Knowledge creates poised confidence. 
Lack of knowledge generates anxious stress.

Know your song well before you start singing.

Take control of your professional life with a plan
that assesses results and prescribes adjustments.

You are a sales professional and the final promotional component

-- the face -- of your company's business & marketing plan;
a plan aimed at inviting customers to do business with the business. 
Your customers are your compass heading.

Set your heading and adjust your scope to a wide-view of the business landscape.  Then answer the following questions.

- Who are your customers?
- What are their interests?
- Where do they live?

Commit your answers to a 'pen to paper'
or 'keyboard to word page' game plan data sheet.

Maintain your heading, readjust your scope. 

Assess potential obstacles that a business cannot control. 
This includes:

- The National Economic Climate
  Survey the national finance media. 

  They offer a sense of economic trends.

- The Local Economy
  Check out local real estate sales and local automotive dealers.

  Each is a credible indicator of the local business climate.

- The Competition
  Who and where are they? 
  What do they do well? 

  What do they do poorly? 

  Consider a personal visit. 
  You may be surprised by what a handshake and a smile can unearth.

Add the results to your data.

Keep that heading
and review the spheres of business that your company can control. 
They are the 4Ps of marketing: place, product, price, and promotion.

1. Place - Asses your location.  Can customers find you and what will they find?
2. Product - Examine your product lines. What are their competitive edges?
3. Price - Are your prices competitive, high, low?
4. Promotion - Assess your company's promotional elements:

    advertising, storefront signs, displays, promotional events,

    and the sales staff.

Add the results to your data.

You have set your heading, surveyed the economic climate, canvassed the competition, and assessed your company.  Now while locking onto your company's 4Ps as a beacon --- layout a personal 4P blueprint that aligns and complies with your company's plan.

1. Place - Prepare your sales floor as your selling stage. 

    If no floor, then draft an on-the-road sales presentation script.
2. Product - Take regular inventory of what's in stock and available. 

    Practice product demonstrations and or descriptions. 
3. Price - Clearly communicate & justify prices as your presentations proceed.
4. Promote - Be who the company's promotional messages claim you are. 

    You will be perceived as fake if you don't. 

Five more steps before your plan hits the floor or street.