The controls section is the last and shortest section of your plan — but in many ways, it’s the most important because it allows you and others to track performance.

Identify some performance benchmarks and state them clearly in your plan. For example:

• All sales territories should be using the new catalogs and sales scripts by June 1.
• Revenues should grow to $75,000 per month by the end of the first quarter if the promotional campaign works according to plan.

These statements give you (and your employers or investors) easy ways to monitor performance as you implement the marketing plan. Without them, nobody has control over the plan; nobody can tell whether or how well the plan is working. But with these statements, you can identify unexpected results or delays quickly – in time for appropriate responses if your controls were designed properly.

A survey by the research firm The Aelera Corporation concluded that only 61 percent of marketing programs are effective. That’s just a little more than half. Those odds aren’t very good, so use plenty of controls and track your marketing activities weekly if you can. Look for deviations from the plan and take action early to correct or improve it. Good controls allow you to make it into that minority of marketers who can look back at the end of the year and actually rate their plan a success.