How to create a winning 30-60-90 day sales plan (+ template)

Just like you’re not going to break a world record on your first day on the track, a new sales rep isn’t going to magically outsell the top performers on day one. Increasing your running stamina and improving your sales and operations planning to help reps hit and exceed quotas requires time, practice, and a well-defined plan.

For sales reps, a 30-60-90 day sales plan is a commonly successful strategic sales plan. In this guide, we’ll lay out exactly what a 30-60-90 day sales plan is, why it’s important, and how to create a useful three-month plan for managers, sales reps, and new territories. Plus, you can customize our template and use the 30-60-90 day sales plan examples we provide to inspire your own plan.

More in this guide:

• What is a 30-60-90 day sales plan?
• The importance of a sales action plan
• What are the benefits of creating a 30-60-90 day sales plan?
• When to use a sales action plan
• How to write a 30-60-90 day sales plan
• What to include in a 30-60-90 day plan
• 30-60-90 day sales plan examples
• Best practices for creating a winning sales action plan
• Mistakes to avoid when writing a 30-60-90 day sales plan
• Frequently asked questions
• Execute a successful 30-60-90 day sales plan

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

A 30-60-90 day sales plan is a three-month strategy for successfully training new sales team members or selling in new territories. This type of sales action plan covers the actions and goals necessary to help salespeople get to know their new company or region and learn how to reach their highest (and healthiest) level of productivity.

With a robust 30-60-90 day plan, businesses are more likely to make the most of new territories, reps, and managers. Plus, it gives salespeople a realistic view of how successful a new hire or territory will be in the long run.

30-60-90 day sales plans come in phases:

• Phase 1, or days 1–30.
• Phase 2, or days 31–60.
• Phase 3, or days 61–90.

Throughout the creation and implementation process, these plans may be referred to by their specific phases and the actions, goals, and metrics described in each.

The importance of a sales action plan

A 30-60-90 day sales plan provides teams with a structured sales strategy for achieving goals and aligning team efforts with business objectives. Breaking down this type of plan allows teams to focus on:

• Adapting to new roles or territories

• Understanding current market dynamics

• Tracking progress and adjustments

• Proactively addressing challenges

• Following customer acquisition trends

When using sales process mapping, a 30-60-90 day sales plan also gives teams a macro overview, or “big picture” view, of how to efficiently elevate productivity for new team members or those in new territories. Plus, these plans foster accountability and help users set realistic standards for evaluating individual and team performance.

What are the benefits of creating a 30-60-90 day sales plan?

Whether you’re training a new team member or an employee who needs to learn a new territory, writing and following a three-month sales action plan can improve business development and employee growth. Below, we’ve included a list of the most common benefits associated with 30-60-90 day sales plans:

• Streamlined onboarding: With a three-month plan, employee onboarding has clear, actionable phases with specific tasks, milestones, and expectations.
• Improved impressions: When a sales associate or new hire follows an organized plan, they demonstrate their commitment to efficiently integrating into their new role or territory.
• Reduced burnout: A three-month plan helps teams create a sustainable learning pace that allows associates to work hard and increase sales without being overwhelmed.
• Enhanced time management: Clear plans allow employees to manage time with precision, allowing them to focus on tasks that require more attention.
• Boosted internal trust: Creating a strong 30-60-90 day sales plan requires collaboration, enabling employees to connect with knowledgeable people who can provide guidance.
• Upgraded tools: A sales action plan introduces associates to new tools for tracking goals, measuring success, and refining skills, which they can use after the plan’s initial time is up.
• Refined employee development: A targeted approach to sales coaching allows leaders to offer timely feedback and coaching, allowing employees to build their sales skills and apply their learning.

A well-executed 30-60-90 day sales plan accelerates the ramp-up time for new hires and improves sales strategies for new territories. It also ensures employees are aligned with organizational goals and equipped to contribute effectively.

When to use a sales action plan

Businesses typically use 30-60-90 day sales plans for sales operations while:

• Interviewing: Salespeople can create these sales action plans to demonstrate sales knowledge, enabling them to make a strong impression during their interview for a new position.
• Onboarding: Companies can develop 30-60-90 day sales plans to help individuals learn about their new position, team, and company in a straightforward way.
• Promoting: A sales action plan can help employees learn new skills while moving into new roles across an organization.
• Upskilling: Similar to an employee development plan, this type of sales plan can be used to help employees improve individual sales skills to enhance their performance.
• Adapting: Whether learning new processes or developing a new sales territory, you should use 30-60-90 day sales plans to help individuals adapt to changing expectations.

Each scenario requires a uniquely developed sales action plan with individual objectives, expectations, and steps per phase.

How to write a 30-60-90 day sales plan

There’s no hard-and-fast rule for creating a sales plan or what a 30-60-90 day plan should look like, but it should be simple, concise, and organized. Follow these five steps for building an actionable 30-60-90 day sales plan.

