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Nowadays, every company, striving to achieve and maintain a competitive position in the market, must include the sales process as an integral part of its operations.
The sales process is designed to get the customer to complete the order with your company and to solve problems that arise during the process.
Planning and meticulous organization of the sales process, along with proper care of its various stages, allow you to effectively manage your sales team, achieve the set goals and continuously increase company profits. In this article we will show you what the sales process looks like, what are the stages of the process and how to create it.
Sales process in the company - conscious or unconscious
Subsequent stages of sales in the company are relayed in the course of the sales process, it is worth being aware that even if no one has thought about its existence, your company sells - so in every company there are processes more or less arranged. The question arises how to arrange sales individually in a company in which there is no awareness of their existence ?
A huge proportion of B2B companies, (as many as 60%) do not have a clearly defined sales process
In such businesses, salespeople often lack clear guidelines for performing their duties, managers have difficulty evaluating the work of salespeople, and owners do not know what aspects of the business should be optimized.
To recap. There is a process in the company that arose naturally, however, no one is in control of it.
The sales process is a key element for companies seeking to increase their sales performance and effectively manage their sales team. It enables better utilization of resources, streamlines the work of salespeople and ensures predictability of revenue.
Survey results from the Sales Management Association and Vantage Point Performance show that companies that have carefully defined their sales process and effectively manage their sales funnel achieve as much as 28% higher sales growth compared to companies that do not
Create a competitive advantage with structured sales in your company
Implementing a clarified sales process in a company creates a competitive advantage and allows for effective management of sales and the sales team.
A poorly structured sales process generates :
Table of Contents:
The sales process is, in simple terms, a sequence of specific and repetitive activities that a team carries out in order to bring a customer to fulfillment. It includes various stages, from the acquisition of potential customers to the completion of the sale itself. In some companies, employees from different departments, such as graphic designers, technicians or designers, can support this process by providing additional knowledge to salespeople during customer contact - this is where efficient communication and understanding counts, which is unfortunately often lacking, resulting in lost customers or their dissatisfaction with the service.
Efficient management of sales processes and effective support for the sales department translate into better use of company resources, which in turn leads to increased productivity and improved performance of salespeople.
The lack of properly planned sales processes causes salespeople to work according to their own habits and patterns, making it difficult to conduct a thorough analysis of problem areas in sales.
The lack of a unified structure and coordination in the sales department can ultimately result in difficulties in implementing sales optimization and improving company performance.
CRM systems provide a constant and clear view of a company's complete sales process, taking into account all its stages and specific tasks. It's a great tool for sales staff, as it allows them to access the most important information from one central panel, allowing them to effectively manage the sales process and customer acquisition.
With CRM, you no longer have to waste time searching for information in different places or switching between different systems. Supporting sales processes within the CRM system makes it easy to monitor all sales opportunities and have constant access to all related tasks and orders.
See how to implement CRM software in company
It is important to understand that planning the stages of the sales process and implementing them is only the beginning. Successful operation of the company's sales processes requires constant monitoring and keeping up to date with the various stages of the process. Therefore, it is important to regularly analyze the components of the sales process, track the actions taken by salespeople and implement corrective and improvement measures in the company.
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The sales process is a series of activities that a company undertakes to convince a customer to buy its product or service. This process consists of various stages that lead from acquiring a customer to finalizing a transaction.
Creating a sales process starts with a thorough analysis of customer needs and defining company goals.
See how to create a sales process that will be used effectively in your company.
Get to know who your customer is.
A common problem of companies is the lack of clear information about the Customer and his needs ? It is worth considering who is actually the Customer and the recipient of the company's services, products, are they the same group that uses and pays or maybe, however, they are two different personae ?
At what stage in the buying process is your customer ?
In addition, different aspects of the sales process will be important for business customers and different for individual customers, and similarly, strategies will be important for customers making small purchases versus those investing significant funds. In each case, it is crucial to understand the needs, preferences and purchasing motivations of customers and at which stage of the buying process they are.
It is worth clearly defining the goals that the company wants to achieve through the sales process. These can be various goals, such as increasing turnover, acquiring new customers, increasing profitability or improving customer loyalty. Defining the goals is key to being able to align the sales process with the company's specific strategy and priorities.
Now it's time to precisely define the stages of the company's sales process. These stages should be precise and understandable, so that each employee can consciously perform their tasks at each stage of the process. In this way you ensure clarity and efficiency in the sales team.
Well understood and assigned roles in the sales process are key. Every employee should know what his or her responsibilities are at each stage of the sales process, and who is responsible for what, e.g.: the salesman does not send bids, but passes them on to the project manager.
