Marketing and Sales Integrated Planning Plans should proceed from the general to the specific, with each plan supporting all those above: Strategic Vision   Market Segmentation     Competitive Assessment       Buying Behavior of Target Segments         Offers, Packages           Channel Strategies             Account & Territory Assignment               Sales Compensation and Quota                 Key Performance Metrics & Feedback Loop To properly integrate plans, each plan must be checked to ensure that it fully supports the strategies and plans above it, and is not veering off in another direction.  Further, key metrics must be identified so that the success of the plan may be measured.  By thoughtfully linking strategies, plans and metrics, you can, for example, better distinguish between missing plan due to poor execution versus missing plan due to a poor strategy. If your team jumps into sales compensation design or channel design without agreement on or recognition of the above strategies, then your plans will likely not be integrated with other efforts and activities.  Communication gaps are rampant in many businesses, so you can't assume everyone is on the same page unless they are looking at the same page.  You don't need an army of consultants and studies to create an integrated plan, but you do need to make it a requirement and adhere to certain principles and fundamentals.
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