as a weakness in your situation analysis section, create a goal and identify action plans to correct. It would be important to breakdown your sales by job or activity type (For example, residential, commercial, educational, industrial, service changeover, swimming pool wiring, generator installation, etc.) This way you can identify where the sales are coming from. Setting up a marketing reporting system of sales by territory, customer, market and type of work will payoff in determining growth, planning, profit opportunities, and more.

        Let me start by saying that the future can not be predicted accurately. If you did you were extremely lucky. However, you can get very close. It is about reviewing historical information, mixing it with research and understanding your marketing plan and expectations. Mixing these together can give you a good estimate of the future. For example, if we know that 5 targeted new accounts do $435,000 with your competition, then it is realistically possible that you can convert 20-30% of that business the first year with a well planned strategy. My advice is to forecast conservatively. Put aside the ego and plan for a small piece of the pie. If you are ready to start providing arc flash testing to your customers then obtaining 15% of your existing sales in arc flash business may be attainable. If that equals 12 customers at a $2600 charge each than $31,200 forecast is within reasonable. The process is the same when you are predicting your sales for next year. Please note that forecasting existing business is more predictable than new business ventures. Customer decision-making processes, timing, scheduling, unpredictable workload and manpower issues can turn new business opportunities into delays. Weigh heavily on the known versus the unknown when forecasting and budgeting.

         OK, you have now experienced the final steps in developing a realistic and workable marketing plan. Writing and creating the plan takes time. Expect to work on your first plan can take 10-15 working days over a period of time. Don’t rush the plan. Take the time to create the most effective profitable plan for your company. If you missed previous articles (Situation Analysis, Goals & Objectives, Action Plans), email me at the address below for a complete copy.
 

Stan Rydzynski, Executive V.P., Channel Marketing Group, has over 35 years of experience in marketing/sales/product excellence in the electrical industry. The Channel Marketing Group provides strategic planning, marketing planning and market research for contractors, manufacturers and distributors with a focus on growth initiatives to accelerate performance. If you have a marketing/strategic planning question, you can contact Stan for a FREE consult at srydzynski@channelmkt.com or 516-319-1191. In addition, Stan conducts a 2-3 hour marketing/planning contractor seminar covering basic marketing concepts as well as teaching how to write an effective contractor marketing plan. Contact your local IEC, NECA chapters and/or your local distributor to arrange for him to conduct his highly effective and informative seminars.