How to create a 30-60-90 day sales plan? [Step-by-step Guide]

What is a 30-60-90 day sales plan?

A 30-60-90 day sales plan outlines in detail how a new sales rep or manager intends to approach their first three months on the job. By strategizing the sales plan and setting goals, one can transition seamlessly into the role of a new sales rep.

This plan helps sales reps align with the organization's sales strategy, explore new territories, and adjust to new tools and processes. It's divided into three phases, each focusing on specific actions:

• Day 1-30: Learning: During the initial month of the sales job, new hires dedicate their time to learning. This phase is crucial for guiding sales reps through understanding the company’s mission, offerings, sales strategies, target market, and team.

• Day 31-60: Implementing: In this phase, sales reps or sales managers transition from learning to implementation. They begin applying the knowledge gained in the learning phase, focusing on taking action, initiating selling processes, and generating initial leads.

• Day 61-90: Improving: The final phase of the sales plan involves reviewing the actions taken in the previous 30 days to assess wins and losses. It's a period for self-review, refining strategies, and establishing a plan for future growth.

Benefits of a 30-60-90 day sales plan

A well-implemented 30-60-90 day sales plan offers numerous advantages for new hires and sales managers. Here are the benefits:

1. Makes onboarding easy

Onboarding new sales team members is one of the most challenging aspects for organizations. If you’re in a competitive industry, you can’t afford to have a slow onboarding process. 

Onboarding helps new hires understand the company culture, products, services, target audience, sales processes, and tools. Research has shown that 69% of employees tend to stay more than three years if they have a great onboarding experience.

A strategic plan that defines specific actions for the first three months can establish clarity about the organization’s expectations, enabling the new employee to hit the ground running. 

By learning about the target market and objectives early on, new team hires can seamlessly integrate and work towards their goals, minimizing the risk of burnout.

2. Prioritizes tasks based on your goals and metrics

Not all tasks are of equal importance.  Sales reps must identify the tasks that require prioritization within the initial phase and beyond. Sales reps and sales managers gain wider visibility into their long-term goals by dividing them into microtasks.

For example, in the first 30 days, the focus might be on learning and observation, understanding the market landscape, and building relationships. In the following 60 days, the priority becomes prospecting, lead generation, and establishing a sales pipeline. By the 90th day, the aim is typically to start closing deals and achieving sales targets. 

By aligning the plan with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), sales professionals can gain valuable insights into actions that drive them closer to their targets. Sales managers can also conduct regular assessments to prioritize daily or weekly tasks and measure the sales goals' progression.

3. Improves your overall productivity

The 30-60-90 day sales plan greatly improves productivity by mapping out a clear route to your sales goals. Acting as a personalized roadmap, it aligns necessary actions with specific timeframes by helping you track progress, identify areas for improvement, and make necessary adjustments along the way.

Sales plan templates can be used to break down the 90-day period. This is great not only for individual performance but also for the overall success of the sales team.

4. Helps you with time management

Every second counts in a sales role and managing time effectively can be a game changer. A well-crafted 30-60-90 day sales plan helps structure time efficiently. 

It helps in allocating appropriate priorities for each task, from learning about the company and its products to prospecting, networking, and setting sales meetings.

This systematic process moves the sales performance trajectory upwards without wasting time on irrelevant goals and tasks. Moreover, you can create specific timelines for each task and reminders on when to advance to the next phase.

How to create a 30-60-90 day sales plan?

Starting a new job or role is like making a trip to a foreign land. You have limited time to get your bearings. A 30-60-90 day sales plan is like a GPS for moving through this new sales territory, highlighting the benefits of territory sales management by ensuring a strategic approach and efficient resource allocation. Before creating this sales plan, you need to conduct thorough research, set up objectives, build a sales achievement roadmap, and define the KPIs that will measure success.

It becomes easier when you have a sales plan template or a reference. Here’s a step-by-step process to draft your 30-60-90 day sales plan: 

1. Define goals during the first week of the job 

The first week starts by identifying the key objectives and defining goals. This includes learning goals, performance goals, and personal goals. 

