At this point, you've been through the main thinking and analysis. It is time to put some bite into your plan and management by listing specific actions to be taken. Each action is called a milestone. This is where a business plan becomes a real plan, with specific and measurable activities, instead of just a document. Give it as many milestones as you can think of to make it more concrete. Give each milestone a name, a person responsible, a milestone date, and a budget. Then make sure that all your people know that you will be following the plan and tracking plan-vs.-actual results. If you don't follow up, your plan will not be implemented.
The value of a plan is measured in its implementation.
The Milestones table should be the most important section of the entire business plan. Each marketing and sales-related program you plan should be listed in the table and explained in the related text, along with relevant details. You want to cement your sales strategy with programs that make it real. How is this strategy to be implemented? Do you have concrete and specific plans? How will implementation be measured?
In the sample table in the illustration, you see columns reserved for budgets and milestone dates, and you can also sort the table by person responsible, milestone date, budget, and by department.
Illustration: Milestones Table
These are the milestones, the heart and core of the Web plan.
