07-marketing-sales-strategy

name	07-marketing-sales-strategy
description	Use when producing or reviewing the 07 marketing sales strategy component of a business plan; applies its specialist evidence, decisions, and acceptance tests instead of neighbouring pipeline skills.
metadata	{"portable":true,"compatible_with":["claude-code","codex"]}

Marketing & Sales Strategy Skill

Overview

Generate Section 07 of the business plan: the marketing and sales strategy. Use this skill to show how the business will create demand, convert demand into revenue, and retain customers at sustainable economics.

Use When

• Use when drafting or revising the marketing and sales strategy section.
• Use when the business needs a concrete route from market awareness to repeat revenue.
• Use when customer acquisition, channel mix, pricing, and retention logic must be made explicit.

Do Not Use When

• Do not use without a clear offer and target customer baseline.
• Do not present a list of channels without conversion logic, budget discipline, or metrics.
• Do not rely on awareness tactics alone as a substitute for sales process design.

Required Inputs

• Product or service definition, target market, and competitive position
• Pricing model, channel constraints, sales model, and budget assumptions
• Country and audience context affecting buyer behaviour and media channels
• Any evidence on existing traction, acquisition costs, retention, or conversion rates

Workflow

1. Confirm the customer, offer, and commercial objective this strategy must serve.
2. Build the positioning, channel mix, and acquisition logic for the selected segments.
3. Define the sales process from lead generation to close, repeat purchase, and referral.
4. Attach budgets, KPIs, and expected economics to the plan.
5. Apply references/entrepreneurial-demand-and-brand-metrics.md when the plan needs a sharper demand-creation path, journey metrics, owned-audience logic, or first experiments.
6. If selling premium, high-ticket, luxury/affluent, executive, or enterprise offers, run meta-premium-go-to-market before finalising positioning, channel mix, lead generation, sales process, pricing, or retention.
7. If the strategy depends on a website, ecommerce, landing pages, SEO/content, online booking, portals, or web-based lead capture, run meta-website-investment-planning before finalising channel mix, website content, SEO, conversion assumptions, and budget.
8. When defining positioning copy, lead magnets, authority content, sales pages, outreach narratives, CTAs, or SEO/AI-search content, apply premium-commercial-writing.
9. Reconcile the strategy with capacity, pricing, and financial projections.
10. Flag where the plan depends on untested channel or conversion assumptions.

Quality Bar

• The strategy explains how leads are acquired, converted, retained, and measured.
• Channel recommendations fit the customer, budget, and country context.
• Sales logic and acquisition economics are commercially believable.
• The section supports the revenue model instead of sitting beside it.

Anti-Patterns

• Lists of social media channels with no buyer logic or budget.
• Sales strategies that assume demand appears without outreach, process, or ownership.
• Retention claims with no service, support, or loyalty mechanism behind them.
• Marketing costs or growth assumptions that conflict with the projections.

Outputs

• A finished or revised Section 07 marketing and sales strategy
• Channel, funnel, retention, and KPI logic tied to revenue assumptions
• Explicit commercial assumptions and follow-up questions for testing

Required Elements

Build the section from the compact checklist in references/section-07-output-checklist.md. Load deeper references only for the parts the plan actually needs:

• Use references/channel-budget-and-growth-frameworks.md for marketing evolution, pricing options, AARRR, channel selection, guerrilla tactics, small-business tactics, budget allocation, and growth-system discipline.
• Use references/sales-process-and-messaging-frameworks.md for gap selling, B2B/B2C sales process, founder-led sales stages, sales velocity, core dashboard metrics, and StoryBrand messaging checks.
• Use the specialist references below when the situation requires deeper method detail.

