Sales strategy example

Sales strategy example for an operations consulting firm

A professional services sales strategy states which clients the firm will pursue, how partners find, shape and win engagements, and the proposal, win rate and utilization math behind the fee target. It is owned by the partner who leads growth and agreed with the managing partner, the practice leaders and the head of resourcing.

This is the Professional services version of the sales strategy template.

Horizon: 1 year4 priorities · 11 outcomes

Use this template

What this sales strategy template includes

ContextThe situation, the challenges to solve, and what is deliberately left out.
Ideal customer profileThe accounts the team should spend its time on.
Segments and coverageHow the market is divided and who sells to each part.
Sales processThe stages a deal moves through and what must be true to advance.
Pipeline mathThe pipeline and conversion needed to reach the revenue target.
Team and compensationHow the team is structured and paid.
Priorities and measuresThree to five priorities, each with an owner, outcomes with a baseline and target, and the initiatives behind them.

Worked example

A complete sales strategy for a fictional organization: operations and supply chain consulting firm serving mid-size manufacturers and distributors.

Worked exampleSales strategy

Organization	Operations and supply chain consulting firm serving mid-size manufacturers and distributors (500 staff)
Ambition	Sell $142M of fees in 2027 with the same headcount by winning more of fewer pursuits and getting 60 key clients to buy from more than one practice.
Horizon	1 year

Context

Where we are and what we are choosing

Fees sold have been flat at $128M for two years across four practices and 240 active clients. The firm submitted 610 proposals this year and won 27%. The 260 competitive tenders won at 14% and cost about 90 partner and principal hours each. The 350 proposals to executives we already knew won at 37%. Nine of 38 partners originate 62% of fees. Consultant utilization is 68% against a 75% budget, because work arrives in lumps and in the wrong practices, and realization is 86% of standard rates. Only 22% of clients buy from more than one practice.

Challenges

Partners answer almost every tender that arrives. Lost proposals consumed about 29,000 senior hours this year, most of them on bids where nobody had met the buyer before the document was issued.
Origination rests on nine partners, six of them within eight years of retirement. The other 29 average $1.7M a year and mostly wait for follow-on work.
Each practice sells to its own contacts. A client that buys a planning project rarely hears about procurement or plant operations, so the bench in one practice sits idle while another turns work away.

We will focus on

Sixty key clients with $1.5M or more of annual fee potential, each with an account plan and a second-practice partner.
Pursuits where a partner has spoken with the executive sponsor before any proposal is written.
Selling work the current bench can start within three weeks.

We will not

Responding to tenders where we had no conversation with the sponsor before issue, including those from well-known companies. We expect to submit about 150 fewer proposals.
Hiring business development executives to sell for the partners. Selling stays with partners and principals, which is slower to build but is what clients here buy from.
Discounting below 80% of standard rates to fill the bench, or opening a new practice or office in 2027.

Ideal customer profile

Company type	Manufacturers and wholesale distributors with several plants or distribution centers, privately held or owned by a private equity sponsor, where operations and inventory decisions are made by a small executive team.
Size	$300M to $3B in revenue. Engagements start at $150,000, and a target client can support $1.5M or more a year across practices.
Buyer	The chief operating officer or head of supply chain sponsors and signs. The chief financial officer approves anything above $500,000, and at sponsor-owned companies the operating partner often makes the introduction.
Trigger events	A new operations or supply chain executive in the first six months, an acquisition or carve-out, a planning or warehouse system replacement, inventory or service levels flagged by the owner or lender, or a plant or network consolidation.
Disqualifiers	A procurement-run tender with no access to the sponsor, a budget under $150,000, requests for individual contractors at rate-card prices, or a company below $300M in revenue.

Segments and coverage

Segment	Accounts	Sales motion	Team
Key clients	60	Account plan, lead partner plus a second-practice partner, quarterly review with the client's executive	24 lead partners
Other active clients	180	Engagement partner owns follow-on work; relationship reviewed twice a year	Engagement partners and principals
Private equity sponsors	14 firms, about 160 portfolio companies in profile	Relationships with operating partners; diligence and first-100-day work as the way in	4 partners, 1 principal
Named prospects	320	Partner-led introductions, executive roundtables and fixed-price diagnostics	10 partners, 12 principals
Unsolicited tenders	About 260 a year	Go or no-go committee; bid only where a partner knows the sponsor	Pursuit desk

Sales process

Stage	Exit criteria	Typical duration
1. Conversation	An executive with budget authority has described the problem and agreed to a second meeting	2 weeks
2. Diagnose	Problem sized in dollars using the client's own data; sponsor and decision process confirmed; go or no-go passed	3 weeks
3. Shape	Scope, team and fee range tested with the sponsor in conversation before anything is written	2 weeks
4. Propose	Proposal or statement of work submitted; named team confirmed with resourcing	2 weeks
5. Contract	Statement of work signed under agreed terms; start date and team locked	3 weeks

