Crafting a Winning Sales Strategy: 4 Types and Best Practices

Every sales team dreams of closing deals. But without a clear strategy, even the most ambitious goals can feel like chasing stars in a cloudy sky. 

A sales strategy isn’t just a quick conversation in your quarterly all-in. It’s the north star that aligns everyone, moving from point A to point B with purpose and precision to qualify leads, target customers, and push the sales cycle to success. 

Here’s how to craft a sales strategy that drives results, why it’s essential for success, and how to fine-tune an existing approach to elevate your organization’s sales game. 

What’s a sales strategy, and why do you need one?

A sales strategy is a comprehensive approach to achieving sales goals. Think of it like a game plan that identifies how your team identifies prospects, nurtures leads, and closes deals. But it’s more than setting targets — a successful sales strategy creates a repeatable process that turns potential prospects into successful deals. 

Here are five ways a clear strategy assists your sales process: 

1. Provides clear direction: A sales strategy is like a compass, ensuring every sales rep understands where they’re going and how their work contributes to the bigger picture. It eliminates guesswork and aligns sales efforts toward organizational goals. 
2. Optimizes resource allocation: From timelines to budget restrictions, a well-defined plan helps sales managers deploy resources where they’ll have the biggest impact. 
3. Improves collaboration: A shared set of goals and processes fosters teamwork and reduces internal friction. Likewise, it helps your team work as a unit rather than on separate agendas. 
4. Stimulates consistency: A successful sales strategy standardizes best practices across the entire sales team. This stimulates a predictable sales pipeline.
5. Builds resilience to change: Strong sales strategy plans aren’t stagnant. They’re built for agility, helping your team pivot quickly when market conditions shift. 

Inbound versus outbound sales strategies

At the core of any strategy is how you want to reach your target market. There are two types of sales strategies: inbound and outbound sales. Each offers different benefits. 

Let’s break them down with sales strategy examples: 

Inbound sales

An inbound sales strategy focuses on attracting prospects through engagement. Rather than reaching out cold, inbound creates a pull effect. Content marketing, social media, and search engine optimization (SEO) are common tools for showing the audience what you can do and creating a need for your product or service. 

For example, a book publisher might launch a marketing campaign in which readers give friends and family a book with a personal message and tag the publisher on social media. This builds relationships between readers and the publisher while showing the products to a larger audience.

Outbound sales

Outbound sales take a more direct approach. Sales reps proactively reach out to potential prospects through cold calling, targeted emails, and direct outreach. This approach is ideal for teams seeking quick, targeted results, and it’s the golden standard for business-to-business (B2B) sales funnels. 

For example, a tech startup might invest in customer relationship management (CRM) software with prospect databases, using that data to send personalized emails to decision-makers. An email can offer a free demo or consultation to discuss how the startup’s software solves specific industry challenges. 

4 types of sales techniques

Once you choose between an inbound or outbound strategy, it’s time to focus on a technique that aligns with your sales goals. Although sales representatives should be flexible, each technique has a structured approach for your team to follow. 

Here are four effective sales techniques to consider: 

1. Direct selling

Direct selling is a popular outbound sales strategy in the business-to-consumer (B2C) sales pipeline. It involves engaging with customers in person, through sales calls, or via emails. 

Sales strategies don’t get more direct than this. This type of selling is a straightforward, personal approach that relies on a sales rep's ability to build trust and persuade prospects to purchase quickly. 

2. Account-based selling

Account-based selling is a highly focused outbound sales strategy that prioritizes high-value accounts — usually larger companies signing onto bigger sales and ongoing deals. Salespeople develop a detailed understanding of their target customers and tailor outreach to meet specific needs and pain points. 

Account-based selling is common in the B2B sales pipeline for companies that value high conversions over the quantity of sales pitches. It relies on a sales rep’s ability to research key accounts, nurture trust with key decision-makers, and develop highly personalized value.

3. SPIN selling

SPIN selling is a type of consultative selling. The technique utilizes a structured questioning framework to uncover a prospect's Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need payoff. 

This popular B2B sales strategy is ideal for complex products where specific pain points require tailored solutions. For example, a software company might inquire about a sales target's logistical inefficiencies before demonstrating how its software streamlines operations and boosts revenue. 

4. Solution selling

Solution selling is another type of consultative selling. Rather than pushing a specific product, salespeople get to know their target customers' goals, pain points, and current needs. If a sales rep identifies an opportunity, they recommend a tailored solution with one (or several) of their products and services. 

Building a sales strategy in 6 steps

Developing a winning sales plan template doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Follow these simple steps to guide your sales team toward stronger relationships and closed deals:

1. Set clear sales objectives: Start by defining realistic, measurable sales goals for your team. Whether it’s increasing revenue by 20% or closing deals with 15 qualified leads per month, your sales goals drive the rest of your sales plan, so make them as specific as possible. 
2. Identify your ideal customer profile: The more you know about your target audience, the better you can sell to them. Use buyer personas to map out their needs, challenges, and preferences. This helps sales reps focus on the prospects most likely to convert into customers and draft sales pitches that speak their language. 
3. Evaluate the competition and sales channels: Look at how competitors reach their customers and which channels resonate with your target audience. Decide if your sales strategy will prioritize outbound or inbound sales techniques or a mixture of both. This is also a great opportunity to combine sales and marketing efforts, ensuring consistent messaging and brand recognition. 
4. Build your sales process: Outline a sales plan template that your team can follow, from prospecting and qualifying leads to nurturing relationships and closing deals. A clear, repeatable sales process supports consistency and sets teams up for success. 
5. Train your team: Arm sales reps with the tools they need to succeed, such as a CRM system for tracking leads and a sales plan template for structuring their outreach. Ongoing training and status updates make sales reps more confident in their abilities to ask for help and use resources. 
6. Adapt and overcome: No sales plan is perfect from the start. Regularly review team performance metrics and KPIs to identify what works and what needs adjustments. Adapt your sales and marketing strategies according to changes in the market, customer feedback, and changing sales goals. 

4 tools to improve your sales strategy

A successful sales plan is an ongoing process of evaluating, adapting, and optimizing. Here are some tools to push your strategy template to the next level: 

1. AI-powered meeting assistants: AI can take care of routine but necessary tasks so sales reps have more time to focus on quality prospecting and outreach. That’s where OtterPilot for Sales comes in. This AI meeting assistant automatically extracts key sales insights, drafts follow-up emails, and stores sales call reports in CRM software — saving time and minimizing errors.
2. CRM systems: A comprehensive CRM system is a must. It helps sales teams manage customer interactions, track leads, and monitor sales pipeline performance in one place. Plus, AI-powered CRM software uses built-in analytics to boost lead generation and optimize the sales pipeline. 
3. Sales forecasting tools: Sales forecasting tools provide data-driven predictions about future sales trends. By analyzing past performance and market conditions, these tools help salespeople set attainable goals and allocate resources strategically. 
4. Revenue management tools: For B2C inbound sales, revenue management tools automate the entire purchase process. They automatically update inventory, process secure purchases, and store sales data in accounting systems. Salespeople can also use these tools to analyze customer data and build better buyer personas. 

Boost your sales game with OtterPilot for Sales

Ready to put your new sales strategy to the test? Whether you need to record sales calls, meetings with your marketing team, or follow up with a prospect, OtterPilot for Sales has you covered. 

Otter’s AI-powered meeting assistant automatically transcribes meetings, summarizes key Sales Insights, and drafts follow-up emails. You can even ask questions about your conversations. Let your sales rep focus on closing deals, and allow OtterPilot for Sales to do the rest. Book a demo today.