1. Research and prepare what to include in a 30-60-90 plan

Rushing or complicating the creation of a sales plan won’t help you reap any rewards. Take the time to consider:

• A timeframe focus: Each 30-day phase of a 30-60-90 day sales plan represents a new area of focus: learning, implementing, and improving.
• Company values and objectives: Determine the values and objectives your plan will align with before choosing specific goals to achieve.
• Goals: Identify the most important goals for each phase of your sales action plan, from knowledge growth to technical skills.
• Metrics: Decide what metrics you will measure, how often you want to track progress, and what sales software to use to store and organize data.

Remember that everyone learns in different ways, so you will need a unique sales action plan. Your plan may look similar to someone else’s, but you should personalize the finer details to fit how you learn and operate best.

2. Define metrics

Clearly define the sales performance metrics you want to track so you can measure your progress and success within each stage. Set SMART sales goals that are specific, actionable, and achievable, and these metrics should directly align with the objectives of each phase.

Consider these practices when defining your metrics:

• Phase 1: Focus on learning goals, such as completing product training or mastering CRM software.
• Phase 2: Track metrics like customer outreach, prospect engagement, or the number of meetings scheduled.
• Phase 3: Measure closed deals, revenue generated, or new accounts acquired.

Setting specific benchmarks ensures accountability and provides tangible data to assess performance, enabling timely adjustments and long-term success.

3. Set a goal and timeline

The overall objective of your sales action plan should be well-defined—such as increasing sales by a certain percentage or enhancing product knowledge—but each phase of your plan should also include its own set of objectives. For example, during days 1-30, you might prioritize:

• Engaging customers in new sales tactics

• Initiating outreach to a certain number of customers

• Closing a specific number of deals

• Refining sales strategies in an identified amount of time

Establishing a timeline for these goals adds urgency and keeps efforts organized to easily track progress and streamline plans. Realistic goals and timelines ensure 30-60-90 day sales plans are actionable and results-oriented.

4. Create an outline

Every 30-60-90 day sales plan is unique, so create a version that works best for you or your employee. Make sure to separate your plan into three phases and create an outline that might look like this:

1. Phase 1: Learning. Employees learn about their new company or territory, including products and services, ideal customers, geographic area, demographics, and market.
2. Phase 2: Implementing. Associates begin implementing what they’ve learned, diving into the sales and performance tracking process, finding new sales leads, and building relationships.
3. Phase 3: Improving. Reps examine the actions and outcomes of the preceding month to identify failures and triumphs. At this stage, you’ll refine your processes and turn your attention toward the future.

Your sales action plan outline can be as simple or as detailed as you need it to be. Just remember that this outline will help guide you through your training processes.

5. Evaluate and improve your plan

Regular assessments throughout each phase of a 30-60-90 day plan help teams identify what’s working and proactively solve potential problems. Reviewing metrics like outreach helps determine if a plan produces the desired results or needs adjustments. By Phase 3, a business must assess overall performance.

Employees can also adjust their sales action plans using real-time feedback from team members and data-driven insights. This refinement can enhance success and help associates adapt to shifting market conditions without compromising goals and objectives. Plus, this evaluation and improvement process helps ensure all sales action plans remain dynamic, relevant, and results-oriented.

What to include in a 30-60-90 day plan

Every 30-60-90 day sales plan should include:

• Realistic goals, like learning about a company’s products
• A clear timeline, like 30 days or one month
• A method and metric for measuring success, like being able to speak about a product for 15 minutes without help

Below, we include a phase-by-phase breakdown of what a sales action plan could look like.

Phase 1: A 30-day sales plan

Phase 1 focuses on learning, including business, product, and service orientation. This phase should set a team member up for future success by prioritizing familiarity with a company’s internal processes and sales tools, like CRM software. This phase should also focus on:

• Understanding target markets, competitors, and customer pain points

• Meeting key stakeholders

• Shadowing experienced salespeople

• Learning about a business’s sales cycle

The goal of this phase should not be to achieve immediate sales but to prepare for effective performance in the coming phases. By the end of this 30-day period, employees should understand their role and be ready to begin more active selling efforts in the next phase.

Phase 2: A 60-day sales plan

Phase 2 focuses on implementing what you learned in Phase 1. Transitioning into action, employees begin to engage with prospects. Sales associates conduct outreach, set up meetings, and build customer relationships. This phase should also allow associates to:

• Test different sales methodologies and approaches.

• Refine messaging and communication skills.

• Recognize the best tactics for reaching prospects in a specific territory.

• Identify promising leads.

• Prioritize lead nurturing efforts.

• Seek out feedback from leaders and experienced salespeople.

At the end of Phase 2, sales associates should have a strong pipeline of leads and a clearer understanding of the best sales strategies for their prospects.