Improving communication between company departments helps increase efficiency and ensures that nothing is overlooked or neglected in the sales process
Introducing a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system into a company can greatly facilitate the management of the sales process and the assignment of tasks to individual employees/departments of the company, and improve communication between them. CRM allows you to monitor and control each stage of the sales process and analyze the weaknesses and conversions of each of them.
Once the sales process is up and running, it is important to regularly examine and evaluate its effectiveness at each stage. By monitoring the results achieved and making appropriate adjustments, you can strive to improve and optimize the sales process, which will contribute to better results. This is a key step in keeping the sales process at the right performance level.
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What about those sales processes? How many of them do we need in the company? This question seems to be open to different answers. In our opinion, there are many situations where you need more than one sales process (unless you are running a company offering one specific product or service, serving one group of customers and using one way of acquiring customers - then one process may be enough).
In a company that offers a wider range of products or services, we can apply in processes.
The first concerns customers who are actively solicited (for example, through cold calling or cold email). The second process deals with customers who self-refer to us. Although the differences between these processes are not huge, they are significant enough that we decided we needed two separate processes.
Sales processes can vary depending on the source of the customer, how customers are acquired, the acquisition channels, and the products or services offered. It is crucial that these processes are aligned with metrics. There is no point in creating multiple processes that no one will measure and analyze later. This would only be an additional burden on the sales team.
It is worth thinking carefully about how many sales processes are needed and defining the sales stages in a precise way. If a company offers several products or services, it is worth considering separate sales processes for each of them. It is also important to align the processes with the way customers make purchasing decisions, i.e. their buying process.
The sales process, with its stages, plays a key role in achieving the ambitious sales goals of any company. This process is a specific sequence of steps that a salesman takes, from identifying a potential customer to achieving a registered transaction in the system.
The sales process model we want to present today includes eight key stages, the first of which is identifying the right customer.
This stage involves carefully selecting the potentially best customer, both corporate and individual. You are responsible for this selection, and how you do it is critical to achieving good results.
If you're running a company or a sales department, it's your job to ensure that all employees know how to make selections of potentially best customers. If you are an independent trader, you probably have guidelines on what criteria potentially best customers should meet.
If you don't have a set criteria yet, it's worth taking the time to consider them carefully, as your future sales success will depend on this choice.
Contacting a potential customer can be accomplished in a variety of ways, such as telephone contact, a personal meeting, an e-mail message or even traditional mail.
The most common tool for making contact is a phone call. Although this may seem like a simple task, it is worthwhile to prepare carefully for such contact. It is worth noting that today's market is much more demanding. In the past, for example, in the 1990s, the average salesman could arrange one meeting after making 5 phone calls. Ten years later, a good salesman could arrange 10 meetings after making 100 phone calls. Nowadays, it is considered a good result to schedule one meeting after 100 phone calls.
The purpose of this stage is to establish contact with a person who has a real influence on the buying decision process. Before you decide to meet the customer in person, the phone is an excellent tool for gauging potential interest and deciding what to do next. Therefore, the third stage of the sales process will be to schedule a sales meeting.
This stage plays a key role in deciding success or failure in the sales process. It is both the most challenging and the most important of all stages of the sales process.
The primary purpose of a sales visit is to acquire all relevant information necessary to prepare an optimal offer tailored to the customer's needs. It's worth emphasizing that simply making a sales visit is not an end in itself. In the course of my career, I have repeatedly experienced the pitfall of spending time on meetings that do not produce results.
Of course, building relationships with customers is important, but valuable relationships by themselves do not lead to sales. Good relationships help you gain valuable information that your competitors don't have access to. They also help convince the customer to make a purchase. Nonetheless, relationships are not a miraculous means of getting a customer to spend money on their own.
In summary, the stage of the sales visit primarily serves to gather key information that will be the basis for preparing the best offer for the customer and finding a way to convince him to cooperate. Therefore, the next stage in the sales process is the preparation of a commercial offer.
It is at this point, if all the previous steps have gone well, that you have a full set of necessary information to prepare an excellent offer. Here's what you should know:
The purpose of this stage is to prepare an offer and deliver it to the right person within the agreed timeframe. Your offer should meet both the customer's and your expectations. With your knowledge of the customer's needs and your persuasive skills, you can respond appropriately to any reaction from the customer after they have seen your offer.
In the absence of an order to date, it is necessary to take action. It is always a good idea to try to get information from the customer regarding whether the offer sent meets his expectations.
Even if your offer is rejected, you will gain valuable information that will help you minimize your risk in the future. Therefore, always try to find out if the offer meets the customer's expectations. If it does, ask when you can expect an order.
