The development of an 18 month sales and marketing plan for solar made simple

Abstract

Solar Made Simple is a newly formed company specialising in the solar thermal system, within the renewable energy industry. The renewable energy industry is an ever increasing industry with the technologies changing at a fast pace. It is for this reason that the researcher chose to undertake the development of an eighteen month sales and marketing plan for the company with the attempt to increase sales and gain an overall nationwide customer base. Due to the increasing pace of technological advancements in the renewable sector it is a necessity to acquire market share percentage from an early stage, if the company wish to succeed. The research required for the development of this eighteen month marketing plan undertakes a qualitative investigation into the renewable energy sector, the various technologies within the sector and in particular focusing on the solar thermal industry. There were numerous methods of research undertaken which were that of observation, the utilisation of secondary data and also the use of structured, semi-structured and non structured interviews with directors of the company and member of Westmeath County Council.In an attempt to develop the marketing plan the researcher had three objectives: to identify competition in the industry; attempt to identify the target markets and level of demand; develop a PEST and SWOT analysis and identify a marketing strategy that the company could utilise. The completion of theses objectives resulted in the researcher suggesting methods to reduce the impact of the threats and utilising opportunities to the highest standard a new company of this size could achieve. The overall findings of this research resulted in the completion of an eighteen month sales and marketing plan for SMS, complete with estimated sales projections for the next eighteen months and also an estimated budget for advertising and promotion of the company brand and image.