For example, a sales rep should learn about the company’s products and services, sales processes, target market, etc. in the first week. To learn about the company’s offerings, the salesperson can:

• Engage in conversation with the product managers

• Read customer reviews

• Review product catalogs

Developing these initial goals sets a foundation for achieving business targets. 

2. Make sure your goals align with the team’s goals

When starting a new sales role, your personal goals must align with the team’s goals. 

For instance, if you aim to target low-tier customers within a month, but the organization prioritizes high-tier clients, it may lead to conflicts and disrupt the whole sales process.

Comprehensive conversations with sales leadership can reveal the team's goals and the strategies to reach them.

3. Be clear about your priorities

Ensure clarity with your goals and prioritize them based on your overall 30-60-90 day plan. Collaborate with senior sales leadership and other team members to develop a well-structured template, outlining the priority for each task.

By following this approach, you can develop a more effective strategic sales roadmap, maximize productivity, and make quicker progress toward your goals.

Below is a good example of how you can create a table to prioritize and break down your tasks: 

30-60-90 day sales plan examples

Creating a robust 30-60-90 day sales plan paves the way for sales reps and new sales managers to plan their first three months in their new role. It is a meticulously crafted blueprint, delineating goals and tasks across these critical first months. In this exploration of examples for 30-60-90 day sales plans, we'll delve into illustrative scenarios tailored to various sales positions, such as a new sales rep and a new sales manager.

1. 30-60-90 day plan: New sales rep

A plan crafted for either a new hire or a job interview follows a similar structure, emphasizing learning and implementation over the 90-day period. It brings clarity to the sales rep's role, creating a roadmap, and preparing them for the interview.

Here are the three sales action plan phases for the new hires: 

Phase 1 (Days 1–30): Understand 

In the first 30 days, the primary focus is on understanding the company, its products or services, sales processes, and target market. This phase lays the foundation for success by providing a comprehensive overview of the organization's operations and sales strategy.

Here’s what it entails: 

• Completing all the onboarding training modules and compliance materials to understand current sales strategies.

• Getting acquainted with the company’s missions, goals, and key players in the organization.

• Building relationships with colleagues and sales leadership. 

• Shadowing and observing experienced team members during client meetings, product demonstrations, and sales calls.

• Research the market and analyze the direct competitors and their sales processes. For example, a sales rep can research the competitor’s case studies, talk to their sales execs, and read their online reviews

• Familiarize themselves with the CRM system and other tools essential for managing leads and tracking progress.

Phase 2 (Days 31–60): Implement 

The second phase in this journey involves putting learned concepts into action. Here’s what new sales reps can cover in this phase: 

• Set up mock calls with the sales managers and peers

• Identify new areas for improvement each week and report to the sales manager 

• Gain hands-on experience by interacting with prospects and working on leads

• Track sales activities and measure sales target timeline

• Establish a work-life balance and be involved in meetings and events within the team

Phase 3 (Days 61–90): Optimize

The final stage, which focuses on polishing sales skills and ramping up productivity includes the following processes: 

• Review the actions and outcomes of the previous month and identify the strengths and weaknesses

• Implementing new approaches based on these outcomes and exploring new methods to improve weak areas

• Set up sales goals for the following month, based on the previous month's goals. 

• Schedule calls with sales managers and colleagues to gather feedback on individual performance

• Continue to nurture existing client relationships while actively seeking out new growth opportunities.

2. 30-60-90 day plan: Sales manager example

The action phases of a sales manager's 30-60-90-day plan remain the same while the micro-tasks are different from a new sales rep's. The primary goal of this plan is to improve the sales team's performance and build a better sales process.

Let’s look at this 30-60-90 day sales plan example: 

Phase 1 (Days 1–30): Understand

The responsibilities and learnings of the new sales managers are extensive. The first phase involves team building and understanding the company’s sales process.

• Complete the onboarding process and get familiar with the sales tools and technologies.

• Conduct meetings with your direct reports and colleagues to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each.

• Observe the current sales workflows and identify any inefficiencies.