Pipeline math

Measure	Today	Needed
Fees sold	$128M	$142M
Fees from new engagements won by proposal	$90M	$100M
Fees from extensions and change orders	$38M	$42M
Proposals submitted	610	460
Win rate by count	27%	38%
Engagements won	166	175
Average new engagement value	$540,000	$570,000

Team and compensation

Structure	38 partners and 60 principals across four practices: supply chain planning, manufacturing operations, procurement and technology enablement. One partner serves as chief growth officer and chairs the go or no-go committee. A pursuit desk of five (a proposal manager, two writers, a pricing analyst and a CRM analyst) supports every pursuit above $250,000.
Quota	Partners carry sold-fee goals averaging $3.5M, from $1.5M for partners in their first three years to $7.5M for the nine most senior. Principals carry $350,000 each. Assigned goals total $152M against the $142M plan. Each lead partner on a key client also carries a fee goal for that account across all practices.
Compensation mix	Partners draw a salary and share in the profit pool. A partner's share is set 30% on fees originated, 30% on the margin and utilization of the teams they lead, 20% on growth at their key clients and 20% on developing people. Both partners receive full origination credit on cross-practice work. Principals can earn a bonus of up to 25% of salary, half of it tied to fees sold. Nobody is paid commission.

Priorities and measures

Priority 1Owner: Chief Growth Officer

Stop writing proposals we will not win

Competitive tenders win at 14% and take 90 senior hours each. Declining most of them returns thousands of partner hours to pursuits where we know the sponsor and win at more than twice the rate.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Proposals won, by count	27%	38%	Q4 2027
Competitive tenders answered in the year	260 proposals	90 proposals	Q4 2027
Partner and principal time spent on lost proposals	29K hours	15K hours	Q4 2027

Initiatives

Score every pursuit above $250,000 on a go or no-go sheet reviewed by three partners from outside the pursuing practice
Decline tenders where no partner spoke with the sponsor before issue, and tell the client why
Test scope and fee range with the sponsor in conversation before the proposal is drafted
Call the buyer after every decision above $500,000, won or lost, and log the reason

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 2Owner: Managing Partner

Grow 60 key clients across practices

Existing clients supply 71% of fees, yet only 22% of them buy from a second practice. The largest accounts have the most problems we can solve and already trust us.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Fees sold to the 60 key clients	$78M	$90M	Q4 2027
Key clients buying from two or more practices	35%	55%	Q4 2027
Fees from extensions and change orders	$38M	$42M	Q4 2027

Initiatives

Write a one-page plan for each key client naming the executives we know, their priorities for the year and the next two engagements we could propose
Assign a partner from a second practice to every key client and bring them to the quarterly executive review
Close every engagement with a results review for the sponsor that quantifies the benefit delivered
Offer a fixed-price three-week diagnostic in a second practice to key clients, staffed from the bench

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 3Owner: Chief Growth Officer

Spread origination beyond nine partners

Nine partners bring in 62% of fees and six will retire within eight years. Their client relationships have to become the firm's before they leave.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Fees originated by the top nine partners	62%	55%	Q4 2027
Partners originating $2M or more in the year	17 partners	24 partners	Q4 2027

Initiatives

Pair each of the nine with two younger partners on their key clients and hand over the lead role on 15 accounts
Give full origination credit to both partners on cross-practice work, with no split
Review each partner's pipeline monthly by practice, by stage and against their sold-fee goal
Train principals to run the diagnose stage and lead pursuits under $400,000

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 4Owner: Head of Resourcing

Sell work the bench can start

Utilization is seven points under budget because sold work does not match available people. Sales and resourcing need the same 12-week view, and discounts should not be the tool for filling gaps.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Consultant utilization	68%	74%	Q4 2027
Fees realized against standard rates	86%	88%	Q4 2027
Median time from signed statement of work to project start	34 days	21 days	Q3 2027

Initiatives

Share a weighted 12-week pipeline with resourcing every Monday, by practice and grade
Send any proposal priced below 85% of standard rates to the pricing analyst and the practice leader for approval
Direct diagnostics and roundtable follow-ups toward the practices with the most bench time each quarter

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Blank sales strategy template

The same structure with a prompt in every field. Copy it, or download it as a Word or Excel file.

