# Flight plan — B2B SaaS

The flight plan with three columns a subscription business needs: which slice of the ideal customer profile this week is reaching, where in the funnel it acts, and what sales is expected to receive from it.

Everything else is the general flight plan, unchanged. One row per week of one line of spend, a phase on every row, a share of the flight on each, and a decision point at the end of every phase.

## How to use it

1. Copy this file, or the CSV version if you would rather work in a sheet.
2. Write one row per week per line of spend, including the quiet weeks.
3. Give every phase a first week and a last week, and name the phase on every row inside it.
4. Leave Share of flight budget and Budget blank until the weight has been agreed against a plan you have.
5. Put a decision point on the last row of every phase, written as a question.
6. Give every dependency a due date that falls before the week that needs it.
7. Re-read the flight every Monday against what the accounts actually spent.

## The columns

**Flight** (Text). The demand period this row belongs to: a quarter, a campaign built for a named number, a standing programme. Name it so two quarters can be compared without reconstructing which campaigns belonged to which.

**Phase** (Text). Where in the programme this week falls: build, capture, conversion, wind-down. The build phase has reach targets and no lead target, and naming it is what protects it from a week-four comparison.

**Channel** (Text). The platform this row's spend runs on, one per row, matching the media plan so spend can be reconciled between the two without anybody reading campaign names.

**Campaign** (Text). The campaign name as it reads in the ad account, carrying the segment and the funnel stage, so a week of spend can be attributed to both without a mapping table.

**Week starting** (Date (YYYY-MM-DD)). The Monday. Weeks are the unit here even though the outcome takes a quarter, because reach, list coverage and handover quality all move weekly and all can be acted on.

**Share of flight budget** (Percent). What proportion of the quarter this week is meant to carry. A flat profile suits a standing programme; a build weighted early suits a quarter whose pipeline has to mature before it closes.

**Budget (minor units)** (Integer). The week's budget for this row, in the smallest unit of its currency, as a whole number, so twelve weekly rows still add to the quarterly figure that was approved.

**Currency** (ISO 4217 code). The ISO 4217 code the ad account is billed in. A company selling into several regions runs several, and a quarter total across them needs a stated rate and a date rather than a bare sum.

**Creative set** (Text). Which assets are in market this week: the report, the calculator, the customer account, the plain text card. Naming the set is what lets a quarter's result be attributed to work rather than to weight.

**Dependency** (Text). What this week needs from outside the ad account: the report page, the account list refresh, the webinar registration, sales coverage for the leads it will produce. Put the due date in the cell.

**Decision point** (Text). What is being decided at the end of this week, as a question the week's evidence can answer: whether the segment is responding, whether the list is deep enough, not whether the pipeline converted.

**Owner** (Text). The person who answers for this row, usually the demand generation lead, with the sales leader owning anything about how the week's leads are received.

**Notes** (Text). What the next person needs: the list refresh mid-quarter, the week sales was at an offsite, the product launch that moved, the week the build phase was nearly cut.

**ICP segment** (Text). The slice of the ideal customer profile this week's spend reaches: a size band, an industry, a role, a stack. It sets the message and the expected cycle together.

**Funnel stage** (Text). Where this week acts: awareness, demand capture, pipeline acceleration, expansion. A week that spans two stages is two rows, because the two are judged on different events.

**Sales handover** (Text). What sales should expect from this week and by when: a volume band, a segment, a named list, or nothing at all. Written so the week arrives expected rather than as a surprise.

## The flight plan

| Flight | Phase | Channel | Campaign | Week starting | Share of flight budget | Budget (minor units) | Currency | Creative set | Dependency | Decision point | Owner | Notes | ICP segment | Funnel stage | Sales handover |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |

## Before you commit it

- Every week of every line has a row, including the quiet ones.
- Every row names an ICP segment and a funnel stage.
- No row spans two funnel stages.
- Every week states what sales should expect from it, including the weeks where the answer is nothing.
- Every phase names its first week, its last week and its intent.
- No decision point falls before the segment's cycle has had time to produce evidence.
- Every dependency has a due date before the week that needs it.