Generation Process

1. Ask for: business model (B2B/B2C/D2C), price point, primary channels, budget range
2. Position on Kotler's marketing evolution spectrum
3. Define positioning statement, USP, and strap-line
4. Build complete marketing mix (4Ps or 7Ps)
5. Map the AARRR funnel with specific tactics and metrics at each stage
6. Design digital channel strategy with channel selection rationale
7. Include guerrilla tactics for budget-constrained scenarios
8. For small businesses: apply Jarvis's three growth levers, alliance strategy, PR plan, and communication calendar
9. Allocate marketing budget by channel with ROI expectations
10. Define retention and upsell strategy including customer review process and complaint handling
11. Define the gap for each customer segment (current state future state, quantified)
12. Design the sales process appropriate to business type (B2C funnel, B2B Schiffman four-step process, Jarvis service selling, Gap Selling discovery, or Wes Lee persuasion)
13. For B2B: define the PIPA first meeting structure, pipeline ratios, prospecting cadence, and relationship progression targets
14. For startups: identify founder-led selling stage, plan sales team scaling progression, define ICP
15. Set measurable KPIs for each channel and funnel stage (including sales velocity)
16. Include marketing evaluation system with test-and-measure discipline
17. For businesses with promotional budgets: apply Hahn's testing hierarchy (list offer headline format copy) to all paid campaigns; include break-even response rate calculation
18. For service businesses: include an inbound/pull marketing plan referral machine (4 steps), article/speaking loop, niche positioning statement, press release schedule
19. Create a StoryBrand BrandScript one-liner one clear sentence: "We help [character] who [problem] [achieve result]"
20. Write the messaging foundation confirm the BrandScript is complete: villain, external/internal/philosophical problems, guide empathy + authority, plan, direct + transitional CTA, failure stakes, success vision, and identity transformation arc
21. Position the strategy against the business and customer lifecycle, growth ownership model, and macro conditions
22. Specify the attraction engine, conversion sequence, retention cadence, and referral trigger rather than stopping at channel selection
23. For product-led, SaaS, AI, platform, or digital businesses, define the growth loop, event data model, experiment cadence, activation metric, retention cohort, and product-qualified lead logic before accepting revenue assumptions.

Quality Criteria

• Strategy is specific to this business, not generic marketing advice
• Marketing evolution stage is identified with trajectory
• USP is specific, measurable, and differentiated from competitors
• Budget is realistic and allocated with ROI expectations per channel
• Sales process is defined step-by-step with conversion targets and pipeline ratios
• B2B sales includes PIPA first meeting framework, prospecting cadence, and relationship level targets
• AARRR funnel has specific tactics and metrics at each stage
• Online and offline channels are both considered
• Guerrilla tactics are included for budget-constrained scenarios
• All three growth levers are addressed (new customers, spend per customer, purchase frequency)
• Customer retention includes communication calendar, review process, and complaint handling
• Alliance and referral strategies are included for small businesses
• PR and expert positioning plan is defined for profile building
• Marketing evaluation system includes test-and-measure processes
• Metrics dashboard covers acquisition, retention, and revenue
• Attraction, conversion, retention, and referral logic are all explicit and commercially believable
• Gap analysis quantifies the current state future state gap for each customer segment
• Startup sales plans show stage-appropriate team scaling (not jumping from founder to VP Sales)
• Sales velocity formula is calculated for pipeline forecasting
• Lifecycle fit, growth ownership, and macro-condition adaptation are explicit
• Growth is presented as a system of loops, tests, metrics, and owners, not as a pile of campaign ideas
• Product-led or AI-enabled growth claims identify the user behaviour, data signal, experiment, and metric that will prove the claim
• All cost assumptions are stated and traceable
• StoryBrand one-liner is present and passes the 30-second repeat test
• Brand is positioned as the guide, not the hero customer is the hero
• BrandScript covers all three problem levels (external, internal, philosophical)
• Marketing copy identifies the villain and speaks to the internal frustration, not just the external fix
• Identity transformation arc is defined (From To)
• Any advertising copy uses the Benefit-Feature-Proof structure never leads with a feature
• AIDA + Conviction hierarchy is applied: attention interest desire conviction (proof) action
• Promotional plan includes inbound/pull tactics (referrals, speaking, articles, press releases) not only paid advertising
• For service businesses: a referral system and niche positioning statement are included

Book-derived additions

For institutional or public-health communication, load institutional health trust communication and retain qualified review for health claims.