On the other hand, finding out the reason for rejecting an offer is very valuable. What may seem like a benefit according to the salesman may not necessarily be a benefit to the customer. Having this information allows you to determine what might convince the customer to buy, and whether you are able to meet their conditions.
This stage is a kind of evaluation of the attractiveness of your offer in the eyes of the customer. By learning about the weak points of your offer, you will be able to eliminate them in the future. If the customer does not immediately decide to buy, you will be forced to start negotiations. Negotiation is the next, sixth stage of the sales process.
In this stage, the main goal is to carefully prepare for negotiations with the client. You must clearly define what you want to achieve as a result of these talks. The best-case scenario will be to convince the customer to accept the terms outlined in your offer. You must also determine which terms you are willing to compromise with and which must remain unchanged.
It is important to find a balance between giving in to the customer and keeping some of the conditions that are necessary for your company. You can't acquiesce to the customer's every request, as this can harm your company's interests. On the other hand, you can't be too intransigent, as this jeopardizes the success of the negotiation. A well-conducted negotiation can result in an order being placed. In the worst case scenario, if the negotiation fails, you will still get valuable lessons for the future.
The purpose of this stage is to evaluate the outcome of your interaction with the customer - whether or not the customer made a purchase. This allows you to track the effects of your work in the sales process. If you neglect this stage, there is a risk that you will lose interest in the potential customer and forget about him.
It is important to treat the sales process as an investment. Even if you don't win a particular sale, it's worth staying in touch with your customers because another opportunity may arise in the future.
Of course, successes in the form of successful sales are pleasing and rewarding. However, don't forget about the customers who chose your competitors' offerings, too. It is worthwhile sometimes to contact them, ask if they are satisfied and if everything went according to their expectations.
This stage is often overlooked or considered less important, but is in fact crucial. Its main purpose is to obtain information about the customer's decision, whether it is to buy or to abandon the purchase. Regardless of the outcome of the conversation, it is worth investigating why the customer made a particular decision.
With the information you gather, you can bring valuable lessons for the future and improve your sales approach. If you win the sale, you can ask the customer for references that will help you win new customers in the future.
All this information should be carefully stored in the company's CRM database so that it is available for later use.
In many CRM systems, you have complete freedom to define the stages of the sales process and tailor it to the specifics of your business. Even if you offer different products or services, you can create separate sales processes for each of them. You can call each of these processes anything you want and assign specific tasks to be performed at each stage. Examples of tasks could include sending an email, sending a reminder or asking an analyst for a quote, depending on your company's needs and preferences.
In the CRM system, you can define both mandatory tasks, such as attaching a contract, and optional tasks. It is possible to assign individual steps to employees from different departments, for example, delegating a pricing task to a business analyst. This tool also allows you to share a customer during the sales process with another employee, which allows two people to work on customer service at the same time, or can be used when a replacement is needed. See what it is management dashboard.
A key aspect in defining repeatable sales processes is to distinguish between stages and the tasks performed within them. This allows you to transparently monitor the progress of each potential customer. For example, within the "Sending an initial offer" stage, a list of specific activities can be created, such as "summarizing the needs study," "assessing technical capabilities" (delegated to the technical department), "pricing the project" (outsourced to a business analyst) and "preparing and sending an offer."
It is worth noting that each stage of the sales process should be concretized by defining specific actions. For example, instead of the generic "Offer to Customer" stage, a better term is "Sending an offer to a customer." That's why one of the key tools in the CRM system is the "Sales Opportunities" view, where the salesman can monitor the status of all his customers and tasks in the sales process, which facilitates effective management of the progress of each potential customer.
Every process begins with the stage of acquiring a lead - that is, a potential customer. Regardless of the source of acquisition (for example, referrals, organic networking, paid campaigns, mailings, etc.), the first step is to register this data in the system. The information can be entered manually, automatically added from web forms, or imported from a database of potential customers.
In this stage, you can also assign specific leads to the appropriate salespeople who will be responsible for the entire process. You can also set the time (deadline) that is required to complete the stage. It is important to contact a new potential customer within one business day, and within two days at the latest. Each additional day decreases the chances of a sale.
The second stage of the process we use involves contacting a potential customer, which can take the form of an in-person meeting or a teleconference. Without going into details, the person in charge of this process has several different tasks on his or her list, such as taking notes of the meeting or arranging the next contact date.
The third stage of the sales process, the quoting stage, can vary significantly from industry to industry. For example, in the case of SaaS systems, this may include a testing period in which the customer has the opportunity to try out the software's features. Here, the main tasks may be to verify that the customer has activated the test account and to remind them to move on to the next stage in a timely manner.