Your planSales strategy

Organization	[Describe your organization in a few words, with its size]
Ambition	[One sentence on where you want to be at the end of the plan]
Horizon	[How long the plan runs, for example 12 months]

Context

Where we are and what we are choosing

[Where things stand today: the facts that make this strategy necessary]

Challenges

[A problem the strategy has to solve]
[A problem the strategy has to solve]

We will focus on

[Something you are choosing to concentrate on]
[Something you are choosing to concentrate on]

We will not

[Something you are deliberately leaving out]
[Something you are deliberately leaving out]

Ideal customer profile

Company type	[Your company type]
Size	[Your size]
Buyer	[Your buyer]
Trigger events	[Your trigger events]
Disqualifiers	[Your disqualifiers]

Segments and coverage

Segment	Accounts	Sales motion	Team
[Segment]	[Accounts]	[Sales motion]	[Team]
[Segment]	[Accounts]	[Sales motion]	[Team]
[Segment]	[Accounts]	[Sales motion]	[Team]

Sales process

Stage	Exit criteria	Typical duration
[Stage]	[Exit criteria]	[Typical duration]
[Stage]	[Exit criteria]	[Typical duration]
[Stage]	[Exit criteria]	[Typical duration]

Pipeline math

Measure	Today	Needed
[Measure]	[Today]	[Needed]
[Measure]	[Today]	[Needed]
[Measure]	[Today]	[Needed]

Team and compensation

Structure	[Your structure]
Quota	[Your quota]
Compensation mix	[Your compensation mix]

Priorities and measures

Priority 1Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 2Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 3Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 4Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

How to adapt it

01
Split last year's proposals into those where you knew the sponsor beforehand and those you answered cold, and compare win rates and hours spent. That comparison usually settles the go or no-go rules.
02
Count how many partners originate most of the fees and how long they will stay. If origination is concentrated, relationship handover is a sales priority, not a succession footnote.
03
Choose key clients by fee potential across all practices, not by last year's billing, and give each one a named lead partner with an account goal.
04
Build the math from capacity as well as demand. Fees sold cannot exceed billable hours times rate times realization, so check the target against utilization.
05
Review how partners are rewarded before announcing the strategy. If origination credit is split, partners will not introduce each other to their clients.
06
Define stages by what the client has done, such as agreeing the size of the problem, so partner forecasts can be compared.

How to run it

A plan only works if it is reviewed on a rhythm. This is the cadence the example assumes.

Check-in	Outcome owners update progress and confidence weekly.
Review	Priority owners review outcomes and unblock initiatives monthly.
Reset	Leadership revisits priorities and targets quarterly.

Tability keeps this cadence for you. Each priority becomes an objective, each outcome a key result with its baseline and target, and each initiative a tracked task. Owners get a check-in reminder and the plan shows what is on track.

Track this plan in Tability

Still comparing tools? See the 10 best strategy software tools.

Common mistakes

Judging business development by proposals submitted, which rewards volume and hides a falling win rate.
Leaving client relationships as the personal property of individual partners, so cross-selling depends on favors.
Selling whatever the client asks for without checking who is free to deliver it, then staffing with subcontractors while employees sit on the bench.
Cutting rates to keep people busy, which lowers realization on that engagement and resets the client's price expectations for the next one.

Questions, answered.

What should a sales strategy for a professional services firm include?

It should include the client profile, how key clients, other clients and prospects are covered and by which partners, the stages of a pursuit, and the math linking proposals, win rate and engagement size to the fee target. It also needs to show that the fees sold match delivery capacity, through utilization and realization.

Who should sell in a professional services firm?

The people who will be accountable for the work should lead the sale, which in most firms means partners and senior practitioners. Clients are buying judgment and want to meet whoever will apply it. Specialist staff can support with research, pricing and proposal production. This example keeps selling with partners and principals and adds a five-person pursuit desk.

What is a go or no-go decision in consulting sales?

It is a formal check on whether to pursue an opportunity before proposal effort is spent. Typical tests are whether the firm knows the sponsor, whether the problem and budget are confirmed, whether the work fits the firm's strengths and whether a team is available. The decision is best made by people outside the pursuit team.

How do you set sales targets for partners?

Set a sold-fee goal for each partner based on tenure and the clients they lead, and make the total exceed the firm's plan by a small margin. Add an account goal for partners who lead key clients. Reward shared origination in full so partners gain from introducing colleagues, and weigh selling alongside delivery margin and people development.

How does utilization relate to sales strategy in professional services?

Utilization is the link between what is sold and what the firm earns. Sold work only becomes revenue when available people can deliver it, so a sales plan has to match the skills and timing of the bench. In this example, raising utilization from 68% to 74% supplies most of the planned fee growth without adding headcount.

Sales strategy example for an operations consulting firm

Get the Word file

What this sales strategy template includes

Worked example

Context

Ideal customer profile

Segments and coverage

Sales process

Pipeline math

Team and compensation

Stop writing proposals we will not win

Grow 60 key clients across practices

Spread origination beyond nine partners

Sell work the bench can start

Blank sales strategy template

Context

Ideal customer profile

Segments and coverage

Sales process

Pipeline math

Team and compensation

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

Get the Word file

How to adapt it

How to run it

Common mistakes

Questions, answered.

What this sales strategy template includes

Worked example

Stop writing proposals we will not win

Grow 60 key clients across practices

Spread origination beyond nine partners

Sell work the bench can start

Blank sales strategy template

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

How to adapt it

How to run it

Common mistakes

Questions, answered.

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