References

• Marketing metrics and formulas: See references/marketing-metrics.md for comprehensive marketing measurement formulas, ROI calculations, channel attribution, and performance benchmarks from Farris
• Growth and digital strategy: See references/growth-strategy.md for AARRR funnel deep-dive, growth loops, digital channel playbooks, content strategy frameworks, and social media marketing approaches
• Guerrilla and small business tactics: See references/guerrilla-tactics.md for Levinson's guerrilla marketing weapons, fusion marketing, education-based marketing, guarantee strategies, and low-budget high-impact approaches
• Persuasion and sales process: See references/persuasion-sales-process.md for Wes Lee's 10-step professional persuasion sales process, 3-phase sales framework (Involvement/Qualify & Magnify/Urgency), WPNID qualification framework, 11 client thought patterns, 5-step objection transformation process, test closing techniques, closing strategies, referral systems, and customer psychology/buying triggers
• Small business marketing tactics: See references/small-business-marketing-tactics.md for Jarvis's 9-step marketing plan framework, three growth levers, niche selection criteria, USP development process, alliance and joint venture strategy, referral systems, PR and press release formula, expert positioning, cold call framework, proposal structure, communication calendar template, CRM discipline, marketing evaluation checklists, and low-cost high-impact tactic rankings
• Sales strategy and methodology: See references/sales-strategy-schiffman.md for Schiffman's four-step sales process, PIPA first meeting sequence, do-based questioning framework, prospecting and cold calling methodology (nine principles), pipeline ratio tracking, relationship selling levels (seller/supplier/vendor/partner), fallback prospect recycling, verification step, preliminary proposal technique, "does this make sense" closing approach, and sales process checklists
• Gap selling methodology: See references/gap-selling-methodology.md for Keenan's problem-centric selling framework, nine truth bombs of selling, current state/future state gap analysis, five-layer discovery question framework, gap equation, objection reframing through discovery, gap prospecting message templates, and sales forecast validation using gap analysis
• Startup sales playbook and scaling: See references/startup-sales-scaling.md for Kazanjy's four founder-led selling stages, Goliger's ICP definition framework, buyer psychographics, sales model selection (direct/inside/channel/self-serve), sales narrative structure, prospecting sequences, demo best practices, sales velocity formula, sales team hiring sequence, compensation structures, scaling stages from zero to UGX 5B+, customer success as revenue driver, health scoring, and sales outsourcing decision framework

July 2026 Portable Contract

Required Inputs

Input artefact	Source/provider	Required	Behaviour when absent
ICP, buying process, channel evidence, price tests, unit economics, and sales capacity for 07 marketing sales strategy	Customer research, CRM records, approved financial model, and sales owner	Yes	If absent, price, margin, conversion, or capacity evidence is unavailable, return a testable commercial hypothesis and cap the recommendation at pilot scale.
Finalised business brief, target reader, country, and stage	Client intake and engagement owner	Yes	Stop section decisions and route the missing context to client intake.
Reconciled upstream assumptions that this section consumes	Named pipeline owners	Conditional	Record the dependency, affected claim, owner, and recovery step; do not substitute an invented value.

Outputs

Artefact	Consumer	Observable acceptance condition
Marketing and sales strategy with channel budgets and conversion assumptions	Plan author and target decision-maker	The artefact answers the section decision and traces each material conclusion to the supplied evidence.
07 marketing sales strategy exception and handoff note	Downstream section owners	Every blocked or conditional item names its consequence, owner, evidence request, and restart condition.
07 marketing sales strategy release record	Reviewer or plan assembler	Records the checks completed, failures, unassessed items, professional review required, and release state.

Evidence Produced

Evidence	Format	Acceptance condition
Funnel model, channel experiment evidence, sales-capacity reconciliation, and budget trace	Source-linked table, calculation, or annotated prose	The evidence is reproducible from named inputs and distinguishes verified fact, management assumption, and inference.
07 marketing sales strategy decision record	Decision note	States the selected action, rejected credible alternative, countercase, rationale, and risk accepted or avoided.
07 marketing sales strategy review trace	Gate entry	Identifies the date, input versions, reviewer role, failed checks, recovery owner, and any check that remains not assessed.

Capability and Permission Boundaries

For 07 marketing sales strategy, the controlling focus is buyer journey, message, channel evidence, funnel conversion, sales capacity, retention, budget, and stop thresholds. This skill may analyse commercial options and draft tests; it may not launch prices, purchase media, contact prospects, alter contracts, or promise outcomes without explicit authority. Its normal mode is read-only analysis and drafting. Any mutation, external communication, spending, certification, or professional conclusion outside that boundary requires explicit authority and must remain traceable to the approving role.