However, when selling photovoltaics, the third stage will be the preparation of an offer. This stage may consist of a number of activities, such as researching technical possibilities, pricing, preparing additional options (e.g. leasing, installments, insurance). The final step at this stage should be sending a draft contract.
The fourth stage may be the finalization of the contract, i.e. the completion of the sales process. At this stage, various tasks can be assigned, such as making telephone contact, preparing, signing and returning the contract, examining customer satisfaction with the sales process, offering additional options, etc. All this is done in order to complete the sale successfully and provide the customer with the best possible service.
The exact shape of a company's sales process depends on many factors. How many stages the process contains depends on the specifics of the industry, the size of the company and the characteristics of its products or services. Nevertheless, it is crucial for a company to have clearly defined stages of a repeatable sales process, along with specific steps to be followed at each stage.
It is the beginning of your sales process, and it is also your potential customer. He or she represents a defined target group that may be interested in your products or services. It is important to understand what this potential customer's preferences and needs are, what their buying habits are, and what their buying decision process is like. Your sales process should be tailored to these specific characteristics and take them into account at this early stage.
If we try to transform the customer's buying habits in our sales process then, instead of being successful, we will only lose time and the chance for a successful sale. Customers who perceive an attempt to impose new ways of making purchasing decisions on them may opt for competitive solutions. Therefore, it is important to adapt our approach to existing customer habits in order to meet their expectations and increase the chances of completing the sale.
A key step is an in-depth analysis of the customer's needs. At this point, the company must know its customer thoroughly and understand what it needs. To achieve this, it is necessary to collect as much information about the customer as possible and actively communicate with him. This is the stage where it is useful to ask the right questions and listen to the customer's comments. This allows the company to tailor its offer to the customer's specific requirements, which increases the chances of a successful sale.
The company presents its offer to the customer. It is worth considering how best to deliver this offer to the customer. Should it be sent by e-mail, sent to an e-mail address, or perhaps a presentation of the offer during an in-person meeting? The choice of how to present the offer depends on the customer's preferences and the type of products or services offered. It is important that the offer be clear, understandable and tailored to the customer's pre-defined needs.
The salesman establishes a dialogue with the customer on issues such as price, product or service. During negotiations, it is crucial to strive to find solutions that satisfy both the company and the customer. Optimal negotiation is based on the ability to communicate, understand the customer's needs and be flexible in finding a compromise that accommodates both sides of the deal. The ultimate goal is to achieve a win-win, a win-win situation that fosters a long-term and beneficial business relationship.
The fifth stage of the sales process involves finalizing the transaction and retaining the customer. It is worth ensuring that the customer is satisfied with the purchase and will consider doing business with you again in the future. You can collect feedback from the customer about the offer and service, for example, during a phone call after the purchase.
If you get positive feedback from a customer, ask them for recommendations and referrals among their friends, as well as to leave reviews on your profile on social media platforms or on Google. Referrals from satisfied customers are an important part of building your customer base, so take care of them at every stage of the sales process.
KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators, are tools for monitoring and measuring the effectiveness of the sales process. They are designed to reflect the company's sales goals and objectives.
The sales process model is crucial because it guides salespeople step by step through the entire sales process. It does not end with sending an offer, as is often the case. The contact with the customer should last and continue after the offer is delivered.
Many salespeople make the mistake of stopping proactively after delivering an offer and waiting for customer initiative. This leads to the loss of valuable sales opportunities. Even if the customer rejects the offer, this information is valuable and can lead to further action. Unfortunately, often this information is left only in the head of the salesman, and the lack of a systematic approach causes general theories to form, for example, that the customer rejected the offer because of the price.
That is why it is so important to maintain active contact with the customer and systematically monitor the progress of the sales process.
While developing a sales plan is crucial to success, it is not the only step that needs to be taken. There is also the important element of evaluating whether the adopted plan actually delivers the expected results. So how exactly does one go about verifying the sales process and what should one pay attention to?
First, it's worth regularly assessing whether your target audience is showing interest in the product or service you're offering. For e-commerce, a key indicator is conversion, which measures how many website visitors actually make purchases.
The effectiveness of the sales process can also be monitored at the stage of initiating contact with the customer. One good way is cold calling, i.e. talking to a potential customer who is not waiting for your sales offer. This method helps detect mistakes made by salespeople and avoid them in later offers.
Therefore, reviewing the sales process is important because it allows you to adjust your operations and improve your sales strategy to achieve better results and better meet customer needs.
First of all, on the number of services and products offered. The broader the offer, the sales processes should be tailored to a specific audience.
The sales process has many benefits. First of all, it allows you to create a clear plan of action, which significantly improves the work done.
Through continuous monitoring of KPIs and audience interest.
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