• Conduct research on your company’s rivals.

• Create positive relationships and foster an environment for open communication within the team.

Phase 2 (Days 31–60): Implement

For sales managers, the second phase is all about implementing the changes and necessary feedback in the sales process. 

• Identify skill gaps and prepare a training program for your sales team to upskill. 

• Create data-driven sales strategies for the sales team and set out goals for them. 

• Gather feedback from the team to regularly implement a new change in the sales process. 

• Engage with clients, addressing their needs and concerns to foster strong relationships and drive customer loyalty.

• Create an action plan for the upcoming 30 days. 

Phase 3 (Days 61–90): Optimize

In this phase, sales managers refine their sales approach based on the insights gained from the previous months.  This phase is about fine-tuning performance metrics and continuously improving results. The sales manager needs to:

• Gather feedback on the minor changes and how it has impacted the sales team’s performance. 

• Create a team structure to generate and maximize productivity and eliminate bottlenecks. 

• Schedule recurring calls with the salespersons and team members to discuss weaknesses, strengths, new goals, and challenges 

• Set up the sales plan milestones and track progress regularly

Template for 30-60-90 day sales plan

Creating a 30-60-90 day sales plan becomes more manageable when you start with a basic template. Depending on whether you're a new sales rep or a manager set to oversee a fresh territory, your plan may vary. 

The following sample 30-60-90 day sales management plan template gives you a good idea of creating a sales plan. Notice that there are three pages, each divided into a timeframe of 30 days. 

While the first fold defines the priorities of the sales manager, the second fold segments different goals.

Sample 30-60-90 day sales management plan

To help you, we’ve created a detailed 30-60-90 day sales plan template for both sales reps and sales managers.

Basic mistakes to avoid while creating a 30-60-90 day sales plan

While these sales plan templates can give you a push, writing them on your own can sometimes lead to errors and misalignment of timelines. Based on experience, we’ve understood and defined the most common mistakes that one makes when creating a sales plan.

1. Creating a generic plan 

A successful 30-60-90 day sales plan needs precise, clearly defined goals that align with your role and responsibilities. The plan should include specific timelines, objectives, performance indicators, and planned outputs for every phase without being overambitious.

Only 60% of the sales reps meet their sales quota. Thus, setting up practical goals and actionable plans is important.

2. Miscommunication with colleagues or supervisors 

Imagine this; you’ve created a sales strategy that seems fit for you but when it’s presented to the leadership, it is rejected.

Regularly communicating with managers, team members, and customers reduces the chance of errors in your sales plan and maximizes efficiency. With constructive feedback, you can fine-tune your plan, make necessary adjustments, and modify your approach based on real-world feedback.

Miscommunication within the team can lead to missed opportunities, reduced productivity, and inefficiency.

3. Being rigid in approach 

It’s not always that your plan works as assumed. Adhering to your initial strategy of a 30-60-90 day sales plan can result in failures if the organization’s goals don’t align with your goals. 

It is crucial to understand the dynamics and current trends of the target market. Adapt to the evolving market and incorporate relevant changes to your plan. Additionally, communicating with the team members and leadership can give you confidence and bring flexibility to your sales plan preparation.

4. Not using Sales management tools

Using a CRM can significantly reduce these mistakes while supporting the efficient execution of any sales plan. A CRM possesses a range of reporting and analytical features to understand the sales goal progression and get feedback to course-correct.

Let’s have a look at some essential features of a CRM: 

• Monitoring Performance: Dashboards offer the ability to monitor performance against key metrics and KPIs outlined in the sales plan. This visibility enables them to identify areas of strength and areas needing improvement, guiding ongoing optimization efforts.

• Custom goals: Custom goals can help track your sales attainment. For instance, setting up daily or monthly goals gives a benchmark to measure sales efforts.

•  Forecasting: Gives you the ability to predict future sales based on current sales growth over a specific timeframe. This helps you identify the shortcomings and adjust your sales process.

• Reporting capabilities: Tailored sales reports and insights based on your business KPIs can give clarity on team and individual progress.