Degraded Mode

For 07 marketing sales strategy, loss of evidence about buyer journey, message, channel evidence, funnel conversion, sales capacity, retention, budget, and stop thresholds activates degraded mode. If the controlling 07 marketing sales strategy evidence is unavailable, the same boundary applies. When price, margin, conversion, or capacity evidence is unavailable, return a testable commercial hypothesis and cap the recommendation at pilot scale. Return the verified subset, label the affected decision qualified or not assessed, explain the downstream consequence, and state the smallest evidence request or authorised action that permits recovery. Do not convert the missing check into a pass.

Decision Rules

Choice or condition	Action	Failure or risk avoided
For 07 marketing sales strategy, a package or channel grows headline demand while weakening gross margin, trust, or delivery capacity	reject or constrain it, quantify the guardrail, and test the next credible option	Growth recommendations can consume cash or create obligations the business cannot fulfil
For 07 marketing sales strategy, A current legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, market, or platform claim controls the 07 marketing sales strategy decision	Verify the controlling source, effective date, jurisdiction, and reviewer status before release	Stale external facts become permanent plan assumptions
For 07 marketing sales strategy, The evidence reconciles with neighbouring sections and the countercase does not overturn the choice	Complete marketing and sales strategy with channel budgets and conversion assumptions, attach the evidence and release record, and hand off named dependencies	Premature release and repeated downstream rework

Workflow

1. Define the exact 07 marketing sales strategy decision, intended reader, jurisdiction, business stage, and permission boundary.
2. Collect icp, buying process, channel evidence, price tests, unit economics, and sales capacity and map each material conclusion to its source; stop the affected conclusion when an input could change it.
3. Apply the specialist methods and directly linked references already contained in this skill, retaining its domain thresholds, calculations, and Uganda or East Africa context where applicable.
4. Compare the credible alternatives, test the countercase and failure path, and apply the decision table rather than selecting a template default.
5. Produce marketing and sales strategy with channel budgets and conversion assumptions with the evidence, exception, and handoff records; reconcile every shared assumption with its owning section.
6. Run the section quality checks, applicable finance or professional review, and anti-slop gate. If a gate fails, correct the evidence or decision and return to the responsible step.

Quality Standards

• Marketing and sales strategy with channel budgets and conversion assumptions must answer a real decision for the named bank, investor, DFI, grant, board, or strategic-partner reader.
• Funnel model, channel experiment evidence, sales-capacity reconciliation, and budget trace must be source-linked, dated where facts can change, and sufficient for another reviewer to reproduce the conclusion.
• The section exposes its countercase, stop condition, recovery action, and effect on neighbouring sections.
• No unavailable source, calculation, tool, or professional review is reported as passed; finance and statutory judgements follow the governing doctrine.
• Language remains specific to 07 marketing sales strategy, uses British English naturally, and passes the repository anti-slop gate without promotional filler.

Anti-Patterns

• In 07 marketing sales strategy, treating an unavailable icp, buying process, channel evidence, price tests, unit economics, and sales capacity as confirmed. Correction: qualify the affected conclusion and issue the named evidence request.
• Producing marketing and sales strategy with channel budgets and conversion assumptions that restates the brief but makes no choice. Correction: record the choice, rejected alternative, rationale, countercase, and implication.
• Ignoring a conflicting upstream assumption. Correction: return it to its owning section and resume only from a reconciled version.
• Reporting an unavailable check as passed. Correction: mark it not assessed and narrow the release state.
• Claiming compliance, assurance, bankability, or investor readiness from narrative quality. Correction: run the applicable gate and retain its evidence.
• Copying the worked example into a client plan. Correction: use the method only and replace every fact with verified engagement evidence.

Worked Example

Paid social produces leads but sales records show partner referrals close faster and at lower acquisition cost. Reallocate the next test budget to the partner channel and retain explicit stop thresholds.

References

• Use the verified project evidence register and the owning upstream pipeline section for 07 marketing sales strategy; no local deep-dive reference is declared.
• For 07 marketing sales strategy claims involving money, tax, grants, reserves, revenue, cost, valuation, or financial statements, apply the Chwezi finance doctrine and record the required professional-review state; illustrative figures never become client facts.