Phase 3: A 90-day sales plan

Phase 3 builds off the previous 60 days and focuses on improving the sales associate’s performance. During these 30 days, reps should be able to drive results and close deals by converting their leads into paying customers. Employees should prioritize:

• Refining sales negotiation skills
• Addressing objections and negative customer interactions

• Finalizing contracts

• Ensuring customer satisfaction

• Fostering long-term relationships

In phase 3, teams should evaluate overall performance, including closed deals, revenue generated, and client acquisition. The end of this 30-day period should showcase an associate’s measurable success and full integration into their role with a clear pathway for continued progress.

30-60-90 day sales plan examples

Here are a few examples of what different sales action plans might look like. Consider breaking each goal into smaller goals to fit a daily schedule.

30-60-90 day plan: New sales reps example

New sales reps might create a plan with the help of their manager during the first few days on the job to set them up for success. Below is an example of what a 30-60-90 day plan might look like for a new sales representative:

30-60-90 day plan: Manager example

Sales managers need more than motivational sales quotes to manage a sales team successfully. A 30-60-90 day sales plan is an effective tool for setting expectations when onboarding new managers and learning how people respond to incremental changes. Below is an example of what an action plan might look like for a new sales manager:

30-60-90 day plan: New sales territory example

Writing a robust 30-60-90 day plan for new sales territory helps ensure you set up sales associates for success in an unfamiliar area. Make sure these plans are specific enough to follow but flexible enough to adjust if needed. Below is an example of what a 30-60-90 day plan might look like for a new sales territory:

Best practices for creating a winning sales action plan

Creating a winning sales action plan requires a thoughtful, strategic approach to deliver powerful results. Follow these best practices to ensure your efforts are efficient and effective:

• Invest in sales plan software. Software with customizable dashboards, real-time performance tracking, custom goal creation, reporting, and forecasting capabilities can help teams automate, streamline, and manage sales action plans.
• Use a 30-60-90 day sales plan template. Sales action plan templates provide a structured approach to plan creation. This step-by-step guide can save time, offer clarity, and ensure consistency across sales teams.
• Include plenty of detail. Describe your goals, tactics, timelines, and resources. Don’t forget to mention when, where, how, and by whom each step should be completed, reducing confusion while boosting communication and accountability.
• Measure success consistently. Track sales KPIs and metrics to assess whether your plan is on target. Weekly or monthly check-ins help teams proactively identify areas for improvement and keep plans aligned with goals.
• Keep your plan flexible. Accommodate unexpected developments, market changes, and shifting customer needs with a flexible sales action plan that allows for quick adjustments to tactics, resources, or priorities.
• Create sales forecasts. Use historical data and sales forecasting software to predict future sales performance, market trends, and seasonal demand while managing expectations and capabilities.
• Be realistic and honest. Base your goals and forecasts on true data, accounting for team strengths, weaknesses, capacity, and budget.

A well-structured plan clarifies your objectives and aligns your goals with actionable steps to drive sustainable success.

Mistakes to avoid when writing a 30-60-90 day sales plan

While a 30-60-90 day sales plan is a powerful tool for success, mistakes can impact its effectiveness. Avoiding these errors is key to building a robust and adaptable sales plan:

• Setting non-specific goals: Tracking progress or gauging success becomes difficult without specific, measurable objectives.
• Prioritizing short-term goals: Overemphasizing short-term goals in Phase 1 can cause teams to neglect the strategies needed for goals sustained in Phases 2 and 3. A well-rounded plan should prioritize long-term customer relationships in conjunction with short-term objectives.
• Bypassing research and analysis: Without proper market research, competitive analysis, and customer insights, sales professionals may miss out on understanding pain points and discovering market trends that shape sales strategies.
• Ignoring team strengths and weaknesses: A one-size-fits-all approach often doesn’t satisfy the needs of whole sales teams. By recognizing individual talents and addressing skill gaps, you can tailor a 30-60-90 day sales plan to leverage strengths and provide additional training or support where needed.
• Creating rigid plans: A sales action plan that doesn’t allow flexibility can quickly become stagnant. The sales environment is dynamic, with shifting market conditions and evolving customer needs, so it’s crucial to create flexible strategies that can adapt to real-time feedback and changing circumstances.
• Discounting employee feedback: Ignoring the feedback of your sales teams can limit your ability to refine action plans and improve outcomes. Instead, prioritize regular check-ins and open communication to ensure 30-60-90 day sales plans remain relevant and responsive.

While these challenges can disrupt sales action plans, there are ways to mitigate and resolve each, creating a more effective and powerful 30-60-90 day sales plan.

Frequently asked questions

Execute a successful 30-60-90 day sales plan

Just like deciding to start running is the easy part, and actually doing it requires effort, creating a plan is straightforward, and carrying it out is where the hard work comes in. With automated sales tools, you can execute your 30-60-90 day sales plan today.

With Zendesk, you can set sales goals, manage pipeline visibility, and measure success from one centralized solution. Our software’s powerful reporting and analytics features, integration options, and task management tools show you where to make improvements to successfully execute your sales action plan.

See how Zendesk can help your sales team set—and achieve—actionable sales plans with